Ontario Construction News staff writer
Affordable housing, skills training, strategic infrastructure and the future of energy were at the top of the agenda when Canada’s premiers met in Halifax this week.
The premiers also had a message for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: Stay in your lane.
“Every federal budget, we see more and more new programs in provincial jurisdictions,” Quebec Premier François Legault said Monday. “Enough is enough.”
Ahead of this year’s gathering of the Council of the Federation, chair and Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston sent a letter to Trudeau asking him to do a better job of engaging with the premiers and to “refrain from unilateral actions in areas of provincial and territorial jurisdiction, particularly in health care, education and housing.”
“We are asking you to work with us in a true partnership to revitalize cooperative federalism in Canada,” the letter reads.
“We hope this letter will serve as an invitation to engage with premiers on ways to renew our relationship so that we can collectively deliver for Canadians. Canadians expect their governments to work together.”
While the federal government is making efforts to improve the availability and affordability of housing, premiers from all provinces are urging consideration for the increasing and changing pressures on the demand for housing, including the impact of population growth, and the significant number of asylum seekers in some areas.
Premiers support a fair distribution of asylum seekers across Canada corresponding to provincial and territorial capacity to provide housing and other supports and services and are urging the federal government must provide appropriate funding for these costs.
Also, the federal government is not providing adequate funding to meet the housing needs of Indigenous communities and must accelerate investments to address the acute housing needs of Indigenous communities, both on and off-reserve, and meaningfully engage with provinces and territories and Indigenous governments and organizations to ensure coordinated action on Indigenous housing.
Premiers also discussed the negative impact of the federal government’s $625 million funding cut to Labour Market Transfer Agreements (LMTA) when the country is facing pressing labour shortages, including in key sectors such as home construction.
Strategic infrastructure
Premiers say they are “extremely dismayed” that the 2024 federal budget did not include a successor to the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) or a new National Trade Corridors Fund, which have both provided key investments in connecting communities, facilitating trade, and driving economic growth.
They now asking the federal government to quickly engage provinces and territories on the new Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund (CHIF) and ensure a flexible approach that enables support for local and diverse priorities.
The CHIF provides $6 billion in federal funding over 10 years with even more restrictive conditions than ICIP which was valued at $33 billion over 10 years. Premiers call on the federal government to restore funding levels.
Future of energy
The future of energy was also on the table, including long-term priorities for the generation and use of energy, such as building sustainable renewable energy and critical mineral supply chains, growing energy exports, decarbonizing their economies, and cultivating new and emerging sectors.
With global factors continuing to shape the world’s energy landscape, provinces and territories are seizing opportunities to provide energy security to North America and to supply the world with dependable and ethically produced energy and critical minerals. Natural resources, such as critical minerals, are under provincial and territorial jurisdiction but the federal government can and needs to do more to reduce duplication and streamline project approvals and work with provinces and territories to ensure an attractive investment climate to help enable these products to reach global markets.