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Harper promises to introduce permanent home renovation tax credit if he is re-elected
8/8/2015 | Posted in Home Owners by Paul DeAdder | Back to Main Blog Page
![Stephen Harper Permanent Home Renovation Tax](http://crworks.com/partner/images/blog/105354/stephen-harper-49.jpg)
On the second full day of a campaign already deemed endless, Prime Minister Stephen Harper appeared in Toronto Tuesday to promise help for those who economists say mostly don’t need it.
In the heart of Toronto’s overheated housing market, where the average detached home now sells for more than $1 million, Harper vowed to make life better not for those struggling to enter the market, but for those who already own their own homes.
Speaking at a warehouse in North York — in Finance Minister Joe Oliver’s Eglinton-Lawrence riding — Harper promised to introduce a new, permanent home renovation tax credit if re-elected in October. The plan would be phased in, depending on economic conditions, during the 2016-17 fiscal year. It would cost the government approximately $1.5 billion annually.
“For most Canadians, the family home is their biggest asset and their most significant investment in their future financial security,” Harper said. “I’m therefore very pleased to announce that to help make it more affordable for Canadians to adapt their homes to their changing needs and to maintain and increase those houses’ values we will establish a new home renovation tax credit.”