Public Accounts Committee on March 9th, 2026

[Paul Halucha]

We have probably 175 to 200 employees in the department who work on housing policy. Most of them work on homelessness. That is the principal programming that we deliver. The department doesn't actually deliver any housing program directly. That's important. There is a lot of homelessness programming. We are the principal delivery agent for homelessness programming.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent—Akiawenhrahk, QC]

Why was the creation of Build Canada Homes necessary?

[Paul Halucha]

I'm sorry; I missed that.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent—Akiawenhrahk, QC]

Why was the creation of Build Canada Homes necessary?

We can at least acknowledge that they changed the name from Bâtir Maisons Canada. That’s something, at least. They’ve removed a word. It’s a bit farcical.

That said, why did the government create Build Canada Homes?

[Paul Halucha]

It was created to advance affordable housing and spur the uptake in modern methods of construction. It was also designed not to be part of the department in the long term. We obviously put it in the department to incubate it, to develop it and to get it going quickly, which has been very successful, I would argue, but the intention is for it to be arm's-length. There's legislation in the House of Commons, as you know, intended to do that.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent—Akiawenhrahk, QC]

I note the word “intention”, which you have used quite rightly.

I fully understand that nobody gets up in the morning to annoy people. We are here to help them. However, how should we help them? What is the best way to help them gain access to home ownership?

The government campaigned and got elected by talking about Build Canada Homes. A year later, we can see that the framework is in place, but the results have yet to be seen. That is why people are struggling to appreciate the work being done here in Ottawa. When will we see concrete results and have real homes built so that real families can access them at a reasonable price across Canada?

[Paul Halucha]

On the direct build sites that I know the committee has looked at before—the six sites across the country—the intention is for those sites to be completed and the homes to be built by next year. This is starting from, in some cases, infrastructure that needs to be undertaken.

On their financing—because principally what Build Canada Homes is set up to do is finance—they already have an inventory of I believe around 11,000 homes, which will be supported through the investments they have announced to date. There's more to come on that one. The commitments the government is making through Build Canada Homes are growing every month.

Third, I would note that the budget implementation act includes a very important aspect to enable Build Canada Homes, which is the statutory authority. The ability for BCH to actually spend is linked to the statutory authority being approved. Effectively, partly what you're seeing now are promissory notes, deals and intents to do deals, which are getting built up, and once the dollars are available, they will be able to do a drawdown request, in the same way that the Canada Infrastructure Bank does, to obtain access to the money.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent—Akiawenhrahk, QC]

As a well-known comedian and songwriter once said, we’ll believe it when we see it. For the moment, it’s taking too long.

Now, let’s talk about the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. You mentioned a few points about it earlier. For many people in the construction industry, it’s yet another hurdle to be overcome on the road to accessibility.

What is the CMHC’s role in relation to Build Canada Homes? Why was Build Canada Homes created when CMHC already existed?

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Jean Yip]

Give a short answer.

[Paul Halucha]

Obviously, CMHC has instruments on the insurance side that Build Canada Homes will not have. As an insurance provider, which is a major role that CMHC plays, they will continue there and will be principally market focused in their intervention. The apartment construction loan program, which is their major program, is principally a market program, whereas Build Canada Homes will play a role on the non-market side. That's the division the government envisions.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Jean Yip]

Thank you.

Mr. McKinnon, you have five minutes.

[Ron McKinnon, Liberal, Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'd like to carry on with affordability, which Mr. Deltell started.

What do we mean by “affordability” when we're talking about homes?

[Paul Halucha]

On the one hand, that's a super simple question to answer, and on the other, it's a complicated one.

There's a concept in housing policy called “core housing need”, which says that you're in a house you can afford when your payments are less than 30% of your monthly or two-week paycheques, and you have enough money that you can pay for major repairs. Those kinds of elements are, obviously, very critical in determining whether a house is affordable.

At the same time, that's very linked to income levels, so it's also true to say that every home is affordable to somebody because there will be somebody who has the income to enter into those transactions. That is why it's important to recognize that there's a strong market for housing. Even if Build Canada Homes, with its focus, succeeds fully, which we intend it to do, 95% of the market will still be driven by market transactions around what is available at very different income levels.

What we've seen are a lot of mismatches in the last while. We've seen mismatches in the condo markets in certain jurisdictions. We've also seen a major increase in the cost of housing construction, especially since the pandemic, and a discrepancy between the rate at which home prices have gone up and the rate at which people's incomes have gone up. I think when most people think about affordability, it's that gap they would focus on.

[Ron McKinnon, Liberal, Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam, BC]

How do the stakeholders, such as provinces, municipalities and community organizations, respond to this definition, if you will, of affordability?

[Paul Halucha]

What we've adopted through Build Canada Homes as our definition of what is affordable housing is median market rent of below 30%. That's largely been accepted and been very positively viewed by stakeholders. There's still some unhappiness that there are different definitions of affordability, because we have programs that were designed years ago that have different definitions. I know there is frustration, but as we move forward and do new programs and initiatives, we will be using a single metric, which is the one I just mentioned.

[Ron McKinnon, Liberal, Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam, BC]

How will BCH ensure that the housing being built is, in fact, affordable and that it is accessible to Canadians most in need?

[Paul Halucha]

Well, it will be by making units available at the different levels of affordability. That will be the key way in which we'll achieve it.

The non-market housing challenges in Canada are really linked to supply. If you look at the amount of non-market housing supply we have, it's about 3.5%. It's 7% and higher in a lot of other OECD countries that we benchmark ourselves against around a large range of socio-economic indicators, so the focus is on increasing that amount over time and growing the market stock. That will allow people who have lower levels of income—and we're always going to have some degree of stratification in our society—to find places to live.

[Ron McKinnon, Liberal, Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Can you clarify what we mean by “non-market housing” versus “market housing”?

[Paul Halucha]

With market housing, people simply charge whatever price they want, and then the market does its magic and there's a sale at some point. That's served Canadians extraordinarily well. We believe firmly in the market and the role the market plays in the provision of housing. It's simply that at the level of affordability, it's not producing enough, and there's strong evidence that absent government intervention, it never will.

As governments have reduced spending on housing, which they did for probably 20 years, the level of non-market housing has actually dropped, so there's a direct correlation. I would say that's the distinction, but we believe very strongly in the role the market plays.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Jean Yip]

Thank you.

For the next round, we have Mr. Stevenson for five minutes.

[William Stevenson, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

Thank you.

I have a bunch of questions, but I'll start with some of the things you said earlier.

Can you tell me, sir, if there is an MOU with Alberta?

[Paul Halucha]

I'm sorry. Is there an MOU with Alberta?

[William Stevenson, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

Yes.

[Paul Halucha]

Do you mean with Build Canada Homes?

[William Stevenson, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

You were talking about how you have certain provinces....