QUESTION PERIOD — Employment and Social Development
National Housing Strategy
June 26, 2025
My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate. On March 7, the federal government unveiled designs as part of the Housing Design Catalogue. On March 31, during the election campaign, the current Prime Minister said that a Liberal government “would build more homes that Canadians can afford, with Canada’s most ambitious housing plan since the Second World War.”
The Liberals promised to double the pace of residential construction to almost 500,000 new homes a year.
Creating Build Canada Homes, or BCH for short, would get the federal government back into the business of home building by “acting as a developer to build affordable housing at scale, including on public lands.”
When will the government’s first affordable housing units be listed for sale to Canadians?
Thank you for the question, senator. Although I cannot give you an exact date at the moment, I know that this work is under way and that this government has a credible and ambitious plan for responding to the housing crisis.
The government is not only re-entering the affordable housing construction sector as a developer, but it is also reducing the GST for first-time homebuyers and cutting municipal development charges in half for multi-unit residential housing construction. These measures build on the Housing Accelerator Fund agreements signed with nearly 200 communities across the country to unlock three quarters of a million housing units.
Military spending in Canada is set to increase to 5% of GDP. What plans are in place to improve housing for our military personnel and veterans?
Thank you for your question. This work is already under way as part of Our North, Strong and Free. An additional $1.4 billion in funding has been allocated to build 1,400 residential housing units and renovate 2,500 across Canada, enabling the Canadian Forces Housing Agency to accelerate the construction of new residential housing units.
