Build Canada Homes Struggles to Scale Amid Massive Supply Gap
AI-generated image · Bay Street Wire
A year after its launch, the federal housing agency has begun construction on only 2,000 of its 19,000 committed affordable units.
One year after Prime Minister Mark Carney launched Build Canada Homes to accelerate the delivery of affordable housing, the agency has begun construction on approximately 2,000 units out of a committed 19,000, as CBC News first reported.
While the agency focuses on non-market housing with income-linked rents and partnerships for middle-class affordable homes, it has faced significant delays. Build Canada Homes spokesperson Joshua Coke told CBC News that the agency spent much of the past year managing land transfers, intergovernmental deals, and bureaucratic hurdles after becoming a Crown corporation in July.
Industry leaders warn that the pace of development remains insufficient. Dave Wilkes, president and CEO of the Building Industry and Land Development Association, suggested in an interview that the sector needs to move more quickly. Similarly, Kevin Fettig, president of CMI Financial, observed that the federal government had effectively ceased funding affordable housing for roughly three decades, leaving a gap that is difficult to fill quickly.
The shortage is particularly acute for newcomers and younger Canadians. Mathieu Laberge, chief economist at the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), reports a significant "pent-up demand" from these groups. Laberge states that to restore 2019 affordability levels, Canada must build between 417,000 and 469,000 units annually by 2036—effectively doubling the current pace of housing starts, which have remained around 250,000 per year over the last two years.