Developers are ready to build more housing. How can the federal government help?

Benjamin Shingler · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 03, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 6 minutes ago

In a tiny mill successful Granby, Que., southbound of Montreal, workers are preparing steel-reinforced factual panels to beryllium shipped to operation sites.

These prefabricated components tin travel with insulation, windows, doors and adjacent a Juliet balcony.

"I telephone it 'ready-to-wear' for construction," said Virginie Brouillard, vice-president of Avac Beton, which was founded by her household 4 decades ago.

The idea, said Daniel Goodfellow, a lodging developer who joined the company's ownership successful 2021, is to physique homes "cheaper, faster and better."

When Goodfellow joined, the institution shifted its absorption connected unique, ornate factual moulds to components that tin beryllium utilized connected large-scale lodging developments, including his ain projects.

His company, Werkliv, specializes successful pupil lodging and has developed projects successful respective cities crossed Canada. Goodfellow said his foray into prefabricated lodging is portion of a broader effort to marque the full process of getting lodging built much efficient.

As it stands, helium said, the delays successful everything from obtaining permits to securing national financing marque it astir intolerable to get lodging built quickly.

He said the mean improvement task takes a decennary oregon much to complete. "It's conscionable simply excessively long," helium said. "I'd truly similar to spot the authorities dainty it similar a crisis."

Housing costs soaring

Quebec — like overmuch of Canada — has seen lodging costs emergence dramatically implicit the past fewer decades.

The median terms of a azygous household location has much than doubled successful the past 10 years. It's present astir $600,000 successful the greater Montreal area, according to the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers. Rents are besides climbing astatine a historical rate.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation has estimated Canada volition necessitate an further 3.5 cardinal lodging units by 2030, connected apical of the 2.3 cardinal already projected to beryllium built, to reconstruct affordability to levels seen successful 2004.

With the outgo of lodging soaring successful Montreal and overmuch of the country, Goodfellow is among those hoping to spot large changes from the adjacent national government.

"Let's physique arsenic overmuch of this worldly arsenic we can," helium said. "This is simply a existent proviso problem."

Party plans

Despite U.S. President Donald Trump's commercialized war casting a shadiness implicit the election, the outgo of lodging remains a cardinal contented for galore voters.

Liberal Leader Mark Carney released his lodging argumentation earlier this week, promising to treble the fig of homes built annually successful Canada to astir 500,000.

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

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who has made addressing the lodging situation a cardinal portion of his campaign, introduced his ain lodging program successful 2023 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.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is proposing to acceptable speech 100 per cent of suitable national Crown onshore to physique much than 100,000 rent-controlled homes by 2035. He has besides pledged to prohibition ample firm landlords from buying up affordable homes to support rents low.

WATCH : Quebec mayors person beardown views connected however national authorities tin help: 

Financing a hurdle

Municipal, provincial and national governments each person an important relation to play, said Carolyn Whitzman, a elder lodging researcher astatine University of Toronto School of Cities.

"All 3 levels of authorities person truly fallen down connected their work to supply a location for everyone," said Whitzman, who has advised the Liberals, Conservatives, NDP and Greens connected their lodging policy. 

The national government, she said, tin bash much to concern caller builds, unfastened up much onshore to improvement and velocity up operation — including by putting much accent connected prefabricated homes.

She believes, arsenic well, that a nationalist lodging strategy is indispensable to marque definite low-income residents person a spot to stay.

"The existent situation successful Montreal is preserving that affordability, preserving … and expanding that bully zoning that has been successful spot for overmuch longer successful Quebec than successful the remainder of Canada," she said.

"The financing operation needs to alteration to concern successful a sustainable semipermanent mode overmuch much caller affordable rentals."

Get escaped of each the 'nonsense'

Earlier this week, Montreal unveiled plans to make immoderate of that national land, southbound of downtown. At the announcement, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said the national authorities needs to springiness much wealth for societal housing.

"We spot successful our streets much and much susceptible radical surviving successful atrocious conditions. That's the extreme," Plante said.

"But let's not hide astir the mediate people that is decidedly struggling connected many, galore levels."

A spokesperson for Quebec's lodging curate would not remark connected immoderate run argumentation announcements, but said the state would invited much national assistance — without conditions — to physique much affordable and societal lodging much rapidly successful Quebec.

Community groups person besides called for much societal housing. Catherine Lussier, with the Quebec lodging radical FRAPRU, argued the determination by the national authorities to propulsion backmost backing for societal lodging successful the 1990s has been detrimental for low-income residents.

"One of the large problems is the deficiency of societal lodging for particularly tenants that are debased income," Lussier said.

In Goodfellow's view, the authorities needs to assistance developers build. He argued gathering much homes — of immoderate benignant — volition bring down the costs for everyone.

"Our nonsubjective should conscionable be, 'how bash we marque arsenic overmuch affordable lodging arsenic possible?' and let's get escaped of each the remainder of the nonsense."