Pierre Poilievre pledges to abolish GST on new homes under $1 million

Says will push provinces to do the same

OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says if his party forms government, it will scrap the federal sales tax on new homes sold for less than $1 million and push provinces to do the same.

Poilievre made the case for the cut in a six-minute video published online yesterday, arguing governments are partly to blame for high home prices because they’re charging too much in sales taxes.

The Conservatives estimate the new measure will reduce the cost of an $800,000 home by $40,000 and spur construction of another 30,000 homes per year.

Poilievre said he would pay for the tax cut by scrapping Liberal housing policy.

That includes the housing accelerator fund which offers home building money to cities if they adjust bylaws and regulations that are considered barriers to new construction.

The Liberal government also scrapped GST charges on new apartment builds last year to encourage more rental construction but the New Democratic Party and Conservatives said they would only keep that cut for affordable or below-market price rentals.