Housing starts in New Brunswick lagging further behind Maritime neighbours in early 2024 | CBC News
The New Brunswick government missed its target for new housing starts in 2023 by a wide margin but says it is still not interested in cutting sales taxes on new apartmentbuilds in 2024, despite provinces that have tried the idea experiencing a surge in new construction.Figures show Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia saw construction starton new apartments at a rate three times higher than New Brunswick during the first three months of 2024, after they moved to lower construction costs by cutting taxes.Kelvin Ndoro, a housing analyst with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, said eliminating sales taxes on new rental developments does appear to be helping to get housing built more quickly in provinces that adopted the policy, at least in the shortterm."The general view from the developing communityis the HST rebates are expeditingongoing projects," said Ndoro.Last September, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the federal government was making good on a mothballed 2015 ele...