Question Period Note: PBO REPORT ON BUILD CANADA HOMES

• Build Canada Homes (BCH) is a completely different way to build affordable housing for Canadians.

• With an initial investment of $13 billion, BCH will act as a catalyst for an entirely new housing industry, something that sets it apart from anything done previously.

• By combining flexible financial tools, from low-interest loans and equity investments to land access and development expertise, it will make large-scale, mixed-market developments financially viable, attract private capital and safeguard long-term affordability.

• While BCH will leverage federal lands for affordable housing, it will also attract funding from other governments, non-profits, industry, and investors.

• The scaling power of these investments should not be underestimated – this will allow BCH to support thousands more affordable and market-rate units.

• BCH is just one of the measure the Government is advancing to help double the pace of housing constructions. We are also supporting essential infrastructure through programs like the Building Communities Strong Fund, and supporting First-Time Homebuyers by eliminating the GST for homes under $1 million.

• CMHC is also maintaining its funding for initiatives that address the housing crisis, including the Apartment Construction Loan Program.

• The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) released a report titled “Build Canada Homes and the Outlook for Housing Programs under Budget 2025” on December 2, 2025, following the PBO’s study of an information request to Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (HICC) earlier in fall 2025 on Build Canada Homes.

• Key findings of the PBO report are:
o Estimated federal spending on housing programs is set to decline 56% from $9.8 billion in 2025-26 to $4.3 billion in 2028-29 across all programs (BCH, CMHC, HICC, Indigenous Services Canada and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada). The decline is primarily due to cuts and sunsetting of programs from the existing National Housing Strategy.
o The report estimates that all federal housing programs will causally contribute to 86,868 housing units including 58,365 units subject to affordability criteria.
o The PBO report estimates BCH will support 26,000 units over five years, 13,000 of which will be affordable to low-income households, noting that this corresponds to a “modest contribution to housing supply and affordability”.
o Specifically, the developer function of BCH is estimated to create approximately 8,000 new units, including 1,600 affordable units.
o The financing function, estimated to provide $5.4 billion in grants and contributions, will support about 14,000 new units, with more than half that are affordable to very low- and low-income households.
o The funding for Transitional and Supportive Housing ($1 billion) is estimated to allow the creation of about 3,700 units.
o The PBO report does not account for BCH’s role of crowding in funding from other governments, non-profits, industry and investors, which is a key component of BCH’s ability to increase the supply of affordable housing.

• Build Canada Homes will partner with private sector developers, other orders of government and Indigenous partners on mixed-market housing developments that combine affordable rental with market units. This approach will help unlock new sources of private capital and create more housing supply.

• Build Canada Homes is part of a broader set of measures by the federal government to double the rate of housing construction, restore affordability and reduce homelessness. These include:
o Working with provinces and municipalities to help remove local barriers to building new supply.
o Reducing the burden of development charges.
o Supporting essential infrastructure through programs like the Canadian Housing Infrastructure Fund (CHIF), Canada Community Building Fund (CCBF) and Canada Public Transit Fund (CPTF).
o Introducing new tax measures that will incentivize the construction of purpose-built rental housing to help make more housing projects economically viable across the country.
o Contributing to the well-being of Canada’s housing system through existing programs such as the Apartment Construction Loan Program and Mortgage Loan Insurance products delivered by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

• Additionally, ministerial responsibility for Canada Lands Company has been transferred to the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure. This move enables Build Canada Homes to leverage Canada Lands Company’s land holdings, real estate development expertise, and strong relationships with municipalities, builders, not-for-profits, and Indigenous communities to accelerate the delivery of affordable housing across the country.

• Launched in 2017, the National Housing Strategy (NHS) is a 10-year, $115+ billion plan to give more people in Canada a place to call home. Many investments under the NHS are set to expire in 2028.

None