Ottawa – By making it easier for homeowners to add secondary suites to their existing homes, we can build the supply of homes Canada needs to make housing more affordable for every generation.
Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, and Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, announced the 2024 Fall Economic Statement will double the loan limit for the Canada Secondary Suite Loan Program to $80,000, and launch the program in early 2025. This will make it easier for homeowners to convert an unused basement into a rental apartment or a garage into a laneway home to increase density in our communities.
By doubling the loan limit from $40,000 to $80,000, more homeowners will be able to access the low-interest financing they need to add a secondary suite to their home. This will make it cheaper for homeowners to do so through 15-year loan terms at a low-interest rate of just 2 per cent.
In addition to the Secondary Suite Loan Program, starting January 15, 2025, homeowners will also be able to refinance with insured mortgages to help cover the cost of adding a secondary suite. Specifically, lenders and insurers will begin allowing mortgage refinancing of up to 90 per cent of the post-renovation value of their home up to $2 million, amortized over a period of up to 30 years. Homeowners will be able to make use of both the loan program and mortgage financing to help cover the cost of adding a secondary suite.
Beyond helping homeowners increase Canada’s supply of rental housing, we’re also making the boldest mortgage reforms in decades to unlock homeownership for Canadians. Starting December 15, 2024, new mortgage rules will lower downpayment requirements for homes valued between $1 million and $1.5 million, and expand the availability of 30-year amortizations to reduce monthly mortgage payments for all first-time home buyers and all purchasers of new builds.
This is just one of many measures in the 2024 Fall Economic Statement to build more homes, faster. Alongside further investments in our ambitious housing plan, we’re also putting more money in Canadians’ pockets and investing in innovation, productivity, and power generation, to ensure Canadians have good-paying job opportunities that help them get ahead.
“Our government already has the most ambitious housing plan in Canadian history—a plan to build 4 million homes. In the forthcoming Fall Economic Statement, alongside doing more to build the homes Canadians need, faster, we’re making further investments to put more money in Canadians’ pockets, grow the economy, and create more good-paying jobs. And we are doing this in a way that maintains Canada’s G7 leadership in fiscal responsibility.” – Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
“By providing low cost loans for homeowners to create new homes on their existing property, we’re going to create more spaces for folks to live, stay and rent across Canada.” – Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities