can keep working safely, and to address the issues that are getting in the way of housing affordability – issues such as the rising cost of housing and record-high lumber prices. CHBA also wants to keep working with government to achieve their mutual goals – goals such as achieving a more energy-efficient housing future. Recently, the government made grants available for property owners who complete energy efficiency retrofits, and Kevin believes that’s a great start. “That’s a perfect thing to do as a stimulus, but it’s also something that achieves government policy,” he says. “The goal is to achieve GHG reductions in the housing sector, and it’s really important we do that in the existing housing stock. New housing is very efficient and getting even more efficient, but the existing housing stock is where most of our GHG emissions come from. So how do we get at that? This type of grant program is a great way.” At the same time, increasing the supply of new housing remains essentially important. Addressing that national shortage is one of the CHBA’s main priorities, and likely will be for a long time “We need to work with all levels of government to put the focus on housing supply,” Kevin says. “We really need to be able to build more homes at a faster pace. We need to eliminate some red tape. We need to follow the rules, but we need to make sure the rules are well aligned to the reality of the situation, because supply is the solution to the affordability challenge.” Of course, delivering that supply will take some time. In the meanwhile, government’s temptation is to take measures to suppress the demand, but the CHBA strongly cautions against that. “It’s not the solution,” Kevin says. “It’s not about demandsidemeasures and trying to cool the market. It’s about providing enough supply to be able to respond to that demand. We’re definitely going to be talking about that a lot.” CHBA will also be talking a lot about careers in residential construction. Like many industries, they have a lot of retirements coming up in the next decade, so there is plenty of opportunity for young people and new Canadians looking to get in. Moving forward, the association will be promoting that opportunity aggressively. In addition, CHBA will continue educating homeowners and homebuyers. They want to help consumers make smart decisions and keep them away from unscrupulous contractors looking to take advantage of them and tarnish the industry’s reputation in the process. To guide consumers in the right direction, the association has initiatives such as their RenoMark program – which recognizes renovators who abide by a code of conduct, so clients can make informed decisions about who they hire for the project – and campaigns such as ‘Get It in Writing!’ – which teaches homeowners to do their due diligence when hiring, and discourages them from cutting corners and not signing contracts. “We do a lot of work to educate homeowners and homebuyers on how to avoid risks,” Kevin says. “We want to help consumers do it right, just like we help our members.” APRIL 2022
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