While housing has not taken centre stage in the Canadian election, issues such as the economy and the environment have produced a lot of promises from the major political parties -- and many of the promises are designed to woo homeowners' votes. A recent survey for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation showed that Canadians are wary of election promises. By a two-to-one margin, we're more likely to believe in the existence of Bigfoot than in the validity of pledges made by politicians on the election trail.

The biggest housing news to emerge during the campaign was approved by the current Conservative government just before the election was called. On September 4, the government renewed funding for three housing and homelessness programs, pledging $387.9 million per year for five years, to March 31, 2014. The other political parties cried foul, since news of this renewal didn't emerge until after the election campaign had begun.

The programs that received renewed funding include the Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program, which provides financial assistance to low-income homeowners for major and necessary home repairs to heating, structural, electrical, plumbing and fire safety systems. This program has operated since 1973.

Also renewed was the Affordable Housing Initiative, which provides funds for housing units that rent or sell for below median market prices. The government has agreements with all the provinces and territories to cost-match the federal contribution for these projects. The program, which dates back to 2001, has been criticized for not producing as many units as are required and for spending less money than promised.

The third program to be renewed by the Conservatives is the Homelessness Partnering Initiative, which has created 150 new shelters across Canada. While homelessness isn't getting a lot of attention during this campaign, it's the number one issue for residents of Vancouver and Victoria, according to a survey by the Columbia Institute.

The New Democratic Party, in its election platform, is taking credit for successfully pressuring the Conservatives "to abandon cuts to homelessness and housing initiatives." It also says, "Earlier, when Jack Layton wrote the 2005 Liberal budget, he redirected $1.6 billion out of corporate tax cuts to build affordable housing instead."

This refers to the budget of a Liberal minority government led by Paul Martin, which formed a coalition with the NDP to pass a non-confidence motion in 2005. The bill was passed and when the Conservative government took over, $1.4 billion was authorized to be spent on three Affordable Housing Trusts. The money was allocated to the provinces and territories, which used it for existing programs or for new housing programs.

The Green Party's election platform says, "Funding for social housing needs to be dramatically increased." It promises to create an affordable housing program that would build 20,000 new and 10,000 rehabilitated homes every year for the next 10 years, "using capital grants and changes in tax and mortgage insurance regulations."

The Greens also promise to provide rent supplements or shelter assistance for an additional 40,000 low-income households per year for 10 years; to provide credit and loan guarantees to non-profit housing organizations and co-operatives; to subsidize private developers to include a percentage of affordable housing in the projects; and to offer tax incentives to build "affordable, healthy, energy-efficient, multi-unit rental housing."

To help cities fund infrastructure, the Green Party pledges to create a Municipal Registered Retirement Savings Plan bond that can be held in RRSPs and self-directed RRSPs. "In February 2006 alone, Canadians bought $8 billion in mutual funds," says the Green Party's platform. "Imagine if even half of that was available to our communities."

The party also promises one per cent from the GST will go to municipalities for "Green Cities" initiatives, "ensuring (through contractual agreements) that the funding is not used in ways that encourage urban sprawl, but instead to reduce sprawl and greenhouse gas emissions…"

As part of its platform to help the environment, the Liberal party says it will provide incentives for "green" home improvements. "Our objective is to retrofit 50 per cent of all Canada's homes and buildings by 2020, and 100 per cent by 2030," says the party's platform.

The Liberals say they would double the current federal financial incentives for energy saving home retrofits, providing up to $10,000 for improvements such as adding insulation, weather proofing and efficient heating systems. It would also introduce "interest-free Green Home Mortgage loans of up to $10,000 per household" to help pay for major energy upgrades such as geothermal or solar heating.

The Liberals also promise a $140-million Low-Income Homes Retrofit Partnership Fund. It will also upgrade energy-efficiency standards in the national building codes and encourage the provinces to make sure the guidelines are adopted across the country.

The party says it will implement at 10-year, $70-billion plan to invest in infrastructure, and will honour all existing framework agreements. It says if there is any "unanticipated surplus" of funds beyond a $3-billion contingency reserve, the extra money will go towards infrastructure.

The Conservatives have criticized the other parties for making promises they won't be able to afford. However, they have also made a promise for first-time homeowners – a tax credit for up to $5,000 of the closing costs of a new home.

There may be many more election promises before the election on October 14, but whether there will be any Bigfoot sightings remains to be seen.

Published: September 30, 2008

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Jim Adair is editor of REM: Canada's Real Estate Magazine, a business publication for real estate agents and brokers. He is also consulting editor of Homes & Cottages, Canada's largest building and renovation magazine. Email jimhc@pathcom.com.