The federal government has introduced a bill to send $1.7 billion to provinces to spur more housing construction as sales and housing starts sputter in a turbulent economy.

The legislation was introduced in the House of Commons Thursday and is just a few sentenced long, authorizing the finance minister to send $1.7 billion to the provinces for the “purposes of improving supply.”

Federal Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said the government is aware that, especially in urban centres, the housing market is slowing with few new builds and sales slumping.

“Since we have seen that dip, we want to make sure that we boost the offering of new homes in the country, but at the same time that we boost the construction industry,” he said outside the House of Commons Thursday.

Champagne said the country needs the homes, but it also has to keep people in the trades working for when the economy picks up.

In Ontario, the new money will cover a one-year cut on the HST that Premier Doug Ford announced Wednesday. The move expands an HST cut the federal government previously introduced on new homes to all buyers for one year, where previously only first-time buyers were covered. The new funding comes as the province revealed its budget Thursday, which includes a massive $13.8 billion deficit.