In Canada, we’re already in a housing crunch. According to Scott Andison, the CEO of the Ontario Home Builders' Association (OHBA), tariffs will make it that much worse. Every year, Canada exports more than $35 billion in steel and aluminum down to the U.S. We also import about $20 billion of it back. Steel is a crucial component for new housing. Multi-family condo buildings, apartment buildings and purpose-built rentals are all made with aluminum studs to frame walls, ceilings and floors. They also use structural steam I-beams that support the weight of buildings. The minerals for these are harvested in Canada, shipped across the border for processing and manufacturing, then brought back to Canada. If an I-beam cost $500 per unit before, it could now cost us $$750. With steel and aluminum potentially caught in the first round of tariffs—and Trump’s threats to double the tariffs to 50 per cent—Andison expects multi-family condos and apartment buildings to be hit hard. Potential lumber tariffs, meanwhile, will affect single-family homes all over Canada. We’ll see fewer housing starts, ongoing projects slow to a halt and completed projects struggle to close. No element of the home-building market is safe. https://lnkd.in/g3hqtRSa
