Evidence of meeting #208 for Finance in the 42nd Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was payment.
A video is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
Say five years down the road we go the other way. Will there be a willingness to shrink the number of judges in the court system?
Senior counsel, Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada Legal services, Department of Justice
It would require another amendment to the Federal Courts Act to change the number.
Adèle Berthiaume
No. That's monitored on a regular basis to see what their workload is and how the court is dealing with it. We can't say ahead of time.
Those judges wouldn't be removed, because for judicial independence, once a judge is appointed, you wouldn't be able to do that, but the need for new judges, because of other initiatives, would be taken into consideration. We'd know that there are other things happening that will require those judges.
Senior counsel, Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada Legal services, Department of Justice
That's correct.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
As they move out of the system, there has to be some time we have to slow this increasing....
I'd better not get into that.
The cost of this, between judges salaries and court costs, and so on, is $1.65 million in the first year.
There's also a cost on the other side. If we're not dealing with these cases quickly enough, there are all the costs on that side, too. Do you have any idea what those costs are?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
I don't mean on the judge side. If we're not dealing with the asylum cases properly, we're paying some of those costs in terms of housing, and so on. Do you have any idea what the cost is on that side?
We're investing $1.65 million. I expect there has to be a balance or a return here somehow.
Senior counsel, Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada Legal services, Department of Justice
Do you mean, what would be the cost to the court if a backlog were...?
Liberal
Adèle Berthiaume
The impact is on all the other cases. It means that justice for other people who are involved in that system.... They are not getting—
Adèle Berthiaume
They're not getting justice and they're waiting a long time to get that. It bogs down the court and it therefore creates other effects also.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
It's a mushrooming effect.
Are there any other questions on the Federal Courts Act, on division 17? None?
Arnold, are you just stretching?
Thank you both.
We'll turn to division 18, concerning the National Housing Act.
Division 18 and division 19 officials are at the table, I'm told.
Who is to lead off?
Ms. Leach.
Cynthia, I'll let you introduce your folks, and we'll go from there on national housing.
Cynthia Leach Director, Housing Finance, Capital Markets Division, Financial Sector Policy Branch, Department of Finance
My name is Cynthia Leach. I'm the director of housing finance at the Department of Finance.
Robert Sample Director General, Capital Markets Division, Financial Sector Policy Branch, Department of Finance
I'm Robert Sample, director general of capital markets division at the Department of Finance.
David LeDrew Senior Advisor and Economist, Department of Finance
I'm David LeDrew, senior adviser, housing finance.
Director, Housing Finance, Capital Markets Division, Financial Sector Policy Branch, Department of Finance
Thank you.
Division 18 of part 4 amends the National Housing Act to allow CMHC, the legislative authority, to deliver the first-time homebuyer incentive announced in budget 2019.
The first-time homebuyer incentive is a unique financing model that will help make home ownership more affordable for first-time homebuyers. The incentive would provide eligible first-time homebuyers with funding of 5% or 10% of the home purchase price. This would give eligible first-time homebuyers the ability to lower their borrowing costs by sharing the costs of buying a home with CMHC. The buyer would repay the incentive later, for example, on resale.
The amendments allow CMHC to acquire an interest or right in a housing project that is occupied or intended to be occupied by the owner of the project and to make an investment in order to acquire such an interest or right. The amendments also clarify that the Minister of Finance will approve terms and conditions for the incentive program.
We're available for your questions.
Liberal
Liberal
Francesco Sorbara Liberal Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Is there any estimation of how many first-time homebuyers this plan would assist?
Director, Housing Finance, Capital Markets Division, Financial Sector Policy Branch, Department of Finance
The department has estimated that the program could assist up to 100,000 buyers over the three years.
Liberal
Francesco Sorbara Liberal Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON
When do we anticipate the structure to be put in place?
Director, Housing Finance, Capital Markets Division, Financial Sector Policy Branch, Department of Finance
As the budget announced, the implementation is planned for September for the first-time homebuyer incentive.