Canada has unveiled a C$13 billion blueprint to slash housing costs and speed up construction by placing “deeply affordable” modular homes, built using mass timber where possible, on federal land. Announced yesterday, Prime Minister Mark Carney formally launched a new agency, Build Canada Homes, to bankroll private developers, fast-track large-scale projects and mandate Canadian lumber, steel and aluminium amid punitive U.S. tariffs.
Wood Central understands that Build Canada Homes will kick off with six federal sites set to deliver 4,000 homes in Dartmouth (NS), Longueuil (QC), Ottawa and Toronto (ON), Winnipeg (MB) and Edmonton (AB). The agency also establishes a C$1.5 billion fund to buy at-risk rental buildings and preserve long-term affordability, plus C$1 billion for transitional and supportive housing for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
“Canada’s new government is relentlessly focused on bringing down housing costs,” Carney said, who delivered upon a major election promise earlier this year. “Central to that mission is rapidly scaling up the supply of homes. Build Canada Homes will transform the way the 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 announcement builds on Carney’s CA$1.2 billion support package for the timber industry in the wake of new US-based tariffs and duties on softwood lumber, which includes CA$700 million in loan guarantees and CA$500 million in long-term funding to help diversify export markets and spur innovation. Speaking at a lumber mill in West Kelowna, B.C., Carney said, “At this pivotal moment in our history, Canada is transitioning from dependence to resilience. Together, we will craft our own narrative rather than allowing others to dictate it to us. We are forging a unified Canadian economy instead of operating as 13 separate entities.”
In April, Carney first revealed plans to leverage mass timber and modern construction methods to more than double the pace of housing delivery. “Build Canada Homes will catalyse an entirely new housing industry, with Canadian lumber at the centre of it,” he said. “The way we build homes needs to change. Prefabricated and modular housing are the future.”
- To learn more about Mark Carney’s plans to address the housing shortage in Canada, including the creation of Build Canada Homes (BCH), click here for special coverage from the Real Estate Institute of Canada.
