Debates of June 11th, 2025

Main Estimates and Supplementary Estimates (A), 2025-26

[Tamara Kronis, Conservative, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Mr. Chair, if excuses were bricks, the minister would build a whole community overnight. When is the government going to stop talking and start building?

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

Mr. Chair, this government is currently delivering hundreds of thousands of affordable homes across Canada, and we will scale that up. We will double that.

[Sima Acan, Liberal, Oakville West, ON]

Mr. Chair, I would like to talk about the work of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada, and specifically, how this work is helping build complete communities for Canadians across the country, including in my riding.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Mr. Chair, I rise on a point of order. I just want to apologize that we got the speaking order wrong. I think the minister was supposed to speak first. We can go back to the member afterward.

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Conservative, John Nater]

The hon. Minister of Housing and Infrastructure.

[Gregor Robertson, Liberal, Minister of Housing and Infrastructure and Minister responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada]

Mr. Chair, I am thankful for this opportunity to share some remarks and thankful to my colleague for giving me the space to do that.

I am very pleased to be here and to have the opportunity to discuss the 2025-26 main estimates for the Department of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, and how these investments are supporting Canadians across the country.

Housing and public infrastructure have always been and will continue to be key drivers of Canada's success as a nation. They play a vital role in building strong communities and supporting economic competitiveness, both at home and abroad. Our government is committed to unleashing our success as a nation through investment in affordable housing and nationwide infrastructure. Communities are the foundation of our country. When we look around our neighbourhoods, there are homes, apartments and different sorts of housing, and they include a complex network of transit systems, active transportation, roads, water and waste-water infrastructure, cultural facilities and so much more.

Our government helps build our communities and the critical infrastructure that goes with them, and I am honoured to be the minister partnering with governments at all levels to ensure that this important work gets done. Our work reaches into every community and touches every Canadian. It enables our businesses to thrive locally and globally, makes life more affordable for Canadians and helps protect our environment. Canadians know that members on this side of the House will always support infrastructure, affordable housing and building up our great nation. This is something that everyone in this House should be able to get behind.

Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada investments support affordable housing, modern climate-resilient infrastructure, better public transit, effective and reliable water and waste-water facilities and important community spaces. Reinvesting in our country and our economy in the face of an uncertain world means investing in Canadians. I think of how our programs have prevented almost 150,000 people from becoming unhoused in recent years. We will not stop here. Every person should have a safe and secure home.

In the 2025-26 main estimates, the department is seeking just over $16 billion in total portfolio authorities for investments in housing; public transit; and northern, green and sustainable rural and major infrastructure projects across the country. This is to deliver on a suite of priorities. New investments announced in budget 2024 include the Canada housing infrastructure fund; funding through programs like Reaching Home, Canada's homelessness strategy; the green and inclusive community buildings program; the investing in Canada infrastructure program; and funding for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation programs, notably for the affordable housing fund, the urban, rural and northern indigenous housing strategy and the housing accelerator fund.

Today, I am here to talk about how important it is that the department has the sufficient funding to fulfill its priorities and has the spending authority to cover the period until the main estimates receive royal assent. Given the dissolution of Parliament on March 23, the Governor General's special warrants of just over $2.75 million have been issued to cover the period from April 1 to June 29 to ensure that Canadians will continue to have access to the programs that support their communities.

The department remains committed to delivering an unprecedented level of programming to support housing and infrastructure needs across the country, including by investing in essential programs such as the Canada community-building fund. This is a transfer-based program that provides stable, upfront funding to provinces and territories. In turn, they flow this funding to 3,700 communities for projects that meet local needs. In the coming year, the department will deliver $2.5 billion in Canada community-building fund funding.

We will continue to implement programming to improve housing affordability and take action to reduce and prevent homelessness, including through measures such as the unsheltered homelessness and encampments initiative. Also, this year, we are investing $1.1 billion in the housing accelerator fund. The fund is creating better housing outcomes for Canadians by incentivizing municipalities to cut red tape and increase housing densification. The Government of Canada has already signed more than 200 agreements under the housing accelerator fund with local governments that have committed to increasing housing opportunities through zoning, streamlining, permitting and approvals. These actions are expected to support the construction of over 800,000 new homes over the next decade. Thanks to this fund, homes are being built across provinces, territories and indigenous communities.

We are also making significant investments in critical water and waste-water infrastructure to support the construction of new homes through the Canada housing infrastructure fund. This is critical to doubling the rate of homebuilding in Canada. Under the housing infrastructure fund, 10 agreements have now been signed with provinces and territories, totalling almost $370 million in federal contributions, and this is just the beginning. The housing infrastructure fund will ensure the reduction of development charges, as a member questioned earlier, which are typically used for local housing infrastructure.

Through initiatives like the Canada public transit fund, we continue to support efficient public transit, which is vital to building strong communities prepared to meet the economic and environmental realities of the future. This is about making sure that people are connected in their communities and have access to affordable transportation. In a very real way, it opens up opportunities for jobs and opportunities available to future generations and builds vibrant economic hubs. Going forward, the public transit fund will ramp up to an average of $3 billion a year in permanent funding. This funding will respond to local needs by ensuring housing and transportation are planned together, by improving access to public transit and by supporting the development of more affordable communities.

My department invests in structural and natural infrastructure projects that increase community resilience to natural disasters and extreme weather events. These investments are essential to protecting homes, businesses and critical infrastructure from natural disasters, which are, unfortunately, more and more frequent. In this moment, I think of all those impacted by the wildfires in the Prairies, and now in B.C. as well. I think of the impacts they will have and the impacts that natural disasters have increasingly had across Canada, whether they are floods, fires or heat waves. We have seen devastating impacts across Canada, and we need to build resilience into our communities going forward. Under the disaster mitigation and adaptation fund, we have already invested around $2.5 billion to strengthen the resilience of communities against the threat of natural disasters to keep Canadians safe and local economies strong.

Through these efforts, our government's programs are making tangible differences in the lives of Canadians. In the year ahead, my department will lead efforts to deliver on the most ambitious housing plan in Canadian history, a housing plan that includes infrastructure and transit and addresses the need for nation-building projects.

As outlined in the Speech from the Throne, our government is committed to addressing housing affordability and working at scale to drive supply up to bring housing costs down for Canadians. Our government will remove barriers to building homes through new measures such as reducing municipal development charges for multi-unit housing in communities across Canada.

I want to end by highlighting one of the most important actions we will take in the coming months. Our government will create a new federal entity, “build Canada homes”, which will provide financing to affordable home builders. It will also use public lands and leverage public-private partnerships to modernize a new housing industry to lead the way on housing construction innovation and building technologies that scale up the prefabricated, off-site construction and modular housing market.

The response to the challenges we face begins at home. We remain committed to building the housing and infrastructure that are the foundation of strong, affordable communities. Providing a healthy supply of homes supported by resilient public infrastructure is essential to securing our future and long-term economic prosperity. The main estimates presented here today will support the department in delivering on its commitments to Canadians and addressing the housing crisis head-on.

I look forward to questions.

[Tim Watchorn, Liberal, Les Pays-d'en-Haut, QC]

Mr. Chair, I was the mayor of a municipality in my riding, and we were able to build 30 housing units for seniors aged 75 and over, with the collaboration of the Government of Quebec and the Government of Canada. It took us five years, which is a very long time. We even had a housing summit. The findings are clear: People are unable to find housing in our region because it is too expensive. Young people, workers and the less fortunate are unable to find housing.

I would like to know if the minister can tell us how important an agency like “build Canada homes” is for meeting the needs of the people of Les Pays-d'en-Haut and all Canadians.

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

Mr. Chair, I will respond in English.

That is a very important question about making sure young people have the opportunity to find affordable housing across Canada.

I will reference the largest, most ambitious housing plan that Canada has ever seen. We will see it take shape around “build Canada homes”, a new entity that will focus on scaling up construction and the building of affordable housing across Canada. It will double construction across the whole spectrum of housing, but will focus on affordable housing and tackling homelessness and the supportive social housing that is critical for that. We will also make sure that we deliver housing in the missing middle and for the younger generations so they can get into the housing market. We will put all of our tools on the table and will put them to work to deliver more affordable housing for Canadians of all ages.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Mr. Chair, I want to first of all congratulate the minister for taking a seat in the House and becoming the Minister of Housing.

Housing is really important to a lot of people across the country. We heard it at the doors, and I can say the same thing for my riding of London West. It is especially important for young people, people in our generation.

I believe the minister was a mayor before he came to this House. I was on city council, and I know how important the work of housing is for people who work at the municipal level. I think of all the important work we learn to do when managing budgets in municipal government and the wealth of knowledge we bring to the House. I like to joke around sometimes and say that people who want to come to the House should start at the municipal level to make sure they learn how things work at the city level so they can bring it to the national level and bring it all together.

Maybe the minister can talk to us about his experience in his time as the mayor of Vancouver at the city level, the importance of managing budgets at the municipal level and how he is going to tie all that experience into his new role as the housing and infrastructure minister in the House of Commons.

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

Mr. Chair, it has been a challenging time across Canada for decades. Certainly, in Vancouver during my time as mayor, we were at the very front end of what has become a housing crisis across Canada. The lack of affordability has permeated the country over several decades.

That is why, with this new government, part of the reason I am standing here, elected by my constituents, is to bring out the learnings I had as a mayor, and formerly an MLA, in understanding how the system works at the city and provincial levels. I had challenges in my time working with previous federal governments that were not committed to affordable housing at the scale that was required. It was certainly the case with the Conservative governments I was dealing with from 2008 to 2015. It was very difficult to get any support for affordable housing from the federal government.

The new Government of Canada is very focused on delivering—

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Conservative, John Nater]

The hon. member, for about 30 seconds.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Mr. Chair, I appreciate the response and the comment on how difficult it was for the minister when he was a mayor to work with the federal government at the time.

Maybe the minister can talk about the importance of having one Canadian economy and how important it will be in his file to create jobs and make sure that housing is built in a faster way, plus anything else he wants to add.

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

Mr. Chair, having one Canadian economy is really essential to meeting this moment, this great time of challenge for Canada with the unjust tariffs from the U.S.

Housing is critical to our economy, and we need to scale up the housing industry across Canada to create jobs. We need to use Canadian materials and create the jobs that will turn our economy and make it stronger—

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Conservative, John Nater]

Resuming debate, the hon. member for Jonquière.

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Chair, I wonder whether the minister knows how much in countervailing duties from the forestry industry is currently sitting on deposit in the United States. Does the minister know how much money is currently in the United States?

[Tim Hodgson, Liberal, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources]

Mr. Chair, I have worked in the forestry sector for years and know how important the sector is to families and communities across this country. The American tariffs on our softwood lumber industry hurt both our countries and are completely unjustified. As we fight the American tariffs, we will diversify trading partners and build resilience in our forestry sector to reduce reliance on the U.S.—

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Conservative, John Nater]

The hon. member.

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Chair, the correct answer is $10 billion.

Does the minister know how much in countervailing duties paid by Quebec is currently sitting in the United States?

[Tim Hodgson, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Chair, the premise of the member's question seems to be that I am not familiar with how to get projects built. Let me assure the member that in my private sector life, I worked tirelessly in the forest products sector to build—

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Conservative, John Nater]

The hon. member.

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Chair, I do not doubt the minister's capabilities and qualifications.

Currently, $2 billion in countervailing duties paid by Quebec is sitting in the United States. That is beyond compare. This industry is not getting any support from the federal government.

For Quebec alone, $2 billion is sitting in the United States. Does the minister have a strategy to provide people in the forestry sector with access to liquidity?

[Tim Hodgson, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Chair, the Minister of Industry has spoken in the House about the ongoing negotiations around the softwood lumber situation. The hon. member will have an opportunity to debate that with the minister. It is a live, ongoing discussion; we are not going to talk about that in public.

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Chair, there has been a crisis in the forestry sector since 2017. We have never seen the government undertake serious negotiations. The U.S. government is threatening to increase countervailing duties to 34% next year. The only natural resource sector with the potential to reduce Canada's carbon footprint is the forestry sector.

I have the following question for the minister: Would he agree to implement a liquidity program to support the forestry sector?

[Tim Hodgson, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Chair, we are in our fifth version of a trade war with the Americans on forest products. Every time, the government has addressed the situation. We are in the process of discussing these things with the Americans right now. It is an ongoing discussion being led by the Minister of Industry. The hon. member should address his question to the Minister of Industry.

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Chair, there is appalling inequity. People in the forestry sector are so afraid of the Americans that a forestry company whose main market is Quebec or Canada cannot access funding from Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, or CED.

My question for the minister is very simple. Does he think that is normal? Does he think it is normal that an industry cannot receive CED funding?