Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland announced new rules on mortgages that will allow first-time homebuyers to take out 30-year loans when purchasing newly built homes. This change comes into effect on August 1, 2024.

The narrow casting of the 30-year amortization rules is intended to spur the onboarding of new supply.

Minister Freeland also announced changes to the Home Buyers Plan that will nearly double the amount first-time home buyers can withdraw from RRSPs to buy a home, to $60,000.

People who make such withdrawals between Jan. 1, 2022, and Dec. 31, 2025, are also getting more time to begin repayment - up to five years in total rather than two.

These changes were announced in advance of the 2024 Budget, set to be tabled on April 16, 2024, at 4pm.