The federal government helps finance rentals. Now condo builders want a similar deal - Toronto Star

A coalition including developers, lobby groups and big banks is asking Ottawa for help amid the condo crash.

Highrises under construction along Toronto’s waterfront are seen from Biidaasige Park in October.

As the Toronto-region condo crash drags on, a new report from the real estate industry and big banks is calling on the federal government to help get new projects off the ground.

The report is recommending, among other priorities, providing financing tools for condos similar to the ones that exist for rental buildings, such as the Apartment Construction Loan Program by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC).

That program offers low-interest loans to developers to encourage them to build badly needed rentals.

“The apartment construction loan program is functioning very well and has stimulated levels of purpose-built rental that we haven’t seen in decades, which is amazing,” said Mattamy Homes Canada CEO Brad Carr, who is co-chair of the National Housing and Investment Initiative, the coalition behind the report, which includes leading developers and representatives from the big five banks. 

“The challenge is we believe that Canadians still want choice and they still want ownership as an option.”

The condo market has crashed, with preconstruction sales ground to a halt. Here’s what comes next.