Poilievre announces more housing reforms on campaign stop in Milton

OTTAWA — In Milton, Ont., on Thursday, Poilievre focused on housing, saying he would make it easier for cities to cut the cost of building new homes.

The Conservative plan would see the federal government reimburse cities for half of every dollar they cut in development charges, up to a maximum of $25,000 per home.

The party says that would result in a maximum of $50,000 in savings for the companies that pay the development charges, which help to fund new infrastructure for housing, like roads and sewers.

A Conservative backgrounder document did not specify whether there would be a mechanism to force developers to pass on those savings to homebuyers.

Asked how the party knows that developers would pass on the full savings to homebuyers, a Conservative spokesperson pointed to a portion of the document that says cities would be “required to publicly report their development charges and explain how the savings and federal funds will be used.”

Carney and Poilievre both took their campaigns to the GTA Thursday. As of 2021, the population of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area was over seven million — almost 20 per cent of Canada’s population.

A new Leger poll, which was conducted online and can’t be assigned a margin of error, suggests that 48 per cent of Ontarians will vote Liberal in the election, while 39 per cent will vote Conservative and nine per cent will vote NDP.

Carney was set to return to Ottawa Thursday evening, where he will meet with his ministers to discuss the tariffs imposed by United States President Donald Trump.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh campaigned in Saskatoon on Thursday, where he took aim at Carney’s plan to balance the operating budget.

The NDP says Carney’s plan would result in nearly $43 billion in spending cuts within three years. Singh argues that could mean cuts to health care, since health transfers to the provinces come from the federal government’s operating budget.

Carney responded to the criticism Thursday, saying there will be no cuts but “in fact, reinforcement of health care.”