One of the main ways to encourage the construction of more homes over the next decade is to remove barriers to home ownership, according to the Canadian Home Builders Association.

The association met with government and industry leaders in Ottawa last week to stress the need for a Canada housing supply plan.

The Executive Director of the NL branch of the CHBA, Alexis Foster, says the process for first-time homebuyers is not as easy as it once was, and there has been a 2.5 per cent decrease in home ownership since 2011.

She says they’re encouraging the Bank of Canada to continue lowering interest rates, to extend the amortization rate to 30 years for new buyers and new builds, and to lower the stress test to buy a home.

That test, she explains, has “overcorrected the market”, and the number of people who have missed three months of payments are at “historic lows.”

She says the feds have tightened the system too much, meaning that people who want to buy homes can’t. She says their builders can’t build homes if people aren’t there to buy them.