![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Build-Canada-Homes-study-1024x576.png\")
To increase the stock of non-market homes in Canada, a new Crown corporation will soon be established. (Avel Chuklanov \/ Unsplash)<\/p>\nWhy It Matters<\/p>\n
The majority of projects funded through Build Canada Homes (BCH) will be non-market developments. Non-market housing stock in Canada has been declining since 1996. Witnesses who participated in the study of the bill noted that the legislation could mobilize home-building on public land and should support the non-market housing sector by helping find and sustain sources of government funding.<\/p>\n
To increase the stock of non-market homes in Canada, a new Crown corporation will soon be established. (Avel Chuklanov \/ Unsplash)<\/p>\n
Experts and advocates from Canada\u2019s housing sector say they want to see predictable funding, the use of public lands, and a range of housing types as the feds embark on massive renewed investment in social housing.<\/p>\n
Representatives of Canada\u2019s non-market and co-operative housing sectors, as well as housing advocates and researchers have appeared before a federal committee as witnesses to the development of Bill C-20, which will seek to establish Build Canada Homes (BCH) as an independent Crown corporation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
BCH\u2019s mandate is to expand the supply of non-market housing<\/a> in Canada, with $1 billion<\/a> set aside for the construction of transitional and supportive housing. About $1.7 billion will be allocated to support Indigenous housing providers<\/a>, announced at the end of April.\u00a0<\/p>\n Non-market housing can cut construction costs and remains more affordable over time than market housing, said Carolyn Whitzman<\/a>, adjunct professor and housing researcher at the University of Toronto\u2019s School of Cities.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cUnlike private development, which slows down as we\u2019re seeing now when profit margins dip, non-market, mission-oriented developers have an almost unlimited demand for their homes,\u201d she said in her appearance in front of the Standing Committee of Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA)<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n For both market and non-market housing, predictability and consistency in government policy and commitments are vital, Whitzman added.\u00a0<\/p>\n Appearing at a later meeting, Tim Ross, executive director of the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada, also emphasized the need for long-term, stable financing for co-op homes.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t fund [\u2026] housing a fiscal year at a time,\u201d he said, appearing before HUMA on Apr. 20<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Standing Committee first invited members of the public to participate in the study of Bill C-20, an Act respecting the establishment of Build Canada Homes, on Mar. 30, and has received 44 briefs to date.\u00a0<\/p>\n Among those who have submitted briefs are the Assembly of First Nations, the Canadian Human Rights Commission, and frontline service providers like WoodGreen Community Services and Welcome Hall Mission \/ Maison Bon Accueil.\u00a0<\/p>\n Private sector representatives also submitted briefs and appeared before the Committee. Many of the non-market sector witnesses recognized that the construction sector is a critical partner in the development of non-market housing.\u00a0<\/p>\n Where Canada once had a significant stock of non-market homes, it now represents under six per cent of all of the country\u2019s existing housing, \u201cafter decades of governments redirecting subsidies and financing to the private system, according to researchers<\/a> at the University of Toronto and Toronto Metropolitan University.\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the proportion of households unable to pay market rents continues to rise.<\/p>\n There are several definitions of affordable housing across federal policies, said Whitzman, and consistent language is crucial to intergovernmental cooperation<\/a> between the federal government and provinces, territories, municipalities, and regions.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Government of Canada should treat housing development as \u201ca nation-building project comparable to populating the Prairies or the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway,\u201d said Alexi White, director of systems change at Maytree<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Where is Build Canada Homes now?<\/p>\n Under the new $13 billion federal agency, several non-market housing projects have already been launched: BCH announced development partnerships with the City of Ottawa<\/a> and the Province of New Brunswick<\/a> to deliver non-profit, transitional, and supportive housing.\u00a0<\/p>\n During the committee\u2019s study of the Bill, White said that the homes developed with funding from BCH should use government-owned land at the federal, provincial and municipal levels.<\/p>\n \u201cThe same model could also be applied to acquisitions of market buildings or conversions of other buildings to residential use, provided the government remains the owner of the asset,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n