Ontario developer coalition asks governments for tax breaks to pass on to homebuyers

A coalition of Ontario developers has written to three levels of government to ask for a reduction in taxes on new housing, saying it will pass on those savings dollar for dollar to homebuyers.

A coalition of Ontario developers has written to three levels of government to ask for a reduction in taxes on new housing, saying it will pass on those savings dollar for dollar to homebuyers.

The new group, called the Coalition Against New-Home Taxes, or CANT, is composed of 18 developers who collectively plan to build 100,000 new housing units over the next 10 years.

The coalition wants to see federal and provincial governments remove the harmonized sales tax on all new housing, as they have done for rental housing construction. It would also like the province and the City of Toronto to eliminate the land-transfer tax on new construction homes.

The coalition would also like to see municipalities reduce development charges to 2009 rates, adjusted for inflation.

"We came to the realization that something's got to change and we started thinking about creative ways to bring government to the table to have an honest conversation and find solutions together," Matt Young, president of Republic Developments who is spearheading the coalition, said in an interview.

"And so we felt that one way to do that would be to sign a pledge that says for every dollar of taxes cut, this group of developers would cut their prices dollar for dollar to ensure that savings are passed on to homebuyers."

The group includes Alterra, Harlo Capital and Stafford Developments, among others.