Overview:
This is the seventh and final article in a series examining recent government bills or laws that experts say deserved more scrutiny.
Housing experts are applauding Ottawa’s goal of building more affordable homes. But they want clarity about how the new Crown corporation Build Canada Homes will help accomplish this goal.
Legislation setting out the organization’s mandate and goals, formerly known as Bill C-20, passed in June.
Yet sources say it is still not clear whether Build Canada Homes will produce the type of homes Canadians need at a price they can afford.
“If you listen to what the housing minister had to say, [Build Canada Homes is] all about non-market housing. It’s all about supportive housing,” said Carolyn Whitzman, a senior housing researcher at the University of Toronto.
“But it’s not there in the legislation. The legislation was sort of haiku-ish, by which I mean very minimalist.”
‘All levels’
Build Canada Homes is the Carney government’s flagship housing initiative.
It launched in September as a special operating agency. The new legislation changes it to a Crown corporation, which gives it more autonomy, a government press release says.
Its purpose is to build affordable housing on government-owned land; finance Indigenous, supportive and transitional housing; and increase innovation in Canada’s construction industry. The government defines housing as affordable if it costs less than 30 per cent of a household’s pre-tax income.
Alexandra Flynn, director of the Housing Research Collaborative at the University of British Columbia, says it is helpful for Ottawa to be involved in housing policy.
“Housing involves all levels of government, lots of different kinds of regulations, lots of different issues,” she said.
“There needs to be some shop at the federal level that’s a little bit arm’s length from government that’s actually dealing with ‘How do we do this?’”
But some wonder if Build Canada Homes will be able to address Canada’s substantial housing needs.
In June 2025, the Canadian Mortgage Housing Corporation said Canada needs between 430,000 and 480,000 new homes built annually over the next decade to restore affordability to 2019 levels. This is about double the current pace of construction.
During the election, the Liberals promised to reach 500,000 new homes a year. But a December report from the Parliamentary Budget Office estimates Build Canada Homes will add just 26,000 homes over five years.
The report says Ottawa “has not yet laid out an overall plan to achieve this goal” of reaching 500,000 new homes a year.
Mike Moffatt an economist and founding director of the Missing Middle Initiative at the University of Ottawa, says there is a particular need for three and four-bedroom homes in which people can raise families.
It is not clear Build Canada Homes will lead to the construction of more family-sized homes, he previously told a House of Commons committee studying Bill C-20.
Jim Dunn, associate dean at the faculty of social sciences at McMaster University, says it is not clear Build Canada Homes will help renters become homeowners.
The median household income for renters in Canada was $65,400 in 2024. “What are we doing for people who make $65,000 and less?” Dunn said.
Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada provided Canadian Affairs with a list of previously announced Build Canada Homes projects. This includes six housing projects on government land that are expected to result in about 4,000 homes.
Build Canada Homes also has agreements with the City of Ottawa, several provinces and all three territories to support various housing projects.
Whitzman, at the University of Toronto, does not think the confirmed projects will lead to enough housing.
“[Build Canada Homes] simply isn’t ambitious enough,” she said.
Non-market housing
Whitzman and others have also raised concerns about whether Build Canada Homes will lead to the creation of more non-market housing such as social housing or co-operative housing, where prices are below market rates.
The Build Canada Homes website lists building non-market housing as a goal, but the legislation does not list this as part of its mandate.
Without non-market housing being included in the legislation, it is “hard to say” how committed Build Canada Homes is to non-market housing, said Whitzman.
“The federal government is great at talking the talk, and it’s absolutely dreadful at walking the walk,” she said.
Since 2017, non-market housing completions have stagnated at between 4,000 and 6,000 units annually, while homelessness has risen 22 per cent, says a 2025 report commissioned by the Federal Housing Advocate and written by Whitzman.
In response, the Federal Housing Advocate called on Ottawa to commit to building 200,000 non-market homes a year out of 500,000 builds in total.
In an email to Canadian Affairs, Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada did not directly answer why “non-market housing” is not in the new legislation.
Moffatt, of the Missing Middle Initiative, is concerned Build Canada Homes lacks firm targets — for non-market housing and its other goals.
“There doesn’t seem to be any targets, any key performance indicators,” he said.
“We only know in a vague sense what this agency is trying to accomplish,” he said. “They haven’t laid out the conditions of ‘What does success look like?’ and that could lead to some very bad investment decisions.”
Flynn, from the University of British Columbia, says she expects more information about the Crown corporation will come in time. “I think it’s a great start, and I think all eyes are open on what comes next,” she said.
“I don’t think it’s entirely cooked as an idea.”
