New housing agency will prioritize Canadian-made projects, document shows
The document shared by Canada's housing department says Build Canada Homes is also intended to accelerate the speed at which federal lands are converted to housing, and to stress the use of materials, manufacturing and construction methods that reduce the cost and environmental impact of building.
It says financial and non-financial tools being explored include loans, equity investments, real property and housing investments, loan guarantees and contributions.
The department is still working on the program's design and says it's accepting feedback from the public until the end of the month.
The document, released as part of a consultation process with builders and other industry stakeholders, says Build Canada Homes is positioned to support projects that deliver a 'significant number' of affordable housing units.
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It also says the government will look at projects that expand the supply of housing run by organizations like co-ops, non-profits and Indigenous housing providers.
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The document says the government will look for opportunities to use Canadian-made materials and regional production hubs, and to boost the efficiency of public dollars through tools like below-market-rate loans or private or philanthropic capital.
It will also prioritize projects that use new methods of construction, like prefabricated or 3D-printed construction.
2:06
Business Matters: Canada's weak condo market leaves potential house buyers 'kind of stuck'
Housing affordability was a major issue in the recent federal election, as there haven't been enough homes built in Canada to keep up with population growth. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said in a June report that Canada needs to build between 430,000 and 480,000 new housing units over the next decade, to bring housing costs back to where they were before the pandemic.
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Carney promised in his election platform that his government would invest $6 billion in the Build Canada Homes initiative.
The platform said Build Canada Homes would act as a developer to build affordable housing at scale, including on public lands. It also promised to provide over $25 billion in financing to prefabricated homebuilders in Canada, support affordable homebuilders and incentivize companies to hire apprentices and recent graduates by establishing new requirements on federal contribution agreements to major projects.
Caroline Desrochers, parliamentary secretary to the minister of housing and infrastructure, said in a recent interview with The Canadian Press that the government is exploring options for Build Canada Homes, which could potentially become a separate agency or a unit within Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada.
She said the government is aiming to launch the program in the fall and is 'going to start doing work right now with what we have already' while exploring the best governance for the entity. Desrochers said the goal is to not create 'more layers of bureaucracy and approvals.'
Desrochers said representatives from the government and the CMHC are on a task force created to develop the options for the new program.
She said the government is also in discussion with several promoters and modular and prefabricated home companies to see what projects are ready for funding and to be built.
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