‘Many are just hanging on’: US trade uncertainty shakes Niagara’s building industry as federal leaders struggle with plans

In February, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation released its outlook for the year ahead. It was  bleak. 

“With Canada’s economic future facing significant uncertainty due to changes in U.S. trade policies, the Canadian housing market could face considerable headwinds in both the short and medium term,” the report warned. 

The next month, housing starts plummeted 12.5 percent compared to March last year.

Then on March 4th, U.S. President Donald Trump officially launched the trade war he had been threatening, imposing a 25 percent tariff on goods not compliant with the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) and 10 percent on energy and critical minerals. 

He eventually backed off from imposing tariffs on most Canadian goods but the chaos has created a sense of uncertainty that has deeply disrupted supply chains across Ontario’s construction industry.

The effects are being felt particularly hard in the home building sector, which is facing pressure to create more supply to address the ongoing affordability crisis. 

The impact of US economic uncertainty on Niagara has many worried the housing sector could face delays and slower construction timelines.

(Centennial Homes) 

The Ontario Home Builder’s Association has warned that the impact of cross-border uncertainty will be felt deep and wide.

“We will undoubtedly see less housing starts, ongoing projects halt, and completed projects struggle to close. Even the threat of tariffs over the last couple of months has already created considerable uncertainty and hurt the industry,” the organization cautioned a month ago, noting Ontario’s housing starts dropped 16 percent last year. “These tariffs are effectively pulling the rug out from under the housing sector.”

“I spoke to a builder recently who sold two houses in all of 2024. The market is already in a bad place, and there’s no saying how bad the fallout from this additional threat will be,” Scott Andison, CEO of the OHBA, warned in the same press release. “Builders across the province are struggling to survive, and this unwarranted act of economic aggression is going to be even more devastating for them.”

At the centre of the issue is the cost of Development Charges or DCs, the fees builders are charged to cover the creation of local public infrastructure that residents who move into newly constructed homes require. From waste collection to sewer and stormwater systems, roads, police and fire services to community centres, someone has to pay for all the local services people need.

The issue of who should pay for these development charges has reached the federal campaign. 

The Liberals have released a housing plan that proposes to reduce “red tape” and cut municipal development charges in half for multi-unit residential housing while working with provinces “to keep municipalities whole.” Cutting or reducing DCs usually shifts the burden onto local property taxpayers.

The Conservative Party of Canada has made similar promises. Earlier this month, Pierre Poilievre said a Conservative government would “start by firing the gatekeepers who block housing construction instead of giving them massive bonuses.” His Party will require cities to free up land, speed up permits and cut development charges to build 15 percent more homes each year. For municipalities that miss their target, the federal government will withhold federal funding, “equal to how much they miss their target by.” Municipalities that fail to meet their target will also be required to build even more homes the following year. Critics have blown holes through his threats to municipalities, pointing out that it is the development industry that typically creates the roadblocks, with municipalities issuing building permits in a system that has worked for decades, only to see builders stall construction because market conditions including financing costs are not ideal for the profit margins they demand.

Recent uncertainty caused by economic turmoil south of the border has added to the problems for builders.

“The economic uncertainty around tariffs will lead investors to be extremely cautious before starting any new projects, which means the progress made towards increasing supply in recent years will be eroded,” the Ontario Home Builders Association said last month. “And where available financial capital cannot get a reasonable return, it usually flees the jurisdiction. This would not be good for Ontario or Canada.”

Tired of the chaos caused by the on-again, off-again tariffs, Peter Turskstra, CEO of Turkstra Lumber, has turned to the local municipalities in Niagara for a measure of relief. The company opened in 1953 and now has 11 locations across Ontario.

In a video posted to YouTube and emailed to all mayors and councillors from Niagara to Toronto, Turkstra urged them to provide any measure of relief they could to the housing sector, including a reduction in building fees and development charges.

He begged the mayors to consider "immediate change”, noting “time is of the essence”, and that a failure to act would harm employment in the construction industry and cripple local businesses.

He asked them to consider reducing municipal development charges to builders at every stage of construction and to speed up bureaucratic processes that hurt business.

“I am definitely worried about the trickle down effect,” Turkstra told The Pointer. “With the current market reality, these tariffs could not have come at a worst time. Many are just hanging on and if the effects of rising development charges and permit fees continue, the ramifications will be devastating.”

He said municipalities are “creating chaos” within the construction industry, and if the slowdown continues, it will start to impact the tradespeople who rely on homebuilders for work. 

Peter Turkstra, C.E.O and Owner of Turkstra Lumber and Turkstra Industries, wants municipalities to help construction businesses.

(Turkstra Lumber/Youtube)

Turkstra expressed disappointment at the almost total lack of response from mayors and councillors across Niagara.

Locally, only Mayor Jim Diodatti in Niagara Falls and Mayor Mat Siscoe in St. Catharines responded, but neither appeared to take his concerns to heart. 

Mayor Diodati blamed home construction delays on the two-tiered system of government in the region—which some speculated during the provincial election would soon be dismantled by Premier Doug Ford—but did not address Turkstra’s request for relief from municipal building fees, which can be more than $100,000 for some units (known as development charges or DCs, these charges cover the costs to create local infrastructure). 

Siscoe claimed the City’s DCs are “among the lowest in Ontario”.  

Diodatti and Siscoe ignored the request to create a committee to find solutions as the ongoing housing crisis impacts buyers, and builders struggling in an uncertain market.  

Turkstra pointed to municipalities like Vaughan and Mississauga, which have taken steps to reduce DCs for certain types of construction. 

In November, Vaughan dropped its DC rates to encourage the construction of homes that are in demand. According to the City, prior to the rate reduction the DCs for a single low-rise home or semi-detached home was $94,466. Under the changes it was reduced to $50,193.

In January, Mississauga temporarily lowered DCs and property taxes for purpose-built rental units. The City also reduced residential DCs by 50 percent and reduced 100 percent of all DCs for three-bedroom units in purpose built rental apartments for all projects that require building permits before November 13, 2026.

Turkstra says municipal action is needed immediately, but it’s unclear who would cover the costs of reducing or eliminating local building fees.

“The problems are not only tariffs, we have Canadian issues of our own. Our most significant issues, even before tariff threats, are ineffective municipal policy, with a lack of support for development.”

The Pointer's 2025 federal election coverage is partly supported by the Covering Canada: Election 2025 Fund. 

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