New housing minister says supply, not costs, root of Canada's real estate crisis

New federal Housing Minister Gregor Robertson said the way out of the real estate crisis that has consumed housing markets in Canada is to increase supply, not reduce costs.

"I think that we need to deliver more supply, make sure the market is stable," he said to journalists as he headed into his first cabinet meeting on Wednesday. "It's a huge part of our economy, but we need to be able to deliver more affordable housing."

Robertson was Vancouver's mayor between 2008 and 2018. During that time, data from the Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation shows the average price of single-family and semi-detached homes rose 179 per cent across the broader Metro Vancouver area. 

"We've seen increases like that across Canada over the past decade," Robertson said, defending his record.

"I wasn't getting the help I needed from the federal government when I was mayor, or the provincial government, of all stripes. We need, as a government in Ottawa, to be delivering and partnering with cities and provinces." 

He noted that his experience as mayor gives him a unique perspective on what sort of assistance is needed federally to help those at the more grassroots level of this problem.   

Urban studies professor Andy Yan said Robertson's remarks today show there is one takeaway he may not have absorbed from his years in the mayor's chair.

"He perhaps did not understand how much it's also about finance and demand," said Yan, who teaches at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C. 

He pointed out how Robertson had promised to end homelessness when he became mayor in 2008, though homelessness, too, ended up surging under his watch.

But Yan said Robertson needs time to settle in to his new role before anyone passes judgment.

"It's literally his second day on the job. One has to give him the opportunity to see what he learned, the lessons in being the mayor of Vancouver."

On Tuesday, journalists asked Prime Minister Mark Carney if appointing Robertson to Housing indicated the government does not want housing prices to go down.

"You would be very hard-pressed to make that conclusion," Carney said. "We have a strong view on housing and a very clear policy," he said. He added Robertson brings the type of experience needed to tackle some of the housing cost problems.

During the election campaign, Carney revealed one big part of his solution is the creation of a new government entity called Build Canada Homes, which would directly oversee the construction of affordable housing. During the campaign, the prime minister also pledged to remove the GST on the purchase of a home at or under $1 million for first-time buyers.