And thanks to advocacy from groups like Fusion Charlottetown, the province looks poised to walk back a proposal that would have undercut its own progress on housing supply.

Hopefully, the government can use today's CMHC numbers to come up with a new approach.

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This is a success story for all orders of government - feds on HAF and GST rebates, the province on its Building Together incentives and matching PST rebates, and the munis on their land use reform like Charlottetown's ambitious draft new official plan. This is worth celebrating.

It's frustrating to see a department explore adding more barriers to interprovincial trade and investment at a time when province as a whole is trying to lead a broader campaign to eliminate them.

If PEI is serious about ending the housing crisis, we need to get the focus back on building housing.

If you’re trying to return/plant roots on PEI, this Cabinet veto would make you explore alternative housing plans like:

-buying a home in a non-planning area (reinforcing sprawl)
-competing with incumbent tenants for a rental unit
-just taking your investment to another province

And because of how “non-resident” is defined in the Act, all property sales in larger urban centres could end up getting vetoed by Cabinet if the purchaser is a born-and-raised Islander who wants to return to PEI after living away. How would this make Islanders want to move back?

Ostensibly, the change is being made to address housing speculation and investment.

But when looking at resident occupancy and investor ownership of PEI’s housing stock, it's more of an issue in rural and non-planning communities – where the Cabinet veto wouldn’t even apply.

It’s currently illegal for non-residents to hold 5+ acres of land in any type of community. This change would Cabinet allow cabinet to veto non-resident purchases of any property of an acre or less munis with official planning (in green), but not for the rest of PEI.

There are some risks: Permits don't necessarily lead to a housing start, and a housing start might not translate to a housing completion. PEI construction is also somewhat exposed to the current trade war over steel-related products.

But overall there is room for optimism.

With the launch of the federal election, this snapshot should give a good idea to candidates in PEI's four ridings of how residents are voting with their feet. The campaigns have the opportunity to meet voters where they are - especially if they want them to stay on the Island.

The West and the rest of Atlantic Canada appear to be the prime destinations for interprovincial outmigration - particularly to communities where homebuilding has been strong like Calgary, Edmonton, Moncton, and Halifax.

PEI’s non-permanent resident population fell by over 500 people in 2024 mainly due to cuts in international student and temporary worker numbers. Although the non-permanent resident share of PEI’s population is falling, interprovincial outmigration will make that target harder to reach.

This is a good moment for PEI construction with interest rates low and momentum up. But tariffs on materials could contribute to inflation and make construction harder in the months ahead.

That's why we can't delay bringing in important policy tools like new official plans and updated zoning rules.

And if you look at the year-to-date progress for purpose built rental construction, the 2025 Jan-Feb number of rental starts in the region is more than that of the nine previous years combined.

If this momentum continues, it will be a record year for housing in Charlottetown.