Prime Minister Mark Carney revealed on Sunday the launch of Build Canada Homes, a new federal agency aimed at overseeing federal housing programs. This initiative aligns with the Liberals’ commitment to doubling housing construction efforts. Build Canada Homes is positioned as a centralized entity to manage new affordable housing programs at the federal level, with a focus on boosting housing construction nationwide.
Carney emphasized that the agency’s mandate is to accelerate housing construction by facilitating the development of supportive and transitional housing in partnership with provinces, territories, and Indigenous communities. Additionally, it aims to enhance deeply affordable and community housing options while collaborating with private developers to construct homes for the middle class. Ana Bailão, a former Toronto city councillor, has been appointed as the CEO of Build Canada Homes.
The agency will have the authority to approve construction on public lands and provide funding for housing development projects in their early stages. With a budget of $13 billion, Build Canada Homes is set to finance the construction of 4,000 modular homes across six initial sites in Ottawa, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Longueuil, Que., and Dartmouth, N.S., with potential scalability to 45,000 units. Construction of these homes is slated to commence next year, as confirmed by a government official speaking on background.
In contrast, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has criticized Carney’s housing strategy, expressing concerns about the perceived increase in bureaucratic processes. Poilievre proposed alternative measures, suggesting that municipalities should be incentivized to streamline the permitting process and reduce development fees by linking infrastructure funding to homebuilding activities. He also recommended eliminating the capital gains tax on reinvested money in homebuilding and scrapping the federal sales tax on home purchases under $1.3 million.
Recent data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) highlighted that while overall housing starts in the first half of the year were robust, challenges persisted in high-cost markets such as Toronto and Vancouver. Toronto faced a significant decline in new condominium construction, with a 60% drop in the first half of 2025. The CMHC projected that Toronto’s housing starts would remain insufficient to address affordability concerns for the next few years. Conversely, cities like Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, and Halifax experienced accelerated homebuilding activities, particularly in the construction of rental apartments.
Looking ahead, the CMHC anticipated that housing starts in Canada would need to nearly double by 2035 to meet growing demand, with an estimated target of 480,000 new homes per year. The housing market landscape continues to evolve, with policymakers and industry stakeholders navigating challenges to bridge the housing gap and address affordability issues.
