Canadian PM Trudeau, under fire over housing crisis, vows to help renters

FILE PHOTO: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets with Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa (not pictured) on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, March 5, 2024. REUTERS/Blair Gable/File Photo

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose Liberal government is under heavy pressure over a housing crisis, on Wednesday said that next month’s budget would contain measures to help renters.

“Renters matter and young Canadians put a lot of their hard-earned money towards rent. We think that should count for a lot more,” Trudeau told a televised press conference in Vancouver.

The Liberals are struggling to address a major housing shortage caused by high interest rates, soaring property prices, the sluggish pace of new housing developments and a record influx of immigrants.

Recent opinion polls show the Liberals are set to lose power to the official opposition Conservatives in an election that has to be held by late October 2025.

Trudeau on Wednesday said the April 16 budget would include C$15 million for legal aid organizations to protect tenants against unfairly rising rent payments and bad landlords. It would also ensure that renters get credit for on-time rent payments when they apply for a mortgage for their first home.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Leslie Adler)