Quebec Premier Says Cutting Tax on Rental Builds Very Expensive

Quebec, Canada’s second most populous province after Ontario, isn’t ready to follow the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in eliminating sales taxes on new rental apartment construction.

• “This is something that would be very expensive,” Quebec Premier Francois Legault told reporters in New York
• “We don’t think that this would be the most effective measure to help tenants in the short term,” Legault said, adding that other housing measures should be announced in the province’s next fiscal update
• Preliminary estimates from Quebec’s ministry of finance forecast a C$1.5 billion ($1.1 billion) cost to the province over a five-year period ...