Poilievre vows not to impose a home equity tax as Liberals, NDP talk health care

OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is claiming the Liberals will impose a tax on Canadians’ home equity if they’re re-elected as the federal election campaign enters its final week.

The last day of advance voting in the general election saw federal leaders scattered across the country, pitching plans on homebuilding and health care.

Poilievre was in Toronto Monday afternoon speaking to an audience with CARP, the Canadian Association of Retired Persons. He was asked whether he would put any taxes on equity saved in Canadians’ homes.

“We will never allow a tax on home equity. Period. Full stop. Not going to happen,” he said.

Currently, Canadians are exempt from paying capital gains tax on the sales of their primary residences, allowing those who own their homes to keep all the proceeds. For many older Canadians planning to downsize, that sale can represent a significant portion of their retirement plan.

Poilievre went on to claim — without offering evidence — that the incumbent Liberals would not let the status quo stand.

Pointing to the spending projections in Liberal Leader Mark Carney’s platform, released Saturday, Poilievre claimed the Liberals would need to tap into Canadians’ home equity to fund those plans.

“What happens when the finance officials tap them on the shoulder and says, ‘You’re out of money, you need to go find more?’ Well, they’re going to go out and they’re going to tax your home equity. They’re going to go after your house,” he said, adding that hypothetical tax would be “crippling” for seniors.

“Bottom line is, Liberals will tax your home equity if you give them the chance in this election. We will never let that happen. Your home belongs to you, and when you sell, you should keep every single penny for yourself and your kids.”

A proposal to tax capital gains from home sales is not part of the Liberal platform. The Liberal campaign said in a media statement Monday that the party has no plans to turn home equity into tax revenue.

“This is entirely false. This is another desperate attack from the Conservatives. They do this every election,” said Liberal spokesperson Mohammad Hussain.

Earlier in the day, Poilievre told a campaign event in Scarborough, Ont., that his party would release its costed platform on Tuesday, a day after advance voting closes.

The Liberals and NDP both unveiled their costed platforms on Saturday.

Poilievre was in the Greater Toronto Area on Monday promising to build 2.3 million homes over the next five years.

The Conservative platform would tie municipalities’ federal infrastructure funding to their pace of home construction approvals — cities that approve 15 per cent more housing each year would get full funding, while cities that approve fewer homes would collect less.

The party is also proposing to free up federal land for more homebuilding, cut the GST on new homes worth up to $1.3 million and encourage cities to cut development charges.

Carney was in Charlottetown Monday talking about his health-care plan and efforts to address Canada’s shortage of primary care providers.

Carney said a Liberal government would commit $4 billion to provinces to build more hospitals and clinics.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh started his day in Nanaimo, B.C., where he promised to cover “essential medicines” by the end of the year in an expansion of pharmacare.

Monday was the fourth and final day for advance polls.