Build Canada Homes Act

An Act respecting the establishment of Build Canada Homes

Sponsor

Gregor Robertson  Liberal

Status

This bill has received Royal Assent and is, or will soon become, law.

Summary

This is from the published bill. The Library of Parliament has also written a full legislative summary of the bill.

This enactment establishes Build Canada Homes as a Crown corporation. The purpose of Build Canada Homes is to promote, support and develop the supply of affordable housing in Canada and to promote innovative and efficient building techniques in the housing construction sector in Canada. The enactment, among other things,
(a) sets out the powers of Build Canada Homes and its governance framework;
(b) authorizes the Minister of Finance to make payments out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund to fund the operations and activities of Build Canada Homes; and
(c) provides that the Governor in Council may transfer to Build Canada Homes the property, rights, interests and obligations held by any Crown corporation or subsidiary of a Crown corporation and may issue directives for measures to be taken in relation to the reorganization of Canada Lands Company Limited or any of its subsidiaries.
It also includes transitional provisions, makes a consequential amendment to the Financial Administration Act and contains coordinating amendments.

Elsewhere

All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, an excellent resource from Parliament. You can also read the full text of the bill.

Bill numbers are reused for different bills each new session. Perhaps you were looking for one of these other C-20s:

C-20 (2022) Law Public Complaints and Review Commission Act
C-20 (2021) An Act to amend the Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador Additional Fiscal Equalization Offset Payments Act
C-20 (2020) Law An Act respecting further COVID-19 measures
C-20 (2016) Law Appropriation Act No. 3, 2016-17

Votes

June 10, 2026 Passed 3rd reading and adoption of Bill C-20, An Act respecting the establishment of Build Canada Homes
June 9, 2026 Passed Time allocation for Bill C-20, An Act respecting the establishment of Build Canada Homes

Debate Summary

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This is a computer-generated summary of the speeches below. Usually it’s accurate, but every now and then it’ll contain inaccuracies or total fabrications.

This bill establishes "Build Canada Homes" as a new federal Crown corporation tasked with consolidating housing initiatives, leveraging federal lands, and partnering with stakeholders to accelerate affordable housing construction. Debate focuses on whether the measure will improve administrative effectiveness or merely create unnecessary government bureaucracy.

Liberal

  • Establishing Build Canada Homes: The party supports establishing Build Canada Homes as a Crown corporation to provide the operational autonomy, financial tools, and flexibility needed to address the housing crisis at scale.
  • Fostering multi-sector partnerships: This legislation centralizes federal housing initiatives, allowing the agency to act as a developer and financier while streamlining collaboration between government levels, private developers, and non-profit stakeholders.
  • Prioritizing Canadian industry: The bill integrates the "buy Canadian" strategy by prioritizing domestic materials like lumber and steel, while supporting the skilled trades to ensure that housing investments also strengthen the national economy.
  • Addressing diverse community needs: Speakers highlight that the agency addresses unique regional challenges by tailoring affordability to local incomes and supporting specific projects for rural centers, seniors, and indigenous communities.

Conservative

  • Oppose redundant housing bureaucracy: Conservatives oppose Bill C-20, arguing it creates a redundant fourth federal housing bureaucracy that adds administrative layers and executive costs without providing clear targets, timelines, or performance indicators for home construction.
  • Minimal impact on housing supply: Members highlight Parliamentary Budget Officer findings that the new Crown corporation would only contribute 5,000 homes annually, representing just 1% of the government's promised targets and failing to address the true scale of the crisis.
  • Critique of rebranding existing projects: The party criticizes the government for using the legislation to rebrand existing Canada Lands Company projects, asserting that substantive progress is stalled by regulatory delays, permitting bottlenecks, and a focus on promotional aesthetics over actual construction.
  • Proposed alternative housing solutions: The Conservatives advocate for cutting the GST on new homes under $1.3 million, tying federal infrastructure funding to municipal building targets, and removing capital gains taxes on reinvestments in new housing construction.

NDP

  • Criticizes private sector reliance: The NDP argues the bill over-relies on private developers and market incentives, claiming that billions in funding should instead support public community housing to ensure true affordability for Canadians.
  • Demands accountability and targets: Jenny Kwan highlights the lack of measurable targets and performance benchmarks, criticizing the government for rejecting an amendment that would define affordability as 30% or less of a person's income.
  • Favors non-market housing: The party advocates for large-scale investment in public and co-op housing, calling for policies to end the financialization of housing and protect renters from renovictions and market-driven price hikes.
  • Focuses on accessibility: The NDP stresses that increasing housing supply must specifically address the needs of vulnerable groups, including people with disabilities, rather than assuming that generic market units will solve the accessibility crisis.

Bloc

  • Conditional support for the bill: The party supports the bill due to the severe housing crisis and a specific agreement with Quebec that respects its legislative framework and jurisdictional priorities.
  • Concerns regarding jurisdictional encroachment: Members express concern that a new federal structure may encroach on Quebec’s jurisdiction over housing, arguing instead for direct funding transfers without federal interference or conditions.
  • Criticism of administrative inefficiency: The Bloc questions the need for a new entity alongside the CMHC, arguing that replacing functioning programs with new structures has delayed the construction of essential housing.
  • Promotion of the forestry sector: The party advocates for the prioritization of Canadian wood in construction projects to support the forestry sector, which faces significant challenges from international tariffs and a lack of support.

Green

  • Administrative focus over action: The bill merely transitions a special operating agency into a Crown corporation without establishing concrete targets or timelines to solve the housing crisis, rendering it largely ineffective in its current form.
  • Redundancy of new corporation: The party questions the necessity of creating a new entity, arguing that the government should instead properly fund and utilize the existing Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) to deliver housing.
  • Lack of clear accountability: Concerns remain regarding the absence of a designated minister responsible for the project, which risks creating an opaque governance structure without direct accountability for housing outcomes.
  • Failure to treat emergency: Stressing that the housing crisis is a national emergency, the party calls for greater political will and immediate action to house vulnerable citizens instead of focusing on legislative reorganization.
Was this summary helpful and accurate?

Build Canada Homes ActGovernment Orders

June 9th, 2026 / 8:05 p.m.

Conservative

Arpan Khanna Conservative Oxford, ON

That's exactly right. They play by all the rules, Mr. Speaker, yet they are being pushed right to the back.

As for the numbers on housing that the Liberals have promised, they are not even meeting those targets. I think they hit 2.1% of the target they themselves set. In what occupation or job is failure rewarded like that? They should be held accountable for their failures.

Canadians see right through these illusions that the Prime Minister is creating. Canadians are waking up. The Prime Minister is great for giving large, grand speeches, and I will be honest. In his Davos speech, the Prime Minister said some of the right stuff. Some stuff made sense, but homes cannot be built with empty words, stomachs cannot be filled with empty words, and jobs cannot be created in this country with empty words, and that is all we are getting with the Liberal government.

There is another concern we have when the Liberals talk about homebuilding. I am seeing this rural sprawl happening into our farmland. We are seeing our farms being taken away. In Oxford County, that is a big concern for us. Our farmers are the backbone of Oxford County. They are the backbone of our country. They feed our families. It is a very big concern for me to see some of that farmland being taken away. Once farmland is paved over, it is gone forever.

In Oxford County, we have class 1 land, which is some of the best farmland in the country. Members talk about a self-reliant country. Food security is a priority. Domestic production, making more, growing more and harvesting more here in Canada, should be a priority. When the Liberals have reckless projects taking away our farmland, that is a problem. One of those projects that we hear about is happening in eastern Ontario. My colleague is here today. She has been a great advocate fighting against the Alto train project, another boondoggle waiting to happen.

The Liberals are taking away land from our farmers. Our farmers need that land, and they will be here in Parliament to raise their voices. I really encourage the members across the aisle to please join the Conservatives, to join colleagues like mine from eastern Ontario, who are raising serious concerns about this.

The Liberals can talk all they want. The words are not meeting the action. We are not seeing the results. It has been over a year now. They have their majority government. They have no excuses.

Homelessness should not be going up, but it is, under their watch. Tent cities are popping up everywhere, in Winnipeg too. I was there a few months ago, and I met with the mayor. He is seeing a crisis in his community with crime, and he is seeing tent cities. They are raising serious concerns. Again, there is money for the wealthy but nothing for those who are struggling. That has to change.

That is why Conservatives have always put forward solutions to make sure we can build more homes at an affordable price that all Canadians would be able to purchase. That is why we raised the issue of cutting GST on new homes priced up to $1.3 million, saving the average family $65,000. That is a big chunk of change that would help stimulate the economy but also give that first-time homebuyer a chance to get into the market.

We have talked about removing the capital gains tax, so investors could invest and those folks who want to buy their first rental property could get into the market. We want to create that economic environment where money is coming back to our country, unlike the Liberals. We have seen money going down south in the last 11 years.

We have talked about incentivizing municipalities, making sure that we could become one of the fastest places to permit. Canada is one of the slowest permitting jurisdictions in the OECD. I think we place 63rd out of 67. That is pretty bad. We have the highest housing cost per capita in the G7 and the highest household debt in the G7. Those are serious concerns.

Conservatives would incentivize municipalities, so if they permitted faster, they would get a bonus when it came to infrastructure funding, as well. We want to get out of the way. These reckless red tape regulations that profit only the insiders have to go. Let the builders build. Let our farmers farm. Let us not block progress happening in our country. That is our Conservative plan, a plan where young Canadians could buy a home, where our seniors could retire in peace, with dignity, and where our workers, when they make that sacrifice, would be able to purchase a home. Let us stop the bureaucracy. Let us get shovels in the ground.

With that, I move:

That the House do now adjourn.

Build Canada Homes ActGovernment Orders

June 9th, 2026 / 8:15 p.m.

The Deputy Speaker Tom Kmiec

The question is on the motion.

If a member participating in person wishes that the motion be carried or carried on division, or if a member of a recognized party participating in person wishes to request a recorded division, I would invite them to rise and indicate it to the Chair.

Build Canada Homes ActGovernment Orders

June 9th, 2026 / 8:15 p.m.

Conservative

Arpan Khanna Conservative Oxford, ON

Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded division.

Build Canada Homes ActGovernment Orders

June 9th, 2026 / 8:15 p.m.

The Deputy Speaker Tom Kmiec

Call in the members.

(The House divided on the motion, which was negatived on the following division:)

Vote #144

Build Canada Homes ActGovernment Orders

June 9th, 2026 / 9 p.m.

The Deputy Speaker Tom Kmiec

I declare the motion defeated.

Pursuant to order made earlier today, it is my duty to interrupt the proceedings and put forthwith every question necessary to dispose of the third reading stage of the bill now before the House.

The question is on the motion.

If a member participating in person wishes that the motion be carried or carried on division, or if a member of a recognized party participating in person wishes to request a recorded division, I would invite them to rise and indicate it to the Chair.

The hon. parliamentary secretary to the government House leader.

Build Canada Homes ActGovernment Orders

June 9th, 2026 / 9 p.m.

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB

Mr. Speaker, I would request a recorded vote.

Build Canada Homes ActGovernment Orders

June 9th, 2026 / 9 p.m.

The Deputy Speaker Tom Kmiec

Pursuant to Standing Order 45, the division stands deferred until Wednesday, June 10, 2026, at the expiry of the time provided for Oral Questions.

The House resumed from June 9 consideration of the motion that Bill C-20, An Act respecting the establishment of Build Canada Homes, be read the third time and passed.

Build Canada Homes ActGovernment Orders

June 10th, 2026 / 3:45 p.m.

The Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia

The House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion at third reading stage of Bill C-20.

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

Vote #146

Build Canada Homes ActGovernment Orders

June 10th, 2026 / 3:55 p.m.

The Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia

I declare the motion carried.

(Bill read the third time and passed)