Human Resources Committee on May 25th, 2026

[Gregor Robertson, Liberal, Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby, BC]

Thank you for your question. I'm going to answer in English.

First and foremost, we have dedicated $1 billion of the $13 billion in budget 2025 for Build Canada Homes to supportive and transitional housing. That is the most tried and tested approach to tackling homelessness. We have a couple of thousand homes now in development with Build Canada Homes that will be supportive and transitional housing. We have an agreement on that front already between the Province of Quebec and Build Canada Homes to build hundreds of supportive and transitional homes in Quebec. I expect many more are coming, particularly focused in Montreal and Quebec City, where the mayors have been very vocal about the challenge and the need to invest in supportive and transitional housing.

We have Reaching Home. That is the overall program in the national housing strategy that delivers support for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Nearly 112,000 Canadians have found stable housing through Reaching Home in the last few years. Prevention services have supported over 200,000 Canadians, and we need to keep that work going. Reaching Home is coming to the conclusion of its work in 2028. We are going into an engagement this summer to talk about how we continue with Reaching Home.

The unsheltered homelessness and encampments initiative was funded for an additional year, so it won't expire at the end of March. We've continued that, and we're working with the Government of Quebec to make sure that it will continue for two years with their partnership.

We're looking at really scaling up the work, because homelessness has gotten worse. It continues to be a real challenge right across the country. We need to continue scaling up our work, investing in the housing that solves the challenge and making sure that the provinces are doing their part in funding the health supports and wraparound supports with supportive housing that are essential to enable people to be stable.

We need to make sure that the cities are doing their part too. All of the partners need to come to the table, and we certainly know we have a big responsibility with that.

[Natilien Joseph, Liberal, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Thank you, Minister. I'm going to continue in the same vein.

We know that many communities are already seeing the effects of federal investments in housing and community supports. Can you give us concrete examples of the positive effects communities have seen thus far?

[Gregor Robertson, Liberal, Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby, BC]

Thank you for your question.

We are seeing homelessness counts continue to go up in some communities. We're also seeing some levelling off, finally, after many years of growth in the point-in-time counts. We are seeing that the growth is reduced, but it continues to be an unacceptable problem that we have to solve.

There's a lot of data being gathered with point-in-time counts, and there's a fantastic complement of people working to solve homelessness across Canada right now. Many volunteers are working on this. That's why all levels of government need to double down on investing in and supporting the community of people who are looking into homelessness.

The Reaching Home program is essential to our work going forward in making sure that we're doing our part as the Government of Canada. Again, I'll speak to the importance of supportive and transitional housing. We need to make sure that we're building the homes that actually solve homelessness. Until we build a supply of housing that works for people who are at risk of living rough or are living rough, we won't have anywhere for them to go outside of shelters.

It's important to have the whole continuum but, in particular, to invest in long-term solutions.

[Natilien Joseph, Liberal, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

I have 20 seconds left, so you can have it to prepare for the next question. I think you've been clear with us. Everyone is aware that—

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you, Mr. Joseph.

Now it's over to Ms. Larouche for six minutes.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Minister, I want to start by thanking you for being with us today to discuss this very important issue.

Social housing and homelessness issues are having a direct impact on the riding of Shefford, specifically the city of Granby. I just spent two weeks in my riding, and not a day went by when someone didn't bring up affordable social and community housing to me.

Before I get to my questions, I want to follow up on the last time you were here. You talked about a federal program to improve the lives of people experiencing homelessness, called Reaching Home. In my neck of the woods, we have organizations that are doing some incredible work, such as Impact de rue Haute‑Yamaska, Le Passant, Auberge sous mon toit and Partage Notre‑Dame. The problem, though, is that Granby still isn't a designated community, which means the homelessness funding goes to Sherbrooke. The mayor has asked that Granby be identified as a designated community, because right now, the city isn't able to get its share of homelessness funding.

Communities on the south shore are dealing with these issues as well. My riding goes all the way to Rouville. Just a few minutes before this meeting started, I got a letter from the Corporation de développement communautaire Haut‑Richelieu—Rouville telling me that the organizations that support people experiencing homelessness need recurrent funding. They include Maison Oxygène Haut‑Richelieu, Passe-moi la puck and POSA Source des Monts. The system isn't working. The Haut‑Richelieu region and Rouville are also feeling the effects of rising homelessness.

Minister, the program is appreciated, but clearly, you need to open it up to new designated communities.

[Gregor Robertson, Liberal, Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby, BC]

Thank you for your question.

With renewal of Reaching Home, it will be important for organizations to see that longer-term commitment. The challenge we have right now is that the national housing strategy is in its final stage. Reaching Home is part of that, and there is concern from some organizations about what happens going forward. As long as I'm minister, I want to see that investment continue and increase in order to tackle homelessness. The problem continues to be very challenging across the country.

We'd be interested in hearing from your communities to know exactly what support is needed to make more progress. I'd be happy to hear from you on the organizations, specifically, and the communities that need the support. That's something we can continue to work on together.

It has to be tackled on the ground in every community. I certainly know that from my background as a mayor. The support needs to come from a federal level. However, with regard to how best to solve it on the ground within communities, we need that local knowledge and leadership as well. I look forward to hearing from you on how we can best work with your communities.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Community groups and the mayor have sounded the alarm. They need much more predictable and recurrent funding. Mostly, they need help to make it.

I'm going to turn to housing now. Despite the more than $6.1 billion going to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, or CMHC, in 2026‑27, Quebeckers are still struggling to find housing. How many truly affordable housing units are there? That is something many groups involved in the construction of social and community housing have criticized. In Quebec, we don't subscribe to the concept of affordable housing, because it can mean anything and everything.

How many social and community housing units did federal programs help get built in Quebec, and how many will be built in the next 12 months?

[Gregor Robertson, Liberal, Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby, BC]

Thank you for your question.

There are several different streams here. Build Canada Homes is the new affordable housing agency. We do have an agreement with Quebec right now, through Build Canada Homes, that will soon be followed by a second phase. I'm anticipating that there will be several thousand affordable homes delivered through Build Canada Homes in the deeply affordable category. For supportive and transitional housing, we have about 500 of those homes coming initially, in the short term. I expect several thousand more homes to be delivered in Quebec as affordable housing through Build Canada Homes as well. Those won't be completed this year, but those are in the works now, in partnership with Quebec. We always work with Quebec, as Quebec is the lead. We make the funding available, and Quebec can direct the funding to the organizations.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

I hope that everything will materialize and that the Société d'habitation du Québec and the Government of Quebec will have the final say. In many of Quebec's regions, rents have skyrocketed, outpacing incomes.

How does the government explain its ever-increasing spending when affordability keeps getting worse? Let me tell you, not a day went by last week when it didn't get worse. This is my second turn. What do you have to say about that?

[Gregor Robertson, Liberal, Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby, BC]

We are seeing average rents declining across the country, which comes as a big relief after many years of rents escalating—decades, in fact. In the last two years, we've seen average rents decline across Canada. They are still too high, so building that affordable rental supply is critical right now.

I didn't mention in my last response that the CMHC is also funding an apartment construction loan program for rental housing. I anticipate with Quebec that there will be thousands of rental homes financed through the CMHC in the period ahead.

The combination of non-market, deeply affordable housing from Build Canada Homes—that's all rental housing—and the rental housing through the CMHC is a big boost in new supply to help keep driving those rents down. We have to continue increasing the supply to make sure that the rents continue to go down.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you, Ms. Larouche.

Mr. Reynolds, you have five minutes.

[Colin Reynolds, Conservative, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister, for coming today. I know you're a pretty busy guy, so I appreciate your taking the time. I want to ask a couple of questions about Build Canada Homes.

Do you know how many projects have been submitted to Build Canada Homes? We're looking for a high-level number. Is it 100? Is it 1,000? Is it 10,000?

I'm curious what the buy-in is from the private sector and municipalities.

[Gregor Robertson, Liberal, Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby, BC]

We're seeing enormous interest in Build Canada Homes from the private sector and community builders. I mentioned that we have six agreements with provinces, territories and the City of Ottawa to build thousands of homes.

We're at well over 10,000 homes that have been announced and are in the process of being built.

[Colin Reynolds, Conservative, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Do you know how many proposal submissions there were from builders or whatnot to Build Canada Homes? Do you know what that number is?

[Gregor Robertson, Liberal, Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby, BC]

The last update I had, earlier this month, was that over 1,000 submissions have come in to Build Canada Homes. They are in the process of working through those, getting back to project proponents and working with them to figure out the details and how financing can help get those projects built. There's huge interest. There's a lot more interest than there is capital that's available in budget 2025.

[Colin Reynolds, Conservative, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Thank you. I don't want to eat up too much of my time.

Do you know how many have been approved?

[Gregor Robertson, Liberal, Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby, BC]

As I said, over 10,000 have been approved. I think over 12,000 approved was my last update, some days ago.

We're climbing up that approval ladder very quickly now. About half the provinces and territories are part of the initial phases of approvals.

[Colin Reynolds, Conservative, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Does Build Canada Homes have a mandate for a particular approval time? Yes or no, from submission to a final answer, is there a mandated approval time?

[Gregor Robertson, Liberal, Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby, BC]

There's no hard and fast time, but the whole purpose is to have certainty for builders as soon as possible. There is now a real push to make sure that there's direct communication with all the proponents that have brought proposals forward to give them an initial sense of what else is needed or what's missing from their package.

To be fair, this is a new model, having proposals coming forward to Build Canada Homes. Some do not have modern methods of construction involved. Some do not have enough affordability built into them or they're not shovel-ready. Those are three factors that Build Canada Homes is very focused on: getting building as soon as possible, more affordably and with modern methods of construction.

There's a back-and-forth between Build Canada Homes and proponents that's really accelerating right now as the organization builds up.

[Colin Reynolds, Conservative, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

My background is in 20 years of construction. You mentioned modern methods of construction. What is Build Canada Homes looking for in a modern method of construction?

[Gregor Robertson, Liberal, Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby, BC]

I appreciate the question. There's a wide range of modern methods. Build Canada Homes is not being prescriptive about that. There's a full range, from entire modular homes—volumetric modular that is manufactured in a factory—right to panel construction. Panel construction makes up the majority of modern methods right now. Those are wall panels and floor panels manufactured in a factory, flat-packed on a truck, shipped to site and assembled with a crane. I would say that is the predominant model of modern methods.

There are also kitchen and bath pods that are completed in a factory and then dropped, with a crane, into a building or a home. Many different components can be manufactured off-site and more rapidly assembled on-site to make the build more efficient—

[Colin Reynolds, Conservative, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Being in construction, I know that the industry itself is always looking for ways to build faster and more efficiently. To be honest, if we aren't doing it already, it's probably not faster or more efficient. General contractors are always looking to do that. If they can build something cheaper and faster, they will be awarded the contract. I find these modern build methods interesting, because I know that the construction industry would be doing it itself, all on its own, if it were practical and reasonable. I would hate to see Build Canada Homes supporting something that isn't practical or reasonable.

[Gregor Robertson, Liberal, Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby, BC]

I agree with you there.

[Colin Reynolds, Conservative, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

What is Build Canada Homes using to measure its effectiveness with taxpayer dollars? Is Build Canada Homes looking for quantifiable results, such as x number of homes built for a certain dollar or price per unit? How is Build Canada Homes spending taxpayer dollars responsibly?