Trudeau says feds aren't primarily responsible for housing, but how responsible are they?

Amid rising housing prices and a shortage of housing supply, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said responsibility on the matter lays mostly with the provinces and territories, but experts say the federal government is playing a larger role in shaping housing policy in Canada.

At a housing announcement in Hamilton on Monday, Trudeau said the issue is mostly provincial jurisdiction.

"I'll be blunt as well — housing isn't a primary federal responsibility. It's not something that we have direct carriage of," he said.

"But it is something that we can and must help with."

Housing has become a major political issue as prices continue to rise. The Canadian Real Estate Association reported earlier this year that the average price of a home in Canada is $716,000. 

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre attacked Trudeau and his government Tuesday over the increasing cost of housing, saying the federal government is responsible for many policies and institutions that affect housing. 

Poilievre has pledged to withhold federal infrastructure funding to municipalities that block housing developments.

Trudeau said he'd like to see more of an effort from the Ontario government.

"I'd love to be able to share this stage right now, not just with the mayor of Hamilton, but with the province," Trudeau said.

"They need to be stepping up as well, particularly on affordable housing. That is something that the federal government is taking very seriously, but we need all of us to be working together on [it], and that's what we're here to continue to do."

But experts told CBC News that while Trudeau's remarks are technically accurate, they simplify a complex issue on which Ottawa could be doing a better job.

The Constitution or legislation sometimes explicitly states which level of government is responsible for a particular issue, but this is not the case with housing.

"If you read the Constitution, the word housing doesn't appear in there," said Steve Pomeroy, an industry professor and executive advisor at the Canadian Housing Evidence Collaborative at McMaster University.

"However, jurisprudence has generally interpreted the Constitution that matters of local things are seen as being provincial jurisdiction. So the legal interpretation of the Constitution in a very strict review would allocate responsibility for housing to the provinces."