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31 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,M arch 7,2019 insidehalton.com Let the fun and games begin! We are excited to continue our partnership with Upward Sports Canada who we have teamed up for our March Break Camp. Together we are hosting an exciting week long program from March 11th - 15th at KSM that includes sports, games and traditional camp activities. Camp is open to all Kerr Street Mission After School Program children and their families, who will surely benefit from this week of fun and games. Our youth will even have the opportunity to serve as Junior leaders during camp. Any interested youth, please reach out to us. If you would like to learn more about Kerr Street Mission, our programs and how you can support us, please reach out. KSM. 485 Kerr Street, Oakville. 905.845-7485. Charitable Reg. No. 897106845RR0001 Saturday,April 27th 10am - 5pm one day only! Ontario Science Centre Find the resources you need! free admissionComplementary Caregiver Resource Guide Free on-site massagesregister to avoid the lines atwww.caregivershow.ca Get Help for your loved ones Areyou A child of Aging pArentswith increAsing medicAl needs? Sponsor / Exhibitor opportunities available Contact ronit WHite at rwhite@metroland.com or 416-774-2247 BROUGHT TOYOU BY: & The Canadian Home Builders' Association (CHBA) recently met with Members of Parlia- ment and Senators to provide practical so- lutions to address the housing affordability challenges facing Canadians today, including millennials and new Canadians. "Our CHBA members from across Canada, residential construction industry leaders from large and small communities from coast to coast, are on Parliament Hill to deliver one message to federal parliamentarians: it is time to unlock the door to homeownership," said CHBA CEO Kevin Lee. "It is an election year, and people across Canada, especially millen- nials and new Canadians, see homeownership under threat. CHBA's membership has been gravely concerned about decreasing afford- ability for years, and last year's implementation of the stress test has added more challenges. There are indeed steps that Parliamentarians can take to help Canadians achieve their goal of homeownership, and our members are here to discuss CHBA's recommendations." CHBA's recommendations: CHBA's primary recommendations are to take action immediately to address the mort- gage system given today's changed economic conditions and the challenges facing buyers, industry, and local economies: Action 1: Mortgage Rules - Fix the stress test by introducing a varied stress test tied to the mortgage term and conditions and rein- troduce 30-year insured mortgages for well- qualified first-time buyers. Once that is done, there are also several ad- ditional actions that can be taken to address the more complex issues of housing afford- ability: Action 2 - Tax System Adjustments: can af-Action 2 - Tax System Adjustments: can af-Action 2 - Tax System Adjustments: can af fect positive changes for buyers by increasing limits to the First-time Homebuyers Plan and increasing the GST/HST rebate thresholds to reflect today's market prices. Action 3 - Avoid Adding Cost through Codes: by adopting affordability as a core ob- jective of the National Building Code; and in- vest in innovation and R&D for lower or neutral costs solutions to address energy efficiency, climate adaptation & resilience, accessibil- ity & visitability and health & safety to ensure any future code changes are affordable before implementation. Action 4 - Address Climate Change through Renovation: by introducing an energy retrofit tax credit that uses the EnerGuide Rating Sys- tem. Action 5 - Use Federal Levers to Help Sup- ply: by collecting and sharing better data re- garding housing supply issues across Canada; and leverage federal transit investments and federal land write downs to incent affordable, market-rate, mixed-use, mixed-income com- munities. A national poll conducted in 2018 by Earn- scliffe Strategy Group for CHBA found that three out of four Canadians think when you are middle class you should be able to own a home, but 76 per cent think soon only the rich will be able to afford to own a home. Two in three think changes are needed to help would- be first-time homebuyers. And now in a Janu- ary 2019 CHBA survey of its members, 95 per cent of builders and developers are reporting that the stress test implemented last year is having a negative impact on their sales. The same survey showed a 33 per cent drop, year- over-year, in sales to first-time home buyers. "The combination of changing economic times and mortgage rule changes has really put would-be first time home buyers at a dis- advantage. If implemented, CHBA's recom- mendations, would make a big difference in the lives of thousands of young families and new Canadians across the country looking to secure their financial futures by accessing homeownership," said Lee. "We are hopeful that parliamentarians will join us in our call to unlock the door to homeownership. We must work together to return Canada to a country where hard-working young families and new Canadians have a fair chance to realize their dream of homeownership." Canadian Home Builders' Association spends a Day on the Hill and Condominiums