{"id":269573,"date":"2021-06-23T10:30:20","date_gmt":"2021-06-23T14:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/issues\/federal-tax-policy-incentivizes-demolition-over-reuse\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T23:35:52","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T03:35:52","slug":"federal-tax-policy-incentivizes-demolition-over-reuse","status":"publish","type":"issues","link":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2021\/06\/federal-tax-policy-incentivizes-demolition-over-reuse\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal tax policy incentivizes demolition over reuse"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em>\u201cYou have, ladies and gentlemen, to give this much to the Luftwaffe. When it knocked down our buildings, it didn&#8217;t replace them with anything more offensive than rubble. We did that.\u201d \u2013 <\/em>Built-heritage advocate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/archive\/lifestyle\/1990\/02\/22\/prince-charles-architectures-royal-pain\/a894629c-c0a4-41d5-be83-e4da62a9f90f\/\"><em>HRH Prince Charles<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>As we envision postpandemic social changes to our urban environment, we must do so within the context of policy changes needed to sustain our existing building stock \u2013 including our dwindling built-heritage inventory.<\/p>\n<p>It might be surprising to many that Canada is the <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.nationaltrustcanada.ca\/sites\/www.heritagecanada.org\/files\/Legal%20Protection%20for%20Historic%20Places%20Under%20Federal%20Jurisdiction.pdf\">only G7 nation<\/a> without a national law protecting such\u00a0 assets. A national historic site designation confers no protection: it merely \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/laws-lois.justice.gc.ca\/eng\/acts\/H-4\/page-1.html?txthl=commemorating+commemorated+commemorate#s-3\">commemorates<\/a>.\u201d Provincial legislation \u2013 notably the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ontario.ca\/laws\/statute\/90o18\"><em>Ontario Heritage Act<\/em><\/a>, informed by Parks Canada\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.historicplaces.ca\/en\/pages\/standards-normes.aspx\"><em>Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada<\/em><\/a>, devolves most responsibility for built-heritage protection to municipalities.<\/p>\n<p>But never mind a lack of protection, federal policy actually encourages the demolition of the built environment (heritage or otherwise) through a tax system that incentivizes destruction over reuse.<\/p>\n<p>Federal bias against reuse began when <a href=\"https:\/\/ir.lib.uwo.ca\/historypub\/103\/\">William Clifford Clark<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ir.lib.uwo.ca\/historypub\/103\/\">served as deputy minister of finance<\/a> (1932-1952). This was the heyday of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Planned_obsolescence\">planned obsolescence<\/a> (the antithesis of \u201csustainability\u201d), and Clark\u2019s public contempt for existing buildings (he said in his book they <a href=\"https:\/\/babel.hathitrust.org\/cgi\/pt?id=mdp.39015042169055&amp;view=1up&amp;seq=1\">looked pre-industrial<\/a>) was reflected in his redesign of Canada\u2019s tax system during the 1940s. This had disastrous consequences for built heritage and created a market dynamic strongly biased in favour of demolition.<\/p>\n<p>The revised <em>Income Tax Act<\/em> offered lucrative tax advantages to building owners with a wrecking ball, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tax deductions based upon the presumption that commercial, industrial and rental residential buildings lost two-thirds of their value within 10 years (today that would be about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.canada.ca\/en\/revenue-agency\/services\/tax\/businesses\/topics\/sole-proprietorships-partnerships\/report-business-income-expenses\/claiming-capital-cost-allowance\/classes-depreciable-property.html\">half their value, measured in constant dollars<\/a>);<\/li>\n<li>Avoidance of tax recapture: If it was later revealed that the cumulative deductions exceeded what the building <em>actually<\/em> lost in market value, the owner wouldn\u2019t have to pay them back (called \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.taxtips.ca\/glossary\/recapture.htm\">recapture<\/a>\u201d) if <a href=\"https:\/\/rsmcanada.com\/our-insights\/tax-alerts\/tax-consequences-of-demolition-costs-in-the-real-estate-sector.html\">the building was demolished<\/a>; and<\/li>\n<li>Deduction of any remaining book value <em>after<\/em> depreciation: The owner could also claim whatever building value remained on the books as a tax-deductible loss, because the building was no longer there and must have gotten lost (called \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.canada.ca\/en\/revenue-agency\/services\/tax\/businesses\/topics\/rental-income\/completing-form-t776-statement-real-estate-rentals\/line-9948-terminal-loss.html\">terminal loss<\/a>\u201d).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_98819\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-98819\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Old-Supreme-Court-before.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-98819 size-regularsize\" src=\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Old-Supreme-Court-before.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"600\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-98819\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Old Supreme Court before demolition. Source: Library and Archives Canada.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_98820\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-98820\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Old-Supreme-Court-1956.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-98820 size-regularsize\" src=\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Old-Supreme-Court-1956.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"587\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-98820\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Demolition of the Old Supreme Court Building, December 1956. Source: Library and Archives Canada.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As for reuse, Clark apparently considered restoration so marginal that he left its tax treatment to guesswork. Nowadays, when someone asks the Canada Revenue Agency for an advance ruling on deductibility for a restoration or rehabilitation, it produces a document explaining that it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.canada.ca\/en\/revenue-agency\/services\/forms-publications\/publications\/ic70-6\/ic70-6-advance-income-tax-rulings-and-technical-interpretations.html\">can\u2019t explain in advance<\/a>. But officials will list their opinions on <a href=\"https:\/\/cra2011.cutetax.ca\/E\/pub\/tp\/it128r\/it128r-e.html#Capital\">multiple disqualifications<\/a>, such as asbestos removal (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.richter.ca\/news-media\/art-of-the-deal-contaminated-lands-and-components-in-real-estate-deals\/\">too much of an improvement<\/a>?), as well as on \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.canada.ca\/en\/revenue-agency\/services\/tax\/businesses\/topics\/rental-income\/current-expenses-capital-expenses.html\">expenses that extend the useful life of your property<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Other levels of government followed the federal lead. For example, municipal property tax structures often favour parking lots. In the <a href=\"https:\/\/app06.ottawa.ca\/cgi-bin\/tax\/tax.pl?lang=en\">City of Ottawa<\/a>, parking lots will pay substantially less property tax per dollar of evaluation than retail stores or factories. Capitalizing the tax savings on converting a building into a parking lot could be as much as a grant worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n<p>Then there is the GST\/HST. In the 1990s, the federal government <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ourcommons.ca\/Content\/Committee\/411\/FINA\/WebDoc\/WD5138047\/411_FINA_PBC2011_Briefs\/Canadian%20Home%20Builders%20Association%20E.html\">doubled its sales taxes on renovation<\/a>s. As a \u201crevenue-neutral\u201d quid pro quo, it included a \u201csubstantial\u201d renovation rebate \u2013 but only on condition that the building is gutted, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.canada.ca\/en\/revenue-agency\/services\/forms-publications\/publications\/b-092\/substantial-renovations-gst-hst-new-housing-rebate.html\">destroying 90 percent of nonstructural elements<\/a>. An owner could be disqualified for not producing enough demolition waste.<\/p>\n<p>But there are other \u201crevenue-neutral\u201d rebates to help offset the GST, such as a standard new housing rebate for additions to Canada\u2019s housing stock. However, if you create new housing by inserting units into an <em>existing<\/em> residential building (like a new rental in the basement or attic), that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.canada.ca\/en\/revenue-agency\/services\/forms-publications\/publications\/b-092\/substantial-renovations-gst-hst-new-housing-rebate.html#PP249E37749\">rebate doesn\u2019t apply<\/a> \u2013 the only example of new housing in Canada that is automatically disqualified.<\/p>\n<p>Governments don\u2019t restrict their bias to taxation. They are also very unlikely to lease rehabbed buildings. Even government heritage officials who speak on behalf of older buildings usually don\u2019t work in them (older buildings are too challenging for the layout of work cubicles)<\/p>\n<p>With almost amusing irony, Canada Revenue Agency is headquartered in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pc.gc.ca\/apps\/dfhd\/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=454\">historic Connaught Building<\/a> on Mackenzie Avenue in Ottawa.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_98821\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-98821\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/06\/shutterstock_1856405032-scaled.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-98821 size-regularsize\" src=\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/shutterstock_1856405032-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-98821\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Connaught Building. Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As well, in some provinces, for example, Ontario, provincial funding for school boards (per student, per square foot) is lower for a rehabbed school than a new one.<\/p>\n<p>Governments just don\u2019t seem to like old buildings.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is the problem?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Real estate is Canada\u2019s largest industry, at over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/594293\/gross-domestic-product-of-canada-by-industry-monthly\/\">$264 billion<\/a> worth of gross domestic product in 2020 \u2013 more than manufacturing or oil and gas.<\/p>\n<p>Canada\u2019s \u201cbuilt environment\u201d \u2013 the entirety of our existing stock of over 15 million buildings \u2013 has an estimated value of about $6.5 trillion, the largest collection of privately owned physical assets in the country. The destructive implications of the current taxation regime affect primarily income properties \u2013 $3 trillion worth of commercial, industrial and rental-residential built assets across Canada.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSustaining\u201d all that building stock in good repair is a $121-billion business \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chba.ca\/CHBA\/HousingCanada\/InformationStatistics\/CHBA\/Housing_in_Canada\/Information_and_Statistics\/InformationStatistics.aspx?hkey=0cec0938-c402-44bd-b316-96bd03998782\">$85 billion<\/a> residential and <a href=\"https:\/\/www150.statcan.gc.ca\/t1\/tbl1\/en\/tv.action?pid=3410027901\">$36 billion<\/a> nonresidential. Fix-up is one of the largest industries in Canada, creating over 810,000 Canadian jobs on the residential side alone (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.chba.ca\/CHBA\/HousingCanada\/InformationStatistics\/CHBA\/Housing_in_Canada\/Information_and_Statistics\/InformationStatistics.aspx?hkey=0cec0938-c402-44bd-b316-96bd03998782\">61 per cent of total construction-related jobs, with over $50 billion in wages<\/a>). It is by far the largest single category of \u201cdevelopment\u201d of real estate in Canada. Although government policies carry titles like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nrcan.gc.ca\/sites\/www.nrcan.gc.ca\/files\/emmc\/pdf\/Building_Smart_en.pdf\">Build Smart: Canada\u2019s Buildings Strategy<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca\/nhs\">National Housing Strategy<\/a>, they are dead silent about the fate of existing assets and the repair\/renovation industry.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_98822\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-98822\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/06\/shutterstock_1037778346-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-98822 size-regularsize\" src=\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/shutterstock_1037778346-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"563\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-98822\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vacant houses awaiting demolition in Toronto on Markham St. in 2018. Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Is current policy sustainable? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This planned obsolescence represents an inefficient expenditure of resources \u2013 financial, labour and materials \u2013 and also creates massive landfill waste annually. Until the 1990s, Canada destroyed so many buildings that one-third of Canadian landfill deposits consisted of used construction material. In 2012 it was down <a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s10098-012-0481-6\">to 27 percent<\/a> (partly due to higher tipping fees), but the quantity was still mountainous.<\/p>\n<p>Notwithstanding the federal government\u2019s politically correct \u201cgreen\u201d rhetoric, its policy is anything but green in the area of the built environment.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How does Canada compare to other developed nations? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Planned obsolescence was repudiated by the World Commission on Environment and Development in the 1987 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.are.admin.ch\/are\/en\/home\/sustainable-development\/international-cooperation\/2030agenda\/un-_-milestones-in-sustainable-development\/1987--brundtland-report.html\"><em>Brundtland Report<\/em><\/a>, which established guiding principles for what we know today as sustainable development. It denounced unsustainable \u201cconsumption and production patterns,\u201d notably in urbanization, and commended public opinion that countered the \u201cindiscriminate demolition of existing buildings and historic districts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The 1992 <a href=\"https:\/\/digitallibrary.un.org\/record\/136151\">UN <em>Global Strategy for Shelter to the Year 2000<\/em><\/a> said, \u201cobjectives must be set \u2026for the upgrading and maintenance of the existing housing stock in terms both of the scale of the activity and of the housing standards to be met.\u201d The second <a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/en\/conferences\/habitat\/istanbul1996\">UN <em>Conference on Human Settlements<\/em> (1996<\/a>) repeated this objective, saying:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cWe, the States participating in the UN Conference on Human Settlements\u2026 are committed to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjlt8GBvIbxAhVMb60KHcgzA-QQFjAAegQIBBAF&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.un.org%2Fen%2Fevents%2Fpastevents%2Fpdfs%2Fhabitat_agenda.pdf&amp;usg=AOvVaw3gipkKNJiAaD2rM-heahUw\">promoting<\/a> the upgrading of existing housing stock through rehabilitation and maintenance.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cA fundamental principle in formulating a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/en\/events\/pastevents\/pdfs\/habitat_agenda.pdf\">realistic shelter policy<\/a> is (to) emphasize the increased use and maintenance of existing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/en\/events\/pastevents\/pdfs\/habitat_agenda.pdf\">stock<\/a>.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cGovernments at the appropriate levels should adopt an enabling approach to shelter development, including the renovation, rehabilitation, upgrading and strengthening of the existing housing stock in both rural and urban areas.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These guiding principles for sustainable development have been widely embraced globally, but not by Canada.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_98823\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-98823\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/06\/shutterstock_1622623588-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-98823 size-regularsize\" src=\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/shutterstock_1622623588-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"489\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-98823\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Montreal demolition on Lucien-L\u2019Allier St., January 2020. Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In 2020, the European Union undertook a <a href=\"https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/commission\/presscorner\/detail\/en\/qanda_20_1836\">Renovation Wave<\/a> \u2013 a \u201cflagship\u201d program to at least double or even triple renovation (to the equivalent of C$404 billion) by 2030 (\u201c35 million buildings\u201d).<\/p>\n<p>It is high time for Canada to catch the renovation wave, to ride it to legislative change for the built environment and align it with the current \u201cgreen\u201d political narrative of the Liberal government.<\/p>\n<p>Green rhetoric makes for good political copy. At every opportunity, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=sAkrCKcqouM\">trolls<\/a> for sustainability virtue points \u2013 and previous governments have done the same. The reality remains, however, that since the 1940s federal tax policy is actually antithetical to our concepts of sustainability. It is nothing short of legislated destruction.<\/p>\n<p>Going green means revising policy \u2013 starting with the <em>Income Tax Act<\/em> and the GST. Only when it has done so can Canada claim to bring sustainability to where we live.<\/p>\n<p><strong>This article is part of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/magazines\/june-2021\/reinventer-nos-villes-apres-londe-de-choc-de-la-pandemie\/\">Reshaping Canada\u2019s Cities After the Pandemic Shockwave<\/a>\u00a0special feature.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cYou have, ladies and gentlemen, to give this much to the Luftwaffe. When it knocked down our buildings, it didn&#8217;t replace them with anything more offensive than rubble. We did that.\u201d \u2013 Built-heritage advocate HRH Prince Charles As we envision postpandemic social changes to our urban environment, we must do so within the context of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":243964,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-10-08T03:35:56Z","apple_news_api_id":"5ecee641-4a7d-4636-9d51-b88596e4633a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-10-08T03:35:56Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AXs7mQUp9RjadUbiFluRjOg","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[9387,9361,9372],"tags":[8602,9204,9193],"article-status":[],"irpp-category":[4245,4261],"section":[],"irpp-tag":[7093],"class_list":["post-269573","issues","type-issues","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-elaboration-de-politiques","category-environnement","category-recent-stories-fr","tag-real-estate-fr","tag-logement","tag-villes","irpp-category-economie","irpp-category-environnement","irpp-tag-villes"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Federal tax policy incentivizes demolition over reuse<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2021\/06\/federal-tax-policy-incentivizes-demolition-over-reuse\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Federal tax policy incentivizes demolition over reuse\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cYou have, ladies and gentlemen, to give this much to the Luftwaffe. When it knocked down our buildings, it didn&#8217;t replace them with anything more offensive than rubble. We did that.\u201d \u2013 Built-heritage advocate HRH Prince Charles As we envision postpandemic social changes to our urban environment, we must do so within the context of [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2021\/06\/federal-tax-policy-incentivizes-demolition-over-reuse\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Policy Options\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IRPP.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-08T03:35:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Old-Supreme-Court-before.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@irpp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2021\/06\/federal-tax-policy-incentivizes-demolition-over-reuse\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2021\/06\/federal-tax-policy-incentivizes-demolition-over-reuse\/\",\"name\":\"Federal tax policy incentivizes demolition over reuse\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2021\/06\/federal-tax-policy-incentivizes-demolition-over-reuse\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2021\/06\/federal-tax-policy-incentivizes-demolition-over-reuse\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Old-Supreme-Court-before.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-06-23T14:30:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-08T03:35:52+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2021\/06\/federal-tax-policy-incentivizes-demolition-over-reuse\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2021\/06\/federal-tax-policy-incentivizes-demolition-over-reuse\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2021\/06\/federal-tax-policy-incentivizes-demolition-over-reuse\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Old-Supreme-Court-before.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Old-Supreme-Court-before.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":800},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2021\/06\/federal-tax-policy-incentivizes-demolition-over-reuse\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Federal tax policy incentivizes demolition over reuse\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/\",\"name\":\"Policy Options\",\"description\":\"Institute for Research on Public Policy\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Federal tax policy incentivizes demolition over reuse","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2021\/06\/federal-tax-policy-incentivizes-demolition-over-reuse\/","og_locale":"fr_FR","og_type":"article","og_title":"Federal tax policy incentivizes demolition over reuse","og_description":"\u201cYou have, ladies and gentlemen, to give this much to the Luftwaffe. When it knocked down our buildings, it didn&#8217;t replace them with anything more offensive than rubble. We did that.\u201d \u2013 Built-heritage advocate HRH Prince Charles As we envision postpandemic social changes to our urban environment, we must do so within the context of [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2021\/06\/federal-tax-policy-incentivizes-demolition-over-reuse\/","og_site_name":"Policy Options","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IRPP.org","article_modified_time":"2025-10-08T03:35:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Old-Supreme-Court-before.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@irpp","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2021\/06\/federal-tax-policy-incentivizes-demolition-over-reuse\/","url":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2021\/06\/federal-tax-policy-incentivizes-demolition-over-reuse\/","name":"Federal tax policy incentivizes demolition over reuse","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2021\/06\/federal-tax-policy-incentivizes-demolition-over-reuse\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2021\/06\/federal-tax-policy-incentivizes-demolition-over-reuse\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Old-Supreme-Court-before.jpg","datePublished":"2021-06-23T14:30:20+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-08T03:35:52+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2021\/06\/federal-tax-policy-incentivizes-demolition-over-reuse\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"fr-FR","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2021\/06\/federal-tax-policy-incentivizes-demolition-over-reuse\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fr-FR","@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2021\/06\/federal-tax-policy-incentivizes-demolition-over-reuse\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Old-Supreme-Court-before.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Old-Supreme-Court-before.jpg","width":1000,"height":800},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2021\/06\/federal-tax-policy-incentivizes-demolition-over-reuse\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Federal tax policy incentivizes demolition over reuse"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/#website","url":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/","name":"Policy Options","description":"Institute for Research on Public Policy","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"fr-FR"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issues\/269573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issues"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/issues"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269573"},{"taxonomy":"article-status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article-status?post=269573"},{"taxonomy":"irpp-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/irpp-category?post=269573"},{"taxonomy":"section","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/section?post=269573"},{"taxonomy":"irpp-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/irpp-tag?post=269573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}