QUESTION PERIOD — Infrastructure and Communities
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
June 12, 2025
Senator Gold, on Tuesday, the Auditor General released her most recent reports. One focuses on the government’s commitment to dispose of properties it considers suitable for the development of affordable, accessible, energy-efficient and socially inclusive housing.
We all know it: Canada is in the middle of a housing and affordability crisis, yet the Auditor General found the affordability requirement used by the Federal Lands Initiative to convert office space into affordable housing was not designed to provide housing that would be affordable for the lowest income households.
Senator Gold, what criterion for affordability is the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, or CMHC, using if it is not based on household income?
Thank you for your question. It’s my understanding that the CMHC defines housing as affordable “if it costs less than 30% of a household’s before-tax income.” CMHC also notes that affordable housing is:
. . . a very broad term that can include housing provided by the private, public and non-profit sectors. It also includes all forms of housing tenure : rental, ownership and co-operative ownership, as well as temporary and permanent housing.
All of that said, this government has been very clear — during the election and thereafter — that it remains focused on addressing, in a serious way, the housing crisis that befalls us.
I’ve been raising this issue of reducing the government’s real property portfolio since 2020. Unfortunately, Public Services and Procurement Canada achieved only a slight reduction in office space since 2020 and projects it will not reach its 50% target by 2034. Rather, now it projects a 33% reduction.
How will the government recalibrate its strategy to reach its original target and the projected multi-billion dollars in savings?
Thank you for the reference to the work of the Auditor General in this regard. The government welcomes and accepts all of the recommendations.
My understanding is the government is working closely with Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada to implement those recommendations in an open and transparent way and will provide updates on the government’s progress towards reducing the federal office footprint in due course.
