Introduced May 3rd, Canada’s Budget Implementation Act, 2024, is a significant piece of legislation that aims to advance key housing priorities outlined in Budget 2024. The goal of the Act, according to the government, is to make the housing market fairer for renters and first-time home buyers by advancing measures that will ultimately help improve market conditions, such as introducing harsher penalties for illicit short-term rental operators and launching a $50 million short-term rental enforcement fund.

“For too long, renters and first-time home buyers haven’t been getting a level playing field,” Trudeau said. “We’re changing that. With Budget 2024, we’re cracking down on short-term rentals and foreign home buyers, giving more power to renters and first-time home buyers, and making the housing market fairer for every generation.”

Budget 2024 also includes a proposal to make rental payment history count towards Canadians’ credit scores. In other words, for tenants with a long track-record of paying their rent in full and on time, that history may be counted toward their credit score, helping them secure better mortgage rates when the time comes to buy a home.

“Our budget is about fairness for every generation, especially for Millennials and Gen Z,” said Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. “It is made up of real, tangible measures that are going to help more younger Canadians get those first keys of their own. We’re acting now because the cost of inaction today would be borne chiefly by younger Canadians – and we will not leave them behind.”

 For more on the federal government’s housing measures, visit: www.placetocallhome.ca.