Bill C-20

Build Canada Homes Act

An Act respecting the establishment of Build Canada Homes

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.

Build Canada Homes Act

[Tako Van Popta, Conservative, Langley Township—Fraser Heights, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak to Bill C-20, a bill from the Liberal government to establish yet another federal Crown corporation, called Build Canada Homes, which would apparently finally find the solution to the economic woes in our housing sector that have stubbornly evaded solutions provided by existing federal bureaucracies. The stated 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”. I know that sounds optimistic. Let us test that claim, that aspirational statement, against reality.

For 10 years, we have had a Liberal government that thinks it is smarter than the free market. We hear it again today, that the government has all the solutions to all the problems and that with enough central planning, it can make the market behave the way it thinks it should behave. In my years in Parliament, I have observed time and again that the Liberal government's politics are performative in nature. It wants to appear to be doing something about whatever the problem is that is being debated that day. If major projects are being held up because of federal bureaucracy, well, let it create a major projects office. If military procurement is a mess, let it set up a commission to look at why all the other commissions have not been doing their job. Now, in a situation of housing unaffordability and new houses not being built to keep up with demand, we have a new bureaucracy for that too: a new Crown corporation, in fact. Build Canada Homes, it will be called.

Here is what Canadians will get out of this new corporation. First of all, it will create its own bureaucracy, a board of directors comprising eight to 10 people, a chairperson, a full-time CEO, all of whom will be on the federal payroll. Secondly, it will get into the business of building affordable homes, apparently. It is good timing, I say somewhat facetiously, just as the B.C. government is getting out of that line of business. The headline in the Vancouver Sun over the weekend, screaming on the front page, is “'A massive step back' for housing”, while David Eby is grappling with a stunning $13.8-billion operating deficit just three years after he inherited a surplus of $5 billion from the previous government. Another headline on the same topic reads, “Loss of provincial fund upends many affordable rental projects”. People are up in arms about this. They want to know what is going on. The provincial government has made all these promises, and now it is abandoning ship because it does not have the money to do it.

Thirdly, this new, highly paid bureaucracy will analyze what is wrong with the current state of affairs in the housing sector and advise government as to what to do, how to tweak things. One of the first reports coming out of this agency, this Crown corporation, no doubt, will analyze the current housing market in Canada and why it is in such a state of imbalance, despite the existence of federal government bureaucracies and best intentions that were supposed to make things better. This is the fourth bureaucracy, now. We already have the Canada Lands Company. We have the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. We have Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada. I would just point this out: If creating bureaucracies could solve the problem, we would not have a problem.

Let us take a look at the track record of the current bureaucracies. According to CMHC's own recent housing market outlook for 2026, housing starts are heading in the wrong direction, despite all the announcements from the Liberals, below the target necessary to restore housing affordability. A quote from the report sums it up very nicely. It says, “New home construction is set to decline through 2028 as developers face high costs, weaker demand and more unsold homes.” Can members imagine this, in an economy where there are not enough homes? This is especially true in B.C, where, the report predicts, “Housing starts will continue to slow down in 2026, with a more significant decline...in 2027-2028.” We are headed in the wrong direction.

The Canadian Home Builders' Association had this to say in its Q4 report from last year: “Setting new record lows in builder sentiment was the unfortunate theme for the [housing market index] in 2025.” Builders are losing faith in their ability to build homes in the current sector, the environment that the Liberals have created. Ontario and British Columbia unfortunately will “lead the way in terms of broad pessimism among single- and multi-family builders.”

Yes, it is pessimistic. People want to buy or rent homes but lack the financial resources to buy. Builders are being pessimistic about their ability to meet the demand in face of high costs that drive sale prices beyond what the market can bear. There is a serious imbalance in our economy, in other words.

As I was preparing my notes, I thought of the famous economist Friedrich Hayek, the free-market economist who spoke about this in his famous 1945 essay, “The Use of Knowledge in Society”. I will paraphrase it. I just want to highlight that Friedrich Hayek was of the classical liberal tradition of economics, the tradition that the Liberal Party of Canada used to follow until it abandoned all that and Liberals became central planning socialists. That is what they are today.

I will go back to Friedrich Hayek, who had this to say: “The beauty of the market lies in its ability to coordinate actions without requiring omniscience.” He also said, “The fatal flaw of central planning is the assumption that someone knows enough to direct the use of resources efficiently.” Here is another quote, a third from Professor Hayek: “No single mind can comprehend the complexity of modern economic activity—only a decentralized process can manage it.”

The Liberals do not believe that. They used to believe it, but they do not believe it anymore. They have now abandoned classical liberal tradition to adopt central planning socialism. Today they think they are the omniscience, the single mind that can comprehend the complexity of modern economic activity.

That is all we need to know to understand why the Liberals are always so optimistic that their next government central planning agency is finally going to solve the problem. If it does not, then the next one will, and the next one after that. They are always optimistic and always dreaming, always with wishful thinking. If Liberal wishful thinking would build homes, Canada would have the most affordable, the most successful and the most balanced housing market in the world, but that is unfortunately not the case.

People who expect that the bill would actually accelerate affordable housing construction in Canada will be disappointed. The bill is simply about setting up a new bureaucracy to keep an eye on the existing bureaucracies that have failed time and time again to solve our housing affordability crisis and our housing availability crisis. Young people particularly are paying the price for all this mismanagement.

In closing, here is some free advice for the Liberals from the free-market Conservatives. We continue to adopt and follow free-market economics because that is the solution to our economic goals: Just get out of the way. What the Liberals have been doing for the last 10 years has not been working, and the newly repackaged commission, the newly repackaged and restructured bureaucracy, would not solve the problem either. We wish the Liberals would just get out of the way and let smart Canadians build homes to meet market demand.

[Bienvenu-Olivier Ntumba, Liberal, Mont-Saint-Bruno—L’Acadie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we will take no advice from the Conservatives. Their leader built only six homes when he was in charge of this file. We have built homes for Canadians. What does my colleague have to say about that?

[Tako Van Popta, Conservative, Langley Township—Fraser Heights, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the question just underlines what I was saying: Governments do not build homes. People build homes. Home builders build homes. Electricians, drywallers, carpenters and land developers are the ones who build homes. The government just needs to get out of the way and create the environment that welcomes investment so people will actually build homes and so the market meets the demand.

[Alexis Deschênes, Bloc, Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. I think that we share his concerns about the centralist nature of the bill. Let us not forget that the Liberal government's last good idea on housing was the Canada housing infrastructure fund, which was announced in April 2024. It took almost two years before an agreement was finally reached with Quebec for the money to come through.

I would like my colleague's thoughts on a concern of mine. I come from a rural area. There are small villages where I live, and there is a significant need for housing. However, these projects often involve 12 or 24 housing units, while the federal government usually focuses on large projects in cities. Does my colleague share my concern that rural areas are once again being forgotten?

[Tako Van Popta, Conservative, Langley Township—Fraser Heights, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the question from my colleague from the Bloc Québécois was a thoughtful one. I live in a community that is highly urbanized, but parts of it are still rural, so I sympathize with the question.

I will revert back to what I had said earlier, which is that the market generally sorts things out. If there is a demand in smaller communities, it will be filled if the government gets out of the way.

Is there a role for government? Provincial and federal governments own a lot of land. Maybe they should put that out into the marketplace. I know there are areas in British Columbia that would benefit greatly from the release of federal lands from federal control. Put it into private enterprise and let us build.

[Roman Baber, Conservative, York Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member's speech was thoughtful. I certainly agree on the fact that choices and the free economy, not government, are what builds homes.

However, what I do not really understand about the bill is why we need a fourth bureaucracy. We already have the ministry of housing, which can do what the new agency would seek to do. We have CMHC. We have the Canada Lands Company, headquartered in the great riding of York Centre. Therefore, I do not understand, but perhaps the hon. member has an idea, why the Liberals require yet a fourth bureaucracy to do what any of the three previous bureaucracies can do.

[Tako Van Popta, Conservative, Langley Township—Fraser Heights, BC]

Mr. Speaker, that is an important question, but I am really the wrong person to be asking it to. Trying to get into the minds of the Liberals is hard to do, but what I have observed time and again is that the Liberal politics of the Liberal Party of the 2020s is all performative politics. It just wants it to seem that it is doing something. If there is a problem, it has a solution: another organization, photo op or ribbon cutting, and the problem is solved. That is its problem.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I am very interested in whether the Conservatives are taking the position that they are going to oppose the legislation. They do not support Bill C-20. Having said that, will they recognize, at the very least, that we should allow it to go to committee, or does the member believe they are going to continue to filibuster the legislation too?

[Tako Van Popta, Conservative, Langley Township—Fraser Heights, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting that every time the member for Winnipeg North stands up, he is accusing us of filibustering. This is an important topic. It is very important for Canadians, certainly in my home province of British Columbia, where housing affordability really is a crisis for young people. These are important issues. We need to be debating them in the House of Commons, and that is exactly what we are doing.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to rise today to speak to the Build Canada Homes act, the legislation that would address one of the most urgent and deeply felt challenges facing Canadians, particularly young Canadians: housing. I would like to address the impact the legislation would have on Canada Lands Company Limited.

As we know, Canada is in a housing crisis. The cost of housing is up, supply is not keeping pace with demand, and productivity in the construction sector is low. We need to build more homes, and we need to build them fast. This is exactly what we ran on in April 2025. It is what Canadians wanted us to do.

Consistently for the last couple of years, we have heard from Canadians that they need more homes. The dream of being a homeowner for young Canadians has not died; it is still alive and well. It is the onus of every single level of government to make sure we can meet that dream.

The legislation would define the mandate, governance structure, powers and funding of Build Canada Homes. It would also provide the transitional provisions necessary to move it from an existing special operating agency to a Crown corporation. I want to clarify that this is something we ran on, and Canadians, on April 28, 2025, gave this side of the House the mandate to meet their most important and most dire needs across the country.

We are not doing something that we were hiding from Canadians; we have talked about it. We talked about Build Canada Homes, and now we finally see the life of Build Canada Homes as a Crown corporation. Once Build Canada Homes becomes a Crown corporation, it would also have access to a broader set of authorities and to greater operational flexibility. This would also allow it to move faster and more effectively in delivering housing at scale.

Housing insecurity is rarely a stand-alone issue. We know that for many Canadians, it intersects with mental health, health care access, income stability and community supports. This is the reality that underscores the importance of wraparound services, an approach that recognizes that stable housing and personal well-being are deeply interconnected.

The Build Canada Homes act would allow us to think about housing in a more holistic way. Yes, Canada must build more homes, must accelerate approvals and remove barriers, and it must also ensure that housing systems promote long-term stability, particularly with people who have complex needs.

If I may, let me reflect briefly on the experiences of London, Ontario, which offers a compelling example of how federal partnerships and wraparound thinking can produce meaningful outcomes. London has been a national leader in leveraging federal housing dollars and investments, thanks to the many partners in the sector, along with the leadership of the City of London and the many builders across the city who have come together and are responding to the need for housing for every single person in our community.

We are, one day at a time, curving homelessness across the city of London. Our community has received among the highest levels of housing funding in the country, reflecting both scale of local need and the city's readiness to respond to that need. London was the first municipality to secure the housing accelerator fund, and through demonstrated performance and ambition, it has received additional funding to further accelerate progress.

These investments have translated into tangible results. London has significantly expanded its housing supply, including a substantial increase in supportive housing projects that combine stable accommodation with integrated health and social services that continue to address homelessness and housing vulnerability in a durable and more sustainable way because it is done at a community level.

I would like to share a story. This past week in my riding, I visited an Indwell housing project, a partnership with many partners in the city of London, including the City of London, where residents celebrated Black History Month with the support of staff.

I was invited as the speaker by one of the residents who has been there for, I think, about a year, named Este. I saw the joy it brought her to invite me to speak at this Black History Month event. I enjoyed having a conversation with her and getting to know a little about her story, where she started, where she is at today and how far she has come, as well as about the dignity with which Indwell treats its residents.

This is a project we funded. I was there for the groundbreaking. I was there for the opening. I was there when the first person moved in, and I returned to have a conversation with a resident who was excited to celebrate Black History Month. It really brought warmth to my heart to see that behind all the jargon that politicians use, behind all the numbers we talk about and behind the dollars, there are real people.

I was talking about wraparound services and what Build Canada Homes would do to provide more of these opportunities. The minister shared a story earlier about the Dunn project, which is in Toronto, and I am sharing the story about Thompson Road and many others in the city of London, where we see partners come together and get federal dollars to provide units for people who need them the most, the most vulnerable people in our community.

I had an opportunity to chat with a couple of residents there, but more importantly with Ese, who invited me to be the keynote speaker, engaging on Black History Month. The joy she had and the life in the room really brought life to me as well. I was actually not feeling well that day, but it brought so much light and joy to see that, to see the advocacy that went into it, all the partners that went into it and all the hard work of people who want to see the most vulnerable people in our community housed. That is exactly her success and what Ese embodies. As the staff on site said, she has come so far from where she was to where she is now. I am so glad to see that there are tangible people behind these dollars.

The work that Build Canada Homes wants to do and will continue to build on is like the project on Thompson Road. This progress matters, not only for those directly served, but for the broader housing ecosystem. Expanding supply across the housing continuum, including supportive and affordable housing, has a system-wide effect. We already know that when more housing units come online, pressure on rental markets begin to ease. When rental pressures ease, affordability improves across the board. The hope is that Build Canada Homes will do that, so we can see a spike in home builds across the city and across Canada.

The reality is that young Canadians, as I said earlier, desire to own a home, and that desire has not wavered, which is why we are going to continue to do everything in our power. We are going to work with the provinces, we are going to work with municipalities, we are going to work with everyone to make sure we can provide homes for Canadians across the board.

Being able to afford a home is a human right; it is not a luxury. It is what all Canadians need and deserve, and that is what we are going to continue to do. For young families, for first-time homebuyers, for those seeking to put down roots, housing supply becomes the difference between aspiration and reality. Every home built expands the possibility.

Strategic federal investments paired with local leadership and wraparound approaches produce compounding benefits. They will address immediate needs while strengthening long-term market stability. They support the most vulnerable population while improving affordability dynamics for the broader community.

The global economy has recently undergone a shift that has profoundly transformed the traditional world order. Canada can no longer count on its most important trading relationship. Because of that, we are building our capacity here at home. We are going to build stronger relationships across all levels of government, including municipal, provincial and territorial governments and with our indigenous partners. We are making strategic investments to build a stronger, more sustainable and more resilient economy. We are working to cut red tape, eliminate internal trade barriers and sign new agreements that will stimulate the local economy. As a Crown corporation, Build Canada Homes will be funded by the initial $13‑billion envelope announced in budget 2025.

The Build Canada Homes act proposes to establish Build Canada Homes as a Crown corporation. The legislation would provide the transitional provisions necessary to move from the existing special operating agency to a Crown corporation. This will allow it to move faster and more efficiently in providing and delivering housing across the board, whether it be in the province of Ontario or across Canada.

We would also streamline and strengthen federal efforts and help scale up the supply of affordable housing across the country. The transfer of key elements from Canada Lands Company Limited to Build Canada Homes is an important step in developing and building housing on public lands.

This means Build Canada Homes would be equipped with the tools and the authorities to take a leading role in the planning, development and construction of housing on public lands. This would also include the land holdings of Canada Lands Company Limited. It would position Build Canada Homes to streamline construction on public lands.

Budget 2025 already announced an initial investment of $13 billion over five years. Of this amount, there is a capital contribution of $1.5 billion to Canada Lands Company Limited. This funding will support the direct construction of up to 4,000 new homes that will remain publicly owned over the long term. This marks a strategic shift in how public lands and development expertise are mobilized to accelerate the supply of affordable housing across the country.

Build Canada Homes will develop parcels at six Canada Lands Company Limited sites in Dartmouth, Longueuil, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg and Edmonton. A direct build approach will be used for the construction of these affordable, mixed-income communities. This is one example of how Build Canada Homes will work to improve the availability of affordable housing for those who have been priced out of the market.

Build Canada Homes will also look for ways to maximize affordability as much as possible. We will leverage a mixed-market approach. Build Canada Homes will also help unlock new sources of private capital and create more housing supply across the board. It will ensure that housing remains financially viable and affordable for the long term. The homes will enable long-term affordability through continued public ownership, and the newbuilds will leverage modern methods of construction. This includes prefabrication, modular building and mass timber to speed up construction and take advantage of Canadian technology and materials.

Earlier, the minister also talked about how construction will go on all year long. Last year, during the summer, my colleagues and I had our caucus retreat in Edmonton. We were able to visit many start-ups that are doing modular work using AI. They are working with people who are in the sector, in apprenticeships, and they are using AI as a tool that can also build homes in a very fast way.

We are doing work around removing barriers across Canada. If we think about a modular home that has to move from one area to another, maybe more start-ups will be interested in modular work. Also, with the barriers that we are removing, there is the possibility of much money to be made across the board and much expertise to be shared among the different provinces.

I also had a chance to visit one of these companies in my backyard of southwestern Ontario, near Windsor. I saw how the technology is already there, and it is prepared. As the minister said, we want to build all year long. This is some of the technology and innovation that we could be using to make sure that Canadians are still employed and are able to build homes and get the homes they need, at scale and fast.

The Build Canada Homes act would be a major milestone in the government's plan to build more homes in a fast way and to help ensure that every Canadian can have a place to call home that they can afford. Build Canada Homes is becoming a Crown corporation to give it the operational independence, the governance and the flexibility needed to deliver affordable housing while remaining accountable to Parliament.

The legislation would also enable Build Canada Homes to leverage Canada Lands Company Limited's land holdings and development expertise, along with its own flexible financial tools. It would provide a streamlined approach to building on public lands. The Build Canada Homes act and the transfer of the land holdings and development experience from Canada Lands Company Limited to Build Canada Homes would accelerate the delivery of affordable housing across the country, contrary to what many colleagues have been commenting here.

Moving forward with this legislation means that the Government of Canada would be better positioned to use all the tools that it has at its disposal to ensure that Canadians can have the homes they need. The federal government would implement new ideas and take an innovative approach to building housing across the country.

Through this act, the federal government would put public lands to good use by building thousands of new affordable homes. Supportive housing, in particular, reflects this dual benefit. It provides stability and dignity for individuals facing complex challenges, reduces strain on emergency systems, improves community outcomes and contributes to the overall housing supply, which helps moderate market pressures.

The Build Canada Homes act would build precisely on this model of coordinated, enabling leadership. By strengthening financing tools, it would allow more projects to proceed with certainty. Every Canadian deserves a place to call home, and the Build Canada Homes act would help to build a strong Canada. It would do exactly what we promised on the campaign trail in April 2025.

I look forward to taking questions from my colleagues.

[Scott Aitchison, Conservative, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I noted that my hon. colleague mentioned some great things going on in the city of London. It is important for us to congratulate Mayor Morgan and his council for some of the things they have done to get housing built faster in that city. What they have focused on is streamlining the process, speeding up approvals and zoning as of right, so people do not have to go through the rezoning process. Interestingly enough, the Liberals did not need Build Canada Homes to do that. They did it already and are getting the job done.

I am wondering if the member can explain to the House specifically why Build Canada Homes is required and why the things that they wanted to do could not have been done by the Canada Lands Company, which is a federal Crown corporation; the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, which was the first Crown corporation; or maybe even the department. What specifically about the fourth federal housing agency is so crucially important, if London can get it right?

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I do not think the member is aware that I sat on council with Mayor Morgan. In 2018, when the City of London, for the first time, had the opportunity to partner with the federal government to work through the national housing strategy, we worked directly with the federal government. As a member of Parliament, I have had the chance to work directly with the municipality of London to ensure that housing can be built fast.

Yes, the City of London has leveraged many federal dollars to be able to provide affordable housing across the board, and it will continue to do so. I do not think the member has had a conversation with Mayor Morgan about this, because he would not have made the same comments he made today.

[Scott Aitchison, Conservative, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

I know him very well. I talk to him all the time.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the member would not have made the same comments, because the mayor was here last week, talking about the needs in London and the need for us to continue to invest, especially in wraparound services that are needed in our city and that leaders across the board have identified as an issue that they want to work together with all levels of government to address. I am not sure—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, John Nater]

Questions and comments, the hon. member for La Pointe-de-l'Île.