April 19, 2025
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Sean Ferris, CEO of Habitat for Humanity Hamilton, addresses federal election candidates during a housing forum on April 15 as Jess Brand, regional director for Indwell, looks on. The candidates, from left, Lisa Hepfner (Liberal-Hamilton Mountain), Monique Taylor (NDP-Hamilton Mountain) and Sandy Crawley (Green Party-Hamilton Centre) responded to questions from the host and audience members at Indwell’s Perkins Centre.
Teviah Moro/The Hamilton Spectator
Hamilton federal election candidates of varying political stripes agree: More work needs to be done to ease Canada’s housing crisis.
But three hopefuls representing the Liberals, New Democrats and Greens disagreed on the remedies during a recent housing-focused forum.
Hamilton is Home, a coalition of local non-profits, hosted the question-and-answer session at Indwell’s Perkins Centre in the east end Tuesday night.
The forum organizers asked the Conservatives to attend, but they sent their regrets, Medora Uppal, CEO of YWCA Hamilton, told the crowd.
Canada’s response to tariffs imposed by the United States, an “alarming” situation, has dominated the campaign discourse so far, Uppal said.
But before the trade crisis, housing was “the primary issue” and ought to be a priority for parties as they aim to win over voters, she said.
“When our housing is secure, we are secure,” said Uppal, pointing out building safe places to live also acts as economic stimulus while anchoring people’s lives.
But in Hamilton, about 1,600 people are homeless, according to city data, and more than 6,000 households are waiting for subsidized housing.
Tents in parks and other urban spaces have been a constant reminder of the deepening crisis in recent years as the city struggles to address the problem.
Her party has made “some headway” on homelessness, said Liberal Lisa Hepfner, who’s hoping to keep her seat on Hamilton Mountain after April 28.
But to tackle it further, under new leader Mark Carney, the Liberals have drafted the “most ambitious housing plan” since the Second World War, she said.
That involves a new federal entity called Build Canada Homes, which is meant to take over work from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and shepherd the construction of 500,000 homes a year.
Hamilton is Home is a coalition of the city’s most experienced non-profit affordable housing providers, including City Housing Hamilton, Good Shepherd, Habitat for Humanity, Hamilton East Kiwanis Homes, Indwell, Sacajawea, Victoria Park Community Homes, and YWCA Hamilton. Our coalition formed in 2020 with the goal of supporting each other and collectively advocating for new funding to address the growing need for affordable housing in our community.
Ahead of the federal election, we hosted a Housing Forum with candidates from the leading parties from Hamilton-area ridings, including the Conservative, Green, Liberal, NDP candidates. Candidates from Hamilton Centre, Hamilton East-Stoney Creek, Hamilton Mountain, Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas, and Flamborough-Glanbrook were invited to participate by sending one representative on behalf of their party. Our panel of speakers included Sandy Crawley (Green, Hamilton Centre), Lisa Hepfner (Liberal, Hamilton Mountain), and Monique Taylor (NDP, Hamilton Mountain). The Conservative party was unable to send a representative. Opening remarks were given by Medora Uppal (CEO, YWCA Hamilton) on behalf of the Hamilton is Home coalition. Jess Brand (Regional Director, Indwell) and Sean Ferris (CEO, Habitat) co-moderated the debate.
Candidates were asked to clarify their views and party policies on the following topics: Homelessness, shelters, and social supports; Financialization of rental housing; Social housing; Affordable homeownership; Collaboration across party lines, results, and accountability.
To date, the Liberals have invested significantly in Hamilton, said Hepfner, pointing out the government recently provided $96 million for Victoria Park Community Homes’ 261-unit project now under construction on the Mountain.
“We have been there. There’s more work to do.”
But a housing crunch has been left to unfold under the Grits’ watch, responded New Democrat Monique Taylor, a longtime Mountain MPP aiming to turn the riding orange.
“We’ve known that a crisis was coming for years, and the Liberal government did nothing to address it.”
Meanwhile, the removal of rent caps has been “criminal” and contributed to the problem, said Taylor, referencing the scaling back of rent control in Ontario under Premier Doug Ford’s government.
Among the NDP’s pledges is a promise to tie access to federal housing to “strict conditions” such as “real rent control,” tenant-protection measures and “action against predatory and exploitative landlord practices.”
The New Democrats also aim to create three-million new homes, including nonmarket and affordable housing, by 2030.
“We need to ensure that we are building homes through the government so that people can afford them,” Taylor said.
The Green Party backs such “practical solutions” as “meaningful” rent control and guaranteed basic income, said Sandy Crawley, who’s running in Hamilton Centre.
Crawley said he hopes Liberals do more than just “virtue signal” and suggested they could become another “personality cult” under new leader Carney, who took over for Justin Trudeau.
The Greens pledge to “launch the biggest public housing construction program since the 1970s.”
Other platform planks include closing “loopholes to stop criminals from using real estate to hide dirty money,” getting rid of “unfair tax advantages” for real estate investment trusts and stopping “corporations from buying up single-family homes.”
Housing pledges
Liberals
Double the pace of construction to nearly 500,000 homes a year;
Create Build Canada Homes, a new federal entity providing more than $25 billion in financing to prefabricated home builders and $10 billion in low-cost financial and capital to affordable builders;
Halve municipal development charges for multi-unit residential and work with provinces “to keep municipalities whole”;
Bring back a 1970s-era tax incentive designed to boost rental housing construction;
Cut “housing bureaucracy, zoning restrictions, and other red tape”;
Eliminate the GST for first-time buyers of homes valued up to $1 million.
Conservatives
Eliminate the GST on new homes valued up to $1.3 million, saving buyers “up to $65,000”;
That measure will lead to the construction of 36,000 new homes every year, the Tories predict;
Sell 6,000 federal buildings and “thousands of acres of federal land” for residential construction;
“Incentivize” municipalities to expedite development permits, “free up” land and cut “housing taxes.”
NDP
Implement national rent control to protect tenants from hikes;
Prohibit fixed-term leases, renovictions and demovictions;
Create three million new homes, including nonmarket and affordable housing;
Establish an $8-billion, four-year Canada Homes Transfer that requires cities to allow more multi-unit homes, expedite permits/approvals, curb development charges and other measures;
Establish an $8-billion, four-year Communities First Fund to expand municipal housing-related infrastructure in exchange for measures including tenant protection policies and supporting prefabricated homes;
Offer low-interest mortgages for first-time buyers through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
Greens
The Greens plan to “launch the biggest public housing construction program since the 1970s”;
Create “covenants” to ensure “housing built with public money stays affordable forever”;
“Close loopholes to stop criminals from using real estate to hide dirty money”;
Get rid of “unfair tax advantages for real estate investment trusts”;
Prevent corporations from buying up single-family homes.
Correction
This story was updated April 21, 2025 to correct Medora Uppal’s title. She is the CEO of YWCA Hamilton.