Canada is building at half the 500,000-home target—and building young people into renters

**Editorial Summary** This submission argues that federal housing policy—through GST exemptions for rentals, capital cost allowances, and developer subsidies combined with taxes on ownership housing—has predictably shifted construction toward rentals (58% of starts) while ownership housing heads toward 30-year lows, contrary to stated affordability goals. The piece is structurally strong with concrete data (June starts at 238,971 units, 81% apartments, 40% of young renters have given up on ownership) and proposes specific policy solutions (HST rebate modernization, GST extension to primary residences, development charge reductions).