What the Conservative Party would do for our industry

For today’s Federal Election, here is a recap of the Conservative Party policies directly relating to our industry.

The incumbent government makes its best pitch to the home building and renovation industry by emphasizing and re-booting programmes that have been popular in the past:

* Raise the amount that first-time home-buyers can draw out of their RRSPs to buy a first house from $25,000 to $35,000 without penalty. The homebuyer would still have to pay back the funds within 15 years without the benefit of the RRSP contribution tax credit while replenishing the money.

* Re-introduce and make permanent the Home Renovation Tax Credit (HRTC). The credit would be a 15% annual credit on renovations between $1,000 and $5,000. This is also seen as a way to reduce the impact of the underground economy within the renovation industry estimated by Statistics Canada to $42.4 billion.

*A 15% Home Accessibility Tax Credit, to help Canadians “age in place.” This credit would apply on a annual maximum of $10,000 of eligible home renovation expenditures– a potential tax bill reduction of $1,500.

* The Conservatives claim that these and other measures will result in 700,000 new Canadian homeowners by 2020 and contribute considerably to the creation of 1.2 million new jobs nationally over the next four years.