OTTAWA, Nov. 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canada’s five (5) largest residential rental real estate investments trusts (REITs) announce the launch of ForAffordable.ca, a new website from Canadian rental housing providers that sets out the facts on how residential REITs operate in Canada’s rental market, as well as their ideas for helping to solve Canada’s housing supply and affordability crisis.
ForAffordable.ca has been developed by Canadian rental housing providers for affordable housing, which is made up of Canada’s five largest publicly traded residential rental REITs: Canadian Apartment Properties REIT (CAPREIT), Boardwalk REIT, Killam Apartment REIT, InterRent REIT and Minto Apartment REIT.
“Canada is experiencing the worst crisis of housing affordability and supply in a generation. Put simply, there just haven’t been enough new homes built to match the country’s population growth. That is making housing less affordable for an increasing number of Canadians,” said Mark Kenney, President and CEO of CAPREIT. “Governments across Canada are looking for solutions to this historic challenge, but some of the discussion around solutions has been driven by misperceptions about how REITs do business. ForAffordable.ca aims to make sure that policymakers’ search for workable solutions is informed by facts and evidence.”
Canadian residential rental REITs deeply understand that housing is first and foremost about people. They know that safe, affordable, quality homes are the safe harbour of Canadian family life in all of its diversity. Housing is the vital thread that connects and enlivens the fabric of livable cities, towns, and villages.
ForAffordable.ca sets out the facts about how Canadian rental housing providers for affordable housing do business and how they’re taxed, including:
As owners and managers of affordable rental units in Canada, residential rental REITs also have insight into what is needed to deliver the housing Canada needs and the homes Canadians want.
ForAffordable.ca lays out comprehensive proposals that these providers have shared with governments, including:
ForAffordable.ca provides access to the group’s submission to the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Finance’s (FINA) Pre-Budget Consultations as well as a Fall 2022 study by Ernst & Young which demonstrates that changing the tax treatment of REITs would disincentivize needed investment in residential supply, put upward pressure on rents, and have a marginal — and possibly negative — impact on government revenues.
Delivering the housing Canada needs and the homes Canadians want requires a partnership between housing providers, governments, and civil society to make needed policy changes and invest the necessary capital. Learn more by visiting ForAffordable.ca.
For more information, please contact:
Boardwalk REIT
Sam Kolias, Chairman and CEO
[email protected]
Canadian Apartment Properties REIT
Mark Kenney, President & CEO
[email protected]
InterRent REIT
Mike McGahan, Executive Chair
[email protected]
Killam Apartment REIT
Philip Fraser, President & CEO
[email protected]
Minto Apartment REIT
Michael Waters, CEO
[email protected]