Canada yesterday launched a US$9.4bn (CAN$13bn) plan to build what the government called “deeply affordable” housing at scale, using prefabricated modular methods and mass timber to build on federally owned land.
A new agency has been created called “Build Canada Homes” that will provide finance to private builders and approve large projects.
The agency will specify Canadian lumber, steel and aluminium to build what it called “a home-grown housing industry” amid punitive US tariffs.
To start, Build Canada Homes will identify six sites to build 4,000 homes on federal land in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia; Longueuil, Quebec; Ottawa and Toronto in Ontario; Winnipeg, Manitoba; and Edmonton, Alberta.
The agency will also create a C$1.5bn fund to acquire at-risk rental apartment buildings to keep them affordable in the long term.
It will also spend C$1bn on what it called “transitional and supportive housing” for people who are homeless or at risk of becoming so.
“Canada’s new government is relentlessly focused on bringing down housing costs,” said Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“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.”
“With Build Canada Homes, Canadian private builders will have the certainty they need to build at scale and speed,” said the government’s press release.
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