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.

Third Reading

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

It was not directed at any individual member, and even then, I do not think it would be unparliamentary.

The hon. parliamentary secretary to the government House leader.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I am a bit surprised that, while the Conservatives say how much they love freedom and do not want censorship, the member is trying to say that I cannot say the Conservative Party has dumb ideas.

When one really stops and thinks about it, their solution for the housing crisis in Canada is to stand back and do nothing. There are provinces, municipalities, non-profit organizations and stakeholders out there saying that the federal government should do something, which is what Bill C-20 would do.

Through Bill C-20, we would develop a corporation that would support the expansion of Canada's housing industry and our housing stock. For example, we are talking about promoting modular homes; increasing housing co-ops and other forms of non-profit housing; and working with municipalities and provinces to add value and to increase the amount of affordable housing. That is what Bill C-20 is all about.

The Conservatives say, “No, we do not want that.” Why is that? I do not understand it for the life of me. They say that they understand the needs of Canadians, but they do not. They are going to vote against Bill C-20, just like they vote against any idea that comes out of the government to be affordable for Canadians—

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

We will have to continue this later.

The House resumed 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 Act

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

Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise and share some thoughts on important issues that Canadians have to face, and hopefully give an explanation as to where I am coming from and why it is very important that the Government of Canada continues to push forward on building opportunities to see more people being able to afford homes and ultimately more homes being built here in Canada.

A number of years ago, when I was first elected to the Manitoba legislature, my first responsibility was tied to being the critic for housing and the deputy party whip at the time. It was something that I appreciated being a part of, because it gave me a very good understanding of the housing industry back then. I have never lost interest, and in fact I have had many debates over the years on the issue of housing. When I came to Ottawa, I continued to have discussions and debates on the important issue of housing.

From the very beginning, I have always recognized that the national government does, and should, have a role to play in housing in Canada. This has been an issue for a period of time. The minister made reference earlier, in response to a heckle and comments that were coming from the opposition benches, to the fact that the issue we have before us today is not something that just came out of the blue. What we have is an issue that has been there and has taken more than a generation to get to this point.

There was a time, in the early 1990s, even going into the 1980s, when governments of different political persuasions and levels were talking about the national government withdrawing from housing responsibility. In part, we are realizing why the national government needs to not only be engaged but demonstrate leadership on this critically important file. When we think of housing, it affects all of our communities. Not only does it impact homeowners and future homeowners, but it affects the community. Whether it is about growth or, in some cases, infill housing projects, it could have a very negative impact if the national government is not directly involved.

I have seen that involvement in a very real and tangible way. Let us take a look, for example, at what Habitat for Humanity Canada does in our communities. I represent a riding that has likely benefited the most, or is one of the top five or 10 ridings that have benefited the most, through Habitat for Humanity making housing affordable. In Winnipeg North, I would estimate that well over 100 homes, which is 100 families, have benefited from one incredible non-profit organization, just focused in one federal riding. Everywhere, from the Point Douglas area to Shaughnessy Park, The Maples and into the suburbs, Habitat for Humanity has helped build homes that individuals living in them otherwise would not be able to afford. It has made homes affordable.

Today we have a government that recognizes that and supports Habitat for Humanity. I would hope that this support continues into the future. I think of revitalization programs from the past where governments were working together to establish a pool of money so they could refurbish housing stock, and in some situations, such as the promotion of housing co-ops, see co-ops being built.

Before I was a parliamentarian, I used to be involved in the Weston Residents Housing Cooperative, and we were able to build affordable housing. We very much needed the support of government. At that time, it was the provincial government that provided the support, but today we have not seen much in terms of the expansion of housing co-ops.

However, under this Prime Minister and this administration, the Build Canada Homes act would, once again, provide support for housing co-ops. Housing co-ops play a very important role. Again, looking at Winnipeg North, I think of Willow Park, arguably the oldest and most established housing co-op in Canada, possibly even in North America. That community has benefited because of direct government involvement.

Direct government involvement takes many different forms. I referred to housing co-ops. I can talk about infill housing, directly or indirectly, but I would also suggest non-profit housing built by government. Back in the day, maybe 25 years ago, I would see affordable government-built homes, and tenants living in those homes were paying less than 30% of their annual income, no matter what their annual income was. Affordable homes are built because there are many generational issues at times. Individuals find it difficult for a wide spectrum of reasons and are very dependent on government-built homes.

Many organizations in Winnipeg North, from the Ukrainian community, the German community or the Polish community, have built homes. When I say “homes”, I am referring to apartment blocks. The Canadian Polish Manor has a dozen-plus floors. It is the same with the Canadian German Society Manor that was established. The Ukrainian community has built a few of them. Even though they might not necessarily have the management of them today, or not in all cases, these homes were built, in part, with federal dollars. They provide homes for seniors. Seniors who live in the community and maybe have children who are grown up or a spouse who passed away often want to stay in the community. Often, these buildings that are built by communities and non-profits are there to support and provide that home so seniors can get out of a single detached home and into a different home environment.

There have been all sorts of programs over the years to support affordable housing. There were a number of years when that virtually came to an end because governments at different levels made the decision to withdraw. We saw it, I would argue, during the peak of the Harper era. That is why I referred to the leader of the Conservative Party, when he was minister of housing, and I reflected on the number of non-profit housing units that were actually built when he was responsible for housing. It was fewer than 10. Then we wonder why we have this issue today. It is not something that occurred overnight.

I like that the issue was elevated to the degree that, during the last national election, just over a year ago, Canada's Prime Minister made the decision to be more aggressive in supporting our communities and Canadians by making housing more affordable. That has taken different forms.

We know that the price of housing has actually gone down since the last election. We know that the cost of rentals has actually gone down. We also know that the Prime Minister and the government today have put in place specific actions to look at ways to increase housing, both the stock and, where we can, the housing conditions overall, through different types of programs.

When we take a look at Build Canada Homes, we think of it in the form of an arms-length corporation that is being funded to the tune of $13 billion, which has already been allocated in the 2025 budget. It is going to ensure that there is more affordable housing across our nation from coast to coast to coast. It is showing that the Government of Canada is working collaboratively with the different stakeholders and our provinces to ensure that we can maximize the benefit of housing.

I would be interested in hearing from the Conservative Party today. Is there anyone in the Conservative Party today who believes there is a role for the national government to play on housing? To date, I have heard that, no, there is no role. I would very much appreciate hearing from any Conservative who can stand up and say that, yes, there is a role for the national government.

[Dan Muys, Conservative, Flamborough—Glanbrook—Brant North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we know that the Alto high‑speed rail project, which will be completed toward the end of the next decade, 2040, already has 13 vice‑presidents at that agency who are already receiving bonuses, with not an inch of track being laid.

The hon. member described Build Canada Homes as an arm's-length federal agency. How many vice‑presidents will there be, and are they going to be receiving bonuses already?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I can appreciate the question, I guess, to a certain degree. It is completely off‑topic.

However, when we take a look at what is being proposed and what the government is pushing as a major project, working with the Province of Quebec in a collaborative fashion, this is a project that has received support from Progressive Conservatives. It has also received support from Conservatives.

The member will find that, in previous governments, under the Harper regime, there were members of Parliament in the Conservative caucus who actually supported the project and who were in opposition to what today's far-right Conservative Party is saying. The Conservatives are trying to portray something that is not the case. Hopefully, we will hear a lot more on this project in the days to come.

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Waterloo, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I listened intently to my colleague's speech, and I really appreciated the insights being provided. I think this is important legislation, and I personally believe the federal government has an important role to play when it comes to housing.

In Waterloo, constituents have really appreciated the federal government stepping up and returning to the housing scene and having different levels of government working together. We have received some substantial investments from the federal government when it comes to increasing the affordable housing supply, a supply that will remain in our community for generations to come, with some of the most historic kinds of projects that we have not been able to dabble in before.

I would like to hear the member's thoughts as to why the Conservatives are taking the approach that the federal government does not have a role to play. Why are they so concerned that the federal government will help Canadians and give them a hand?

In the region of Waterloo, I have been asked by constituents about Conservative members voting against the bill, our legislation and our budget, yet when it comes to housing projects, the Conservatives offer these hollow letters of support for those projects. We know that in the past Conservative members were reprimanded for asking the minister of housing for support for their communities.

Clearly, there are Conservative members who want to see the federal government support housing initiatives in their communities. I would like the member to build upon some of those comments. It is unfortunate that this is not the chorus that the whole Conservative Party is singing, but I am confident there are some Conservative members who are confident that the federal government has a role to play. What are the member's thoughts?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I guess I would break it down into a couple of things. One is the House leadership of the Conservative Party today, which, I would suggest, very much has that get-out-of-the-way, far-right attitude. That is the group that was very critical of the more progressive Conservatives within the caucus. They are much smaller in number but are the ones who really see the value and are the ones who were actually writing letters to the government saying that they supported the project and wanted it.

They were reprimanded. They were told to stop writing support letters for their community. This came from the Conservative House leadership team, or the leadership team as a whole, and many of the members who, I would suggest, are on the far-right scale of thinking that the federal government has absolutely no role to play in regard to housing.

Contrast that with the beginning of the question that my friend from Waterloo posed. She highlighted how important housing is to the city of Waterloo, and she is a consistent advocate for Waterloo, not only on housing but on a wide spectrum of issues. She is advocating for Waterloo and sees the value of working collaboratively, and that is exactly what the federal government is doing, because we understand that the end goal is to increase Canada's housing stock, especially on the affordability front.

[Kurt Holman, Conservative, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary mentioned that the affordability issue did not happen overnight. I actually agree with him, but the key thing is that the issue has expanded for the last 11 years. Yes, that is under the Trudeau Liberal government and now under the current Liberal government.

In my riding, which I am proud to represent, London—Fanshawe, I have gone door to door, connecting with constituents. The key thing is that I have talked to parents whose adult children still live in their house. They get misty-eyed and choked up because they want their children to excel, but the dilemma is that their children cannot afford a house.

The Liberals promised to deliver 500 new homes every year, but according to CMHC, Canada's housing starts are projected to fall to as low as 212,000 by 2028. What do I tell the parents who love their children but want them to move out? What do I tell them, when they know there are not enough houses being built?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the member can indicate the following very clearly, because the numbers and the facts clearly demonstrate it. Just over a year ago, Canadians elected a new Prime Minister with incredible credentials on the economy and how it works. There have been positive results on the housing file. Houses have become more affordable; they have dropped in price. Rents overall have dropped in price. The government has been working collaboratively with the different jurisdictions, and the housing stock is in fact increasing. The affordability issue is also being addressed in different ways.

Within a year, our new government and the new Prime Minister have already made a positive difference, and I am optimistic about the future and being able to hit the targets that have been established.

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Waterloo, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I thought that the last exchange was interesting. We just received an example of a Conservative member's wanting more investment in housing and more affordable housing built, recognizing that his constituents need the federal government to play a role, yet rather than working with the government to ensure that we can have more successes for Canadians, the Conservatives would rather slow things down and have Canadians hurting.

I find it fascinating, and we experienced this at committee yesterday as well, that the Conservative Party is going out of its way to almost amplify the hurt of Canadians rather than being part of the solution. That is probably why the Conservative Party remains the professional opposition: It actually does not want to be part of the solution.

Could the parliamentary secretary please expand on the importance of the legislation, the federal government's role and how it would actually help the people like the ones the member for London—Fanshawe has just referred to?

I have to say that I am starting to miss the previous member for London—Fanshawe, because I do believe she would have at least fought hard to ensure that the constituents were fought for, rather than standing in the way and hoping that they hurt. I want Canadians to succeed. I will fight for the people of Waterloo. I would like to hear the member's comments.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, when I think of the residents of London—Fanshawe, much as I do for many different constituencies, I think about how Bill C-20 would make a positive difference. It is not an issue of just blindly following the Conservative leadership, even because they are so wrong on this issue. Build Canada Homes is about looking at different ways we can build, such as modular homes. There are ways we can look at how, by working with the stakeholders, we are going to have more homes being built.

There are the constituents for whom the member wants more homes to be built. The national government is showing compassion and moving in that direction. His very leader is saying to stop. In fact, the member for Waterloo might have gotten him in trouble by signalling that the member is someone who might be somewhat sympathetic to his constituents' needs.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Ponoka—Didsbury, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek.

I am happy to stand today and represent the fine folks of Ponoka—Didsbury. I am happy to report that my leader does not yell at me in caucus meetings and that he listens to all my concerns when I bring them to his attention.

I humbly rise to speak against this piece of government legislation, Bill C-20, the Build Canada Homes act.

The Liberal Prime Minister and his government have been big on their promises over the last year, much like they are big on their bureaucracy, big on their spending and big on creating big-time failures. This piece of legislation is a fraction of the action off the back end of a big promise that guarantees big bureaucracy, big spending and an even bigger deficit.

When elected to a minority government last year, the Prime Minister said he was going to “build, baby, build”, but, oh, baby, he has not built a thing. How did we get here? Well, it was through broken promises and the promotion of failure. Failing upwards is all we are seeing, it seems. The Prime Minister ran an election campaign on a promise to double our homebuilding construction to 500,000 homes a year and to move at speeds not seen in generations. They have not been seen because we cannot see anything moving when nothing is moving. There is nothing to see.

Whom did the Prime Minister hand-pick to help him deliver on this promise to complete the most housing completions in Canadian history? He chose the member for Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby. Listen to this: When he was the mayor of Vancouver, the member raised development charges by 141%, increased the price of homes by 149%, watched the average rent jump by 50%, and saw homelessness increase by 38%. Wow, talk about failing upwards. Under his watch, Vancouver became one of the most expensive markets in North America. It is not just one of the most expensive markets in North America but one of the most expensive in the world.

The member is whom the Liberal Prime Minister tasked with delivering on this housing crisis, the same minister who said on day one of the job that home prices in this country do not need to come down at all. It is no wonder homes are not being built in this country. Nothing is being built. There is a theme here: no homes, no pipelines, no energy projects and no infrastructure. The Prime Minister cannot get anything built. It has been more than a year since the PM's grand promise to build half a million homes a year, and the result is in: fewer permits, fewer starts and a housing crisis that is rapidly becoming a nightmare.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, one of the government's four housing bureaucracies, has declared that Canada must build between 430,000 and 500,000 homes per year for up to a decade to restore 2019 levels of housing affordability. The Prime Minister promised he would build these half a million homes a year, and he said that a big proponent of this building would be the new Crown corporation, Build Canada Homes.

However, the reports since that promise suggest that Build Canada Homes has the capacity to build only up to about 400,000 homes across six different Canadian cities. This is a mere 1% of the Liberals' original homebuilding promise of 500,000 homes. Where will the other 496,000 come from, if not from this new $11.5-billion agency?

Those six sites across the country are not even new announcements, I will remind everyone. Each and every project is an old project that the Canada Lands Company, one of the government's other housing bureaucracies, was already working on. The government has taken these sites and reintroduced them under a new agency, and it is calling this progress. It is not progress; it is an abject failure. No new homes are being built. It is an expensive photo op, just like the fake construction site the Prime Minister spent $35,000 on last September when he announced this very Build Canada Homes project in Ottawa, a fake solution to a very real Liberal housing crisis.

The CMHC says that housing starts in Canada are projected to drop from 270,000 this year to 212,000 by 2028. National housing starts will drop by 18.1% over the next two years as developers are facing skyrocketing building costs. This is an issue that is compounding. Every day it gets worse, and we simply do not have any more time to waste. A year after the promise of half a million homes a year, there is a catastrophic collapse in the market.

Maybe the Prime Minister's new Major Projects Office that has not approved a major project yet will take this lofty goal on. The problem is delivery. Deliverology is not working for the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister promised to build at speeds never seen before, at a generational speed, but here we are, a year into his term, and we are just now debating Bill C‑20, which has the capacity to build only 1% of the homes the government promised.

The minister said a key component of Build Canada Homes is speeding up housing construction. He is not off to a very good start. It took him nearly a year just to bring legislation to the House, which is still not getting anything done. In recent years, the CMHC's data, which is the government's own data, shows that housing starts are falling in this country, and they will continue to fall nationally this year and next.

The Canadian Real Estate Association says national home prices have increased 2.2% from this time last year. The average home price has increased in every province across Canada. The territories have seen a worse fate. The average home price in the Yukon has increased by over $80,000 from this time last year. The housing crisis is not getting better. It is spiralling out of control. What is the government's solution? It is more bureaucracy, consultants, photo ops and broken promises.

The job of His Majesty's loyal opposition is to hold the government accountable, promote sound policy and correct the government when it needs correction. One would think the government's job is to listen, but that has not been working. The role of the opposition is integral to the function of Parliament, and it plays an even more important role in the rightful minority Parliament that the Liberals were elected to last year. This job as opposition was given to us by over 8 million voters across the country. Our leader has been clear that we will oppose bad policies and support good ones. This policy is bad policy. It is expensive, it does not deliver any new homes, it pays bureaucrats and consultants and it duplicates the work that several other federal housing agencies already do. It is needless.

When the housing minister took office as the mayor of Vancouver in 2008, the average price of a detached home in the city was $942,000. On his last day in office, that same home price had soared to $1.8 million. This is the same theme we are going to see nationally. Home prices have remained at unattainable values and costs, there are no buyers, sellers or new builds, and there is no market. The Liberals' response is an $11.5‑billion housing agency that may have the potential to build up to 4,000 homes. My hon. colleague from Parry Sound—Muskoka has offered a substantive, good housing policy that will move the needle and get homes built across the country, but the housing minister will not listen. He is stuck in his ways. They are the same ways that saw Vancouver become the most unaffordable housing market in North America and one of the most expensive in the world.

The Conservatives do not support adding more bureaucratic red tape to our already highly regulated housing sector. We support and have encouraged the government to do the following things.

Cut the GST on all new homes under $1.3 million. In turn, this would save families up to $65,000 on the purchase of a new home and unleash new building in every market across the country.

Tie federal infrastructure dollars to homebuilding to incentivize construction and new builds. Municipalities would have to permit at least 15% more homebuilding each year in order to receive federal infrastructure spending.

Cut development charges by 50%. The Liberals promised this during the last election campaign, but refused to deliver. This would lift a massive fiscal anchor off the backs of Canadian builders and allow them to do what they do best, which is build houses.

End the capital gains tax on reinvestments in new housing in Canada. This would unlock billions of dollars of investment in our country's homebuilding sector.

These are substantive, difference-making policy proposals for our housing sector, but they are met with crickets from the government benches. The GST tax cut on all new homes under $1.3 million, for example, is a policy proposal that building experts, both Liberal and Conservative, have been calling for for over a year now as a policy that would actually enact change.

The housing minister is not listening. In fact, on a podcast last summer, the minister referred to our proposed GST tax cut as “a big, large sweeping change to make”. Under the government's watch, Canada is facing a housing crisis we have not seen since the Second World War. Instead of rising to the occasion, the government has failed and has made things even worse. Maybe big, large, sweeping changes are exactly what we need to get Canadians into the houses they want.

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

Mr. Speaker, the reality of the situation is that just over a year ago, Canadians elected a new Prime Minister and a new government. We came forward with a substantive piece of legislation to have more homes built here in Canada. The member tries to give a false impression, but I can tell him that Build Canada Homes will, in fact, build thousands and thousands of affordable homes.

The Conservative Party's position is, “Get out of the way. We do not need Build Canada Homes.” This is coming from an opposition party that is led by a leader who used to be the minister of housing and built six non-profit homes in that role.

Why should we listen to the Conservative Party?