Canadian Residential
TORONTO, September 19, 2023 – Starlight Developments, one of Canada’s leading developers of purpose-built rental housing, applauds the Government of Canada’s commitment to eliminate the GST tax from the construction of new rental apartment buildings. The organization is also pleased to hear of the Government of Ontario and the Government of British Columbia’s intentions to remove the provincial portion of the HST from new rental housing construction and PST from some construction costs affiliated with purpose-built rentals.
As one of the most active developers in Canada, the cumulative elimination of provincial and federal sales taxes will allow Starlight Developments to accelerate its construction of more purpose-built residential rental suites, supporting all levels of government with their respective commitments to increasing the supply of high-quality attainable rental housing suites across Canada.
“Collectively, the combination of federal and provincial taxes is the largest expense in most rental project budgets. The reduction of these taxes will lower the cost of labour and materials, and allow homebuilders, like Starlight Developments, to reinvest capital in building more homes faster – directly increasing the attainable housing supply,” said David Chalmers, President, Canadian Residential. “We are proud to be building thousands of new homes annually in communities across Canada.”
Starlight Developments is positioned to commence construction on 1,200 new residential rental projects by 2024 and an additional 1,800 new rental suites in 2025. In total, Starlight Developments is on track to build up to 28,000 new residential rental suites in the next ten years, with a goal to exceed this target in response to the federal government’s announcement.
Starlight Developments believes in complete communities, and we are proud to be one of Canada’s leading developers of purpose-built rental housing, office, retail, and mixed-use developments. We are actively engaged with the communities where we operate and are committed to the health and safety of our residents, employees and neighbours.