Canadians are in a housing crisis. Despite recent improvements in several cities, far too many Canadians – particularly young Canadians – are struggling to find homes they can afford. Canada’s new government is stepping up with a bold new approach and unprecedented investments to increase the housing supply in Canada.
Today, the Prime Minister, Mark Carney, launched Build Canada Homes – a new federal agency that will build affordable housing at scale. Build Canada Homes will help fight homelessness by building transitional and supportive housing – working with provinces, territories, municipalities, and Indigenous communities. It will build deeply affordable and community housing for low-income households, and partner with private market developers to build affordable homes for the Canadian middle class.
Build Canada Homes will transform public-private collaboration and deploy modern methods of construction, as it catalyzes the creation of an entirely new Canadian housing industry. It will leverage public lands, offer flexible financial incentives, attract private capital, facilitate large portfolio projects, and support modern manufacturers to build the homes that Canadians need.
Canada’s new government will bring federal lands, faster approvals, and strong incentives to the table. The private sector will bring construction capacity, innovation, supply chains, and financing.
Build Canada Homes will focus primarily on non-market housing, supporting a mix of income needs as part of a national effort to double housing construction, restore affordability, and reduce homelessness.
There are three key pillars to this new approach:
First, Build Canada Homes will partner with industry, other orders of government, and Indigenous communities to build affordable housing at scale and at speed. As the federal government’s new one-stop-shop for affordable housing, Build Canada Homes will make it easier and simpler for builders to access the resources needed to build new homes, faster. Canada’s new government will capitalize Build Canada Homes with an initial $13 billion, enabling financing, providing land, and helping builders get big projects off the ground. Build Canada Homes will offer flexible, financial incentives, approve large portfolio projects, and leverage public lands for housing so projects are derisked and private builders can focus on building. Build Canada Homes will partner on and lead developments of affordable housing projects, and by using public lands, take land costs out of the equation.
To streamline construction on public lands, Canada Lands Company will be transferred under the Build Canada Homes portfolio. This will give Build Canada Homes access to the government’s land portfolio, including 88 federal properties suitable for housing listed on the Canada Public Land Bank, which span 463 hectares or approximately the size of downtown Ottawa. Federal ministers will also be instructed to determine suitable lands for housing construction owned by their departments.
Second, Build Canada Homes will deploy capital, create demand, and harness innovative housing technologies to build faster and more sustainably, 365 days a year. Build Canada Homes will place an intense focus on using cost-efficient and modern methods of construction such as factory-built, modular, and mass timber. Through bulk procurement and long-term financing, Build Canada Homes will mainstream these advanced methods of construction – with the potential to cut building timelines by up to 50%, reduce costs by as much as 20%, and lower emissions by approximately 20% during construction. To supplement these efforts, wherever possible, Build Canada Homes will prioritize low-carbon materials, low-carbon technologies, and efficient design. This will help catalyze a new housing industry – one that builds faster, and more sustainably, 365 days a year.
Third, Build Canada Homes will adopt the government’s new Buy Canadian policy and prioritize projects that use Canadian lumber and other Canadian materials. With the Buy Canadian policy, Build Canada Homes will channel demand through Canadian industries – from lumber and steel to aluminum and mass timber – strengthening domestic supply chains, scaling up a home-grown housing industry, and creating high-paying careers across the country. Canada’s new government is ensuring that the construction of new homes maximizes Canadian resources.
To lead this ambitious mandate, the Prime Minister is pleased to announce the appointment of Ana Bailão as the Chief Executive Officer of Build Canada Homes. Ms. Bailão is a seasoned leader with deep experience in advancing affordable housing, having served for over a decade on Toronto City Council – including as Deputy Mayor from 2017 to 2022, as Chair of the Planning and Housing Committee and on the board of Toronto Community Housing. While on City Council, Ms. Bailão spearheaded the creation of Housing Now, which uses city lands to build housing. Most recently, she has served as the Head of Affordable Housing & Public Affairs with the private developer Dream Unlimited Corporation.
Build Canada Homes has a mandate to move quickly. To that end, the Prime Minister also announced its first four investments and initiatives:
- As Build Canada Homes begins to develop public land sites under Canada Lands Company’s portfolio, it will prioritize innovative, factory-built housing. To begin, Build Canada Homes will prioritize six sites to build 4,000 factory-built homes on federal land – with additional capacity of up to 45,000 units across the portfolio. In these projects, it will deploy a “direct-build” approach, overseeing and leading construction projects focused on affordable mixed-income communities. This first tranche of sites will be in Dartmouth, Longueuil, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, and Edmonton.
- To help protect existing affordable rental housing, the $1.5 billion Canada Rental Protection Fund will be launched under Build Canada Homes. This initiative will support the community housing sector in acquiring at-risk rental apartment buildings, ensuring they remain affordable over the long term. It also aligns with Build Canada Homes’ broader mandate to grow the supply of affordable and non-market housing – not only by building new homes, but also by preserving the ones on which Canadians already rely.
- Build Canada Homes will deploy $1 billion to build transitional and supportive housing for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. It will collaborate with key provincial, territorial, municipal, and Indigenous partners to pair these federal investments with employment and health care supports.
- Build Canada Homes will partner with the Nunavut Housing Corporation to build over 700 public, affordable, and supportive housing units. Approximately 30% of the units are expected to be built off-site, using innovative construction methods such as factory-built housing.
Further details on these investments will be announced over the coming months. To develop additional projects this year, Build Canada Homes will immediately begin engaging with provinces, territories, cities, Indigenous partners, investors, and builders with proven track records.
Build Canada Homes will scale up housing construction and build an entirely new Canadian housing industry: one that improves productivity in the construction sector, uses Canadian materials, creates new high-paying careers across the supply chain, and positions Canada as a world leader in modern homebuilding. With Build Canada Homes, Canadian private builders will have the certainty they need to build at scale and speed.
The government will announce additional measures in Budget 2025 to lower costs for builders and to catalyze private capital in homebuilding.
Quotes
“Canada’s new government is relentlessly focused on bringing down housing costs. Central to that mission is rapidly scaling up the supply of homes. Build Canada Homes will transform the way government works with the private sector to build. We will create an entirely new housing industry using Canadian technology, Canadian workers, and Canadian resources – and give builders the tools they need to build more, build sustainably, and build at scale.”
The Rt. Hon. Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada
“It’s not just about building more – it’s about building better and building bolder. Build Canada Homes will support new ways of building, leverage public lands, and accelerate affordable home building to deliver real results for Canadians, so that everyone has a place to call home.”
The Hon. Gregor Robertson, Minister of Housing and Infrastructure and Minister responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada
“Affordable housing has always been more than policy – it’s a personal mission. From my time in public office to my work in the private sector, I’ve seen firsthand how safe, stable housing transforms lives. At Build Canada Homes, we are bringing together government, industry, and communities to build homes faster, smarter, and more sustainably. We’re not just building units – we’re building opportunity, dignity, and a future where everyone in Canada has access to the homes they need – and deserve.”
Ana Bailão, Chief Executive Officer of Build Canada Homes
“Build Canada Homes is an ambitious step toward solving one of the most pressing challenges facing Canadians, and will be a key focus in the upcoming budget. Through innovative partnerships, we will deliver more affordable housing and create new skilled jobs, while driving a new era of residential construction across the country.”
The Hon. François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Finance and National Revenue
Quick facts
- Build Canada Homes (BCH) launches today as a Special Operating Agency within Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (HICC). HICC will be responsible for setting BCH’s investment policy and governance, as well as for delivering funding strategically to grow Canada’s affordable housing stock and drive productivity-enhancing innovation. BCH will streamline federal housing efforts and incubate within government over the fall, leveraging existing resources and expertise within the government’s housing toolkit. In the new year, BCH will evolve into a standalone federal entity reporting to the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure – at which point the federal government will re-evaluate BCH’s early successes and consider additional long-term funding as necessary.
- BCH is a critical tool in the federal government’s efforts to increase the supply of housing and make housing more affordable – but it is not the only one. To help first-time buyers save up to $50,000 and enter the housing market, the government tabled Bill C-4 to eliminate the Goods and Services Tax (GST) for first-time home buyers on new homes up to $1 million and lower the GST for first-time home buyers on homes between $1 million and $1.5 million.
- BCH will focus on increasing the supply of affordable housing. Alongside this effort, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation will continue to deliver on its mandate to contribute to the well-being of Canada’s housing system through existing programs such as the Apartment Construction Loan Program and Mortgage Loan Insurance products.
- To streamline and strengthen federal efforts to build affordable housing, ministerial responsibility for Canada Lands Company Ltd. has been transferred to the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure. This move enables BCH to leverage Canada Lands Company’s existing land holdings and development expertise to accelerate the delivery of affordable housing across the country.