Beloeil, August 31, 2026 – The leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, Mr. Charles Milliard, is calling for ambitious action to address the housing crisis currently plaguing Quebec. To that end, he is presenting today the first phase of an ambitious housing plan aimed at eventually building 100,000 housing units per year in Quebec.
Over the course of two days, the Quebec Liberal Party will present its vision for putting housing back at the heart of Quebec’s priorities by addressing housing supply, affordability, homeownership, and the needs of those who face the greatest challenges in finding housing.
After denying the housing crisis for years, CAQ leader Christine Fréchette now claims that in certain regions, “the housing crisis is a thing of the past.” Her disconnect could not be more complete: Quebecers across all regions are finding that buying a home is becoming less and less affordable, especially for young families, and that the average rent has risen by nearly 50% since 2018.
In fact, the CAQ is the only government since 1971 to have seen a decline in the homeownership rate.
While the CAQ itself anticipates a gradual decline in the number of new housing units over the next few years, the Quebec Liberal Party refuses to address the shortage and instead proposes building more, faster, and at a lower cost.
Making Prefabricated Construction a True Priority in Quebec
To rapidly increase construction capacity in Quebec and reduce costs, the Quebec Liberal Party proposes:
- Set a target that 50% of housing units built with funding from the Société d’habitation du Québec (SHQ) be constructed using prefabricated methods. This target will provide greater predictability for companies in the sector and enable them to increase their production volumes and capacity over the long term;
- Establish an interest-free loan program at Investissement Québec to enable Quebec companies in the prefabricated construction sector to modernize their production lines, make investments, and increase their capacity.
Streamlining Permits and Authorizations
To build more, we must also reduce the delays that unnecessarily slow down projects. The Quebec Liberal Party proposes to:
- Implement a performance-based approach in partnership with municipalities to speed up the issuance of residential building permits. Additional financial incentives will be provided to high-performing municipalities, while those with longer processing times will receive support to help reduce them;
- Require the Quebec government to set a maximum timeframe when government authorization is required to begin construction.
The government must become a catalyst for projects, not an obstacle.
Put Quebec's capital to work to build in Quebec
- Allow Quebec real estate investors to defer payment of capital gains tax when they reinvest their profits in the construction of new housing, thereby promoting growth in real estate investment and stimulating the economy. The deferral will be allowed up to a maximum of one million dollars.
Train More Workers to Build More
Measures to promote better workforce training in construction-related fields will also be implemented:
- Update vocational training programs in the construction industry so that future graduates are up to date on new industry practices;
- Expand the COUD short-term training programs to include occupations in high demand in the construction sector.
Finally, a Liberal government will establish a Quebec Housing Observatory to collect independent data on housing in Quebec, so that all available data can be accessed in real time in one place. This tool will help better inform government decisions on housing.
In addition to this ambitious plan is the previously announced measure to refund 36% of the QST paid on a new house or condo, up to a maximum of $10,000.
“While Christine Fréchette claims that the housing crisis is behind us, too many families, young people, and middle-class Quebecers are finding it increasingly difficult to find housing. You don’t solve a crisis by declaring that it no longer exists. We need to build more, build faster, and build more affordably. Our goal is ambitious: 100,000 housing units per year. We will increase our construction capacity, reduce delays, attract more investment, and train the workers we need to make this happen.”
- Charles Milliard, Leader of the Quebec Liberal Party
