The federal government is proposing a $1.7-billion fund to help provinces and territories lower the cost of homebuilding.

The federal funding is meant to help provinces reduce development fees or other levies on new housing to speed up the pace of construction in Canada.

The money can also be used to boost productivity in construction and reduce internal trade barriers between provinces and territories to help get more homes built.

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Housing Minister Gregor Robertson are announcing the spending plan today on Parliament Hill.

While Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government has set an ambitious goal of doubling the pace of homebuilding in Canada, the hodgepodge of regulations, zoning restrictions and other barriers across provincial and municipal jurisdictions has been an obstacle to scaling up construction.

The new funding depends on the Liberals passing legislation in the House of Commons and comes a day after Ontario announced it is working with Ottawa to temporarily remove the harmonized sales tax from some newly built homes for one year.

More to come…