Canada is facing a housing crisis. Rising prices, tight rental markets, homelessness, and many Canadians feeling squeezed or shut out. In response, the federal government has launched Build Canada Homes (BCH), a new agency aiming to significantly scale up affordable, non-market, and transitional housing, and to change how Canada builds homes.
Here’s an overview of what BCH is, how it's set up, what it promises, and what to keep an eye on.
Build Canada Homes is a special operating agency under the federal department of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities (HICC). It was officially launched on September 14, 2025.
Its core mission is threefold:
Build affordable homes — particularly for people who need deeply affordable housing, transitional/supportive housing, low-income households, and also housing for the middle class.
Finance affordable housing — BCH will offer financial tools and incentives, mobilize financing, leverage public land, and partner with private developers to help projects get off the ground.
Catalyze the housing industry — by encouraging modern methods of construction (e.g. modular, factory-built, mass timber), using Canadian materials, accelerating approvals, and enabling innovation in building and financing to build faster, more sustainably, and at lower cost.
Here are some of the main commitments and features of BCH:
Initial funding: The agency is capitalized with an initial investment of $13 billion to start off its programs.
Use of public lands: The government intends to bring federal lands into the mix to reduce land cost. Canada Lands Company is being moved under the BCH portfolio so available federal land (including many sites identified in the public land bank) can be leveraged for affordable housing.
Transitional and supportive housing: BCH will help build housing that supports people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, including transitional housing, which often includes wrap-around services.
Modern construction methods: Emphasis on modular, factory-built, mass timber, etc. These methods are expected to bring down timelines (potentially cutting build time by up to 50%), reduce costs (possibly ~20%), and lower emissions.
Buy Canadian / domestic supply chains: Preference will be given to Canadian materials (lumber, steel, mass timber, etc), to strengthen domestic supply and job creation.
Goal to double housing construction: One of the broader aims is to increase the rate of housing construction in Canada, so there are more homes overall, more options, and more affordable price points.
CEO: Ana Bailão, former Toronto city councillor and Deputy Mayor, has been appointed as the first CEO of BCH. She brings experience in housing and planning.
Governance: BCH is initially part of the Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada department but is expected to become a standalone federal entity reporting to the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure.
What Are the First Moves?
To kick things off, the agency is launching several initial initiatives:
Pilot public land projects: Use of six sites to build ~4,000 factory-built homes on federal land (in places like Dartmouth, Longueuil, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton) with potential to expand to tens of thousands more across the public lands portfolio.
Canada Rental Protection Fund: $1.5 billion to help acquire and preserve at-risk rental housing so it remains affordable over the long term.
Transitional and Supportive Housing: $1 billion allocated to build housing for people experiencing homelessness or risk thereof, paired with supports.
Nunavut partnership: Plans to build over 700 public, affordable, and supportive housing units in Nunavut, about 30% of which will use off-site / factory built construction methods.
Addressing homelessness and housing needs: BCH is explicitly targeting housing for people who are in greatest need — low-income, homeless, or under threat of homelessness. It goes beyond just market housing.
Speed & scale: Traditional affordable-housing programs often move slowly; BCH’s inclusion of modern construction methods and use of public lands could accelerate delivery significantly.
Economic impacts: By using domestic materials, establishing consistent demand for modular/manufactured housing, and creating incentives, BCH could stimulate parts of the construction and manufacturing industries.
Long-term affordability: Preservation (not just building new), transitional housing, and supportive housing are parts of the plan. Being mindful of the resale / rental constraints will be important.
While BCH has many promising features, there are things to watch out for to see whether it delivers:
Definition of “affordable”: How affordable is “affordable”? Will the thresholds reflect what people on marginal incomes can pay (often ~30% of income), or will they be tied to market rent / market rates? Some critics warn that vague or weak definitions might result in housing that’s “affordable” in name but still out of reach for many.
Provincial and municipal cooperation: Housing is often regulated (zoning, building codes, approvals) by provinces and municipalities. For BCH to move quickly, co-ordination and alignment are needed. Delays in permits, fragmentation in regulations, or resistance to densification could slow progress.
Supply chain and construction capacity: Even with modern methods promised, there are bottlenecks. Shortage of skilled labour, supply of materials (especially those that are “low carbon” or domestically produced), capacity of modular/factory builders.
Location & equity: Will affordable units be available in high-demand and transit-accessible areas, or mostly in peripheral regions? Ensuring that location, transit, amenities, and community services are part of the plan is essential for real accessibility.
Sustained funding & political will: The initial capital and announcements are promising, but long-term success depends on sustained investment, follow-through, budget allocations, and resistance to shifting priorities.
Build Canada Homes represents one of the boldest recent efforts by the Canadian federal government to confront the housing and homelessness crisis. It combines public land, construction innovation, financing tools, and policy levers in one agency. All aimed at getting more affordable homes built more quickly.
If it succeeds, BCH could help open housing pathways for many who feel shut out today: people with low or moderate incomes, those at risk of homelessness, Indigenous communities, even the middle class. But the success will depend heavily on how affordability is defined, how fast government bureaucracy and regulation adapt, and whether projects are implemented with fairness, transparency, and sustainability.
Sources: Build Canada Homes, CAEH, Prime Minister of Canada,
