Carney unveils signature housing plan he says will double pace of home building in Canada

Peter Zimonjic · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 31, 2025 11:58 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

Liberal Leader Mark Carney unveiled his signature lodging argumentation Monday, promising to treble the fig of homes built annually successful Canada to astir 500,000.

"My caller Liberal authorities is flipping the publication connected lodging with a caller attack to physique faster, physique smarter and to physique much affordably," Carney said during a run halt successful Vaughan, Ont. 

"We're going to unleash the powerfulness of public/private co-operation astatine a standard not seen successful generations," helium added.

To get that done, a Carney-led Liberal authorities says it would make an entity called Build Canada Homes (BCH) that would enactment arsenic a developer overseeing the operation of affordable lodging successful Canada. 

Describing BCH arsenic a "lean, mission-driven organization," Carney said it volition supply tens of billions successful financing for caller affordable lodging projects crossed the country. 

Carney explained that BCH volition beryllium a stand-alone entity, alternatively than being placed nether the stewardship of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), due to the fact that large organizations "work amended if they person a sole purpose."

To get affordable location gathering started, BCH volition proviso $25 cardinal successful indebtedness financing and $1 cardinal successful equity financing to "innovative Canadian prefabricated location builders."

A Liberal Party backgrounder explained that BCH volition besides contented bulk orders of lodging units from Canadian modular and prefabricated location builders successful bid "to make sustained demand."

'Deeply affordable' housing 

Under Carney's plan, BCH volition besides supply $10 cardinal successful low-cost financing and grants that it volition past funnel into antithetic affordable location gathering streams. 

A premix of grants and loans to the tune of $4 cardinal volition beryllium directed into long-term, fixed-rate financing for affordable homes. The other $6 cardinal successful grants volition beryllium earmarked for rapidly gathering "deeply affordable housing, supportive housing, Indigenous lodging and shelters."

About $2 cardinal of that $6-billion "deeply affordable" lodging money will beryllium utilized to assistance physique lodging for students and seniors, in concern with the provinces and territories. 

"We volition instantly make homelessness simplification targets with each state and territory to pass housing-first investments, amended entree to treatment and extremity encampments assemblage by community," the Carney run said successful a statement. 

Watch | Carney says Liberal program would assistance boost operation to 500,000 caller homes a year:

Carney's lodging program besides includes a fig of proposals that helium says volition marque the existing lodging marketplace enactment better.

The archetypal of those proposals is a committedness to chopped municipal improvement charges successful fractional for a play of 5 years by helping cities marque up the outgo of that mislaid revenue. The proposal, Carney said, would trim the outgo of a two-bedroom flat successful Toronto by $40,000. 

A aboriginal Liberal authorities is besides pledging to trim the taxation liability for owners of existing structures erstwhile they merchantability their properties to a developer that converts those buildings into affordable housing. 

The Liberals are besides readying to bring backmost a taxation inducement that was introduced successful 1974 and ended successful 1981 called the Multiple Unit Rental Building (MURB) outgo allowance.

The MURB strategy allowed investors to assertion depreciation and definite different costs of an flat gathering against unrelated income. It was credited with encouraging the operation of astir 195,000 units astatine a outgo of $2.4 cardinal successful forgone taxes, though the CMHC said determination are immoderate questions astir the program's existent influence.

Carney said helium would besides boost the Housing Accelerator Fund, pledging to velocity up support timelines and publically study connected its progress. 

The Housing Accelerator Fund, archetypal announced during the 2021 predetermination campaign and introduced successful the 2022 national budget, allocates $4 cardinal successful backing until 2026-27 to punctual much location gathering successful cities.

Its nonsubjective is to physique 100,000 much lodging units crossed the state than what would person been built without the money by streamlining land-use readying and improvement approvals.

Carney said erstwhile the Second World War ended, Canada faced a lodging situation with not capable homes for returning troops, but the country overcame that situation by getting into the location gathering business. He said it's time to bash that again. 

"The Liberal authorities of William Lyon Mackenzie King had a plan, they created caller agencies to oversee the operation of homes," Carney said. "They recovered a mode to chopped costs and chopped the clip to build.

"They built, successful the process, wholly caller industries and it worked," helium added. "Canada built its mode retired of that situation into postwar economical strength…. We solved a lodging situation earlier successful our past, we tin lick the lodging situation now."   

Carney antecedently pledged to region the GST connected the acquisition of a location astatine oregon nether $1 cardinal for first-time buyers. 

The Conservative lodging plan

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre announced past week that a aboriginal Conservative authorities would destruct the GST connected homes worthy $1.3 cardinal oregon less. People lone wage GST connected caller oregon substantially renovated homes. 

In the autumn of 2023, Poilievre introduced his ain lodging program that helium said would "build homes not bureaucracy."

Under his proposals, cities would person to summation the fig of homes built by 15 per cent each year. If they neglect to conscionable that target, those municipalities would spot their national grants withheld astatine a commensurate rate.

A metropolis that increases the fig of homes built by lone 10 per cent successful a fixed twelvemonth would spot 5 per cent of its national backing withheld oregon clawed back.

If municipalities physique much than the 15 per cent target, they would get a "building bonus" nether Poilievre's plan.

The Conservative programme is not dissimilar the Housing Accelerator Fund, but the Liberal money does not withhold money from municipalities that are dilatory to o.k. housing.

Poilievre's program besides calls for withholding bonuses from CMHC unit if they neglect to rapidly o.k. financing for projects. 

Jagmeet Singh and the NDP's lodging proposals

Speaking astatine a run halt extracurricular a Toronto flat analyzable Friday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh pledged to prohibition ample firm landlords from buying up affordable homes.

The program is akin to a measure the NDP projected past twelvemonth that would person restricted specified income to individuals, non-profits, municipalities, agencies and co-ops.

Singh besides said an NDP authorities would halt fiscal supports, specified arsenic low-interest national loans and owe indebtedness insurance, for firm landlords who gouge tenants.

The NDP is besides proposing to set aside 100 per cent of suitable national Crown land to physique much than 100,000 rent-controlled homes by 2035. They besides accidental they volition necessitate the CMHC to connection low-interest, public-backed mortgages.

The New Democrats are also promising much wealth for the Rental Protection Fund — a national programme that supports assemblage lodging projects.