in Canada, 1 in 10 households do not have a decent place to call home

On October 1, our CEO, Susan Zambonin, represented Habitat for Humanity Peterborough & Kawartha Region (Habitat PKR) at Habitat on the Hill in Ottawa, joining her colleagues from Habitat for Humanity affiliates across Canada. Together, they advocated for a crucial change in federal policy: the removal of GST/HST on non-profit affordable housing builds. The need for affordable housing has never been more urgent. Last year, 318 families reached out to Habitat PKR, expressing their critical need for affordable housing. While it’s commendable that the federal government has exempted purpose-built rentals from HST, affordable homeownership remains overlooked. Each new home we build incurs an average HST cost of $50,000. In 2022 alone, local Habitat affiliates paid a staggering $2.7 million in GST/HST—funds that could have been redirected to building more homes for families in need.