Public Accounts Committee on March 9th, 2026

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

If CMHC is not under your purview, whose purview are they under?

[Paul Halucha]

They have a CEO and a board of directors. They report directly to Minister Robertson.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

So there's no communication with you and the head of CMHC?

[Paul Halucha]

There is communication. We—

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Okay, then do you not communicate about these losses at all?

[Paul Halucha]

The losses you've identified were never brought up to me.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Would this organization be in tandem with you or in parallel with you and not under you directly?

[Paul Halucha]

It's a Crown corporation, so CMHC is arm's-length. As I mentioned, they have their own corporate board and they have a CEO.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Would they report to you at all on anything related to their finances? Do you share the same minister?

[Paul Halucha]

We share the same minister, yes, absolutely.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

How does the minister coordinate your activities?

[Paul Halucha]

We have a portfolio affairs group that manages things like appointments and the approvals of corporate plans. It does the corporate governance oversight on behalf of the government.

From a policy perspective, we're engaged with CMHC pretty regularly in terms of their programs. Obviously, they have a commercial book as well. That's not led out of our department at all. That's led out of the Department of Finance.

I should note that on their commercial book, they report to the Minister of Finance. They report to Minister Robertson on their programs.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Jean Yip]

Thank you.

Mr. Osborne, you have five minutes.

[Tom Osborne, Liberal, Cape Spear, NL]

Thank you.

I want to get back to Build Canada Homes for a moment.

I understand that the concept of Build Canada Homes is to reduce duplication and to become a one-stop shop, connecting all levels of government, including indigenous governments; community organizations; developers; and non-profits, for example. Can you explain how that works? Is there a registry? How does it reduce red tape? How does it expedite the construction of homes?

[Paul Halucha]

Build Canada Homes does have a portal—I wouldn't call it a registry—that allows for applicants to bring forward project proposals. These applicants are not-for-profits. They are developers. They are municipalities. They are provincial governments. They are all coming with project proposals that they're looking for funding support on. What they're trying to do, as a focus, is get portfolio deals done at the provincial level and with large municipalities.

Specific to your question on how they will assist in projects going forward, I would say that it's by being able to come to quicker decisions and come in with capital earlier in the formation of those portfolios. They are able to come in earlier and invest earlier, which then allows other capital to get crowded in.

[Tom Osborne, Liberal, Cape Spear, NL]

In terms of provinces and municipalities, can you talk about what MOUs you may have entered into at this stage and what that means for construction timelines and the number of units?

[Paul Halucha]

There's been a whole series of different memoranda of understanding and deals put together. I can run through a few. Six direct build sites, which I think everyone knows about, were announced in September. They've signed an agreement with the City of Ottawa. They have signed term sheets with Nova Scotia. In Nunavut, an agreement in principle was announced in January. We're very close to having a contribution agreement with that territory. There was an MOU in January with Quebec, and with British Columbia more recently.

Then there are other provinces that have not yet gone to the MOU stage where discussions are happening right now. They're kind of proceeding across the country.

[Tom Osborne, Liberal, Cape Spear, NL]

I know that we just announced funding for a facility for sewage treatment in St. John's, for example. One of the bottlenecks for large-scale development in that region was the capacity to treat water to standard.

Can you talk about how Build Canada Homes will invest in infrastructure for municipalities? How will that help with future growth? Some municipalities or regions may need infrastructure investment in order to proceed for future development.

[Paul Halucha]

To clarify, Build Canada Homes won't be making direct infrastructure investments. Its money will all be focused on growing the amount of affordable housing in Canada and spurring the use of modern methods of construction. It's not at the infrastructure stage. The infrastructure builds are done by HICC as a department.

As I mentioned, the Canada housing infrastructure fund is a $6-billion investment in water infrastructure. Principally, that was the asset class it invested in, with a real focus on getting housing built as a precondition to that. We now have a new fund, the build communities strong fund, that was announced in the last budget. Obviously, it will continue the investments being made in housing infrastructure.

I would say one of the advantages of having Build Canada Homes and the department in the same portfolio, to answer the previous question, is the ability to share market intelligence. I'll give you an example. One of the direct build sites is in Arbo, in Toronto. That development could not move forward for a long time—everybody knows how much housing potential there is in Toronto in Downsview—without an infrastructure investment in water and waste water. We knew we wanted to develop housing and we knew BCH was going to be a player. Through an MOU last February and a contribution agreement this summer, we came to an agreement with the City of Toronto to cost-share a major piece of infrastructure there to unlock that housing. We've done the same thing in Montreal and across the country.

It's about matching market intelligence around where communities want to build with infrastructure funding, and then having housing dollars come in behind it. That is the mixture.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Jean Yip]

Thank you.

Mr. Lemire, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Today, Quebec's housing problems are glaring, particularly because the federal government makes agreements, but also because the money is never disbursed. When it is, it takes several years.

You will recall that, in 2017, there was a large fund. Ontario got its money right away, but Quebec had to wait until 2019 to sign an agreement. Obviously, the explosion in costs related to COVID meant that much more was built in Ontario than in Quebec. The Canada housing infrastructure fund agreement was signed in January 2026, two years after the agreement was signed. Under the green and inclusive community buildings program, according to the 2025 public accounts, Quebec received only $5 million out of the $109 million in program dollars. According to Radio-Canada, as of January 1, 2026, Quebec had received nothing from the active transportation fund, while Ontario had received $2 billion, more than half of the amounts committed.

So, when we talk about the amounts to be invested, why does it seem as though the programs are designed so that Ontario can quickly get the money, but it's always complicated for Quebec? Is this a form of discrimination against Quebec?

[Paul Halucha]

It's absolutely not a form of discrimination.

When we're dealing with provincial governments, the negotiations are done independently. We strive to get deals in place with every province and territory as quickly as we can. I'll talk in a second about some of the investments that have been made under our transit fund, but on the Canada housing infrastructure fund, for example, we completed an agreement with Quebec about a month ago. It was a negotiation that took a bit of time. Both parties need to be ready to undertake the negotiations. Quebec was not the last province to get an agreement with us. There's still one outstanding.

On Quebec and the CPTF, I'll give you a few data points. There's an active transportation fund, under which we approved 92 projects for $90 million with Quebec. There's a rapid transit fund, under which we approved 24 projects for $13.4 million. Under the zero emission transit fund, we approved 11 projects for $400 million.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

The problem is that the results are not there. Quebec represents 23% of the population. There's a shortfall and inflation. When you stall for two years, it has an impact on what can be built in Quebec. When it comes to transfer payments, Quebec receives only $600 million out of the $11 billion spent. Once again, Quebec totally loses out.

I'm out of time.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Jean Yip]

Thank you.

Mr. Deltell, you have the floor for five minutes.

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

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Good morning, colleagues.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to this parliamentary committee. I want to thank you very much for the services you provide to Canadians.

Of course, housing, accommodation and the cost of homes may not be the main issue, but for millions of Canadians, it is the main issue. I was able to buy my house 35 years ago. When I think about it, I realize I am one of the privileged few. When I also realize that my children were able to buy their own homes about ten years ago, I tell myself that we are lucky.

However, I think of my grandchildren. I also think a great deal about those who come to see us at the riding offices. I know this is true for everyone. There is no political bias here. There is no partisan agenda. This is the main issue for the younger generation.

That is why we must act, and act effectively. My questions will focus on that.

Why was it necessary to create another organization, Build Canada Homes?

Firstly, I would like some figures from you. I will ask you further questions afterwards.

How many government employees work in the department to facilitate access to housing? How many new employees will be hired to work in the new organization called Build Canada Homes?