“It is not going to solve all of their problems, I am not claiming that, but it’s a little bit of help,” Freeland said after a meeting with constituents in Toronto earlier this week.

Royal Bank of Canada, which was among the first to launch the program in April, said that clients have already opened “tens of thousands” of accounts to date. The bank estimated that over a quarter of these accounts have already reached the maximum annual amount.

“What [home buyers] really were saying is this is a crisis, and this is an intergenerational crisis, and I really recognize that,” Freeland said. “I really believe that it is important for us at the federal level, the provincial level, the municipal level, to put forward all the tools we can to resolve this crisis.”

Contrary to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s recent statements, academics argue that housing remains a direct federal responsibility. https://t.co/n4mDyZlPqU#mortgagenews #mortgageindustry #housingmarket #housingpolicy

— Canadian Mortgage Professional Magazine (@CMPmagazine) August 10, 2023

Housing supply challenges linger

Freeland acknowledged that while the Liberal administration is “laser-focused” on solving supply challenges, more needs to be done to ensure a faster pace of home building and address the country’s long-running affordability issues.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has estimated that an additional 3.5 million new units need to be built across Canada by 2030 just to bring prices back to manageable levels.