OTTAWA: Despite a cascade of challenges gripping the construction sector, the Liberal government remains steadfast in its commitment to double the pace of housing construction across the country over the next decade. Spearheaded by Prime Minister Mark Carney with the aim of driving down rental costs and making homeownership more affordable, the ambitious strategy recently drew public scrutiny after failing to receive prominent mention in the government’s latest spring economic update. However, Mohammad Hussain, a spokesperson for Housing and Infrastructure Minister Gregor Robertson, firmly clarified that the government has no intention of backing down from its targets. Ottawa plans to achieve this goal through aggressive policy measures, including a GST exemption for first-time homebuyers and massive infrastructure rollouts under its flagship ‘Build Canada Homes’ agency.
In contrast to the government’s optimism, a sobering report released by the newly appointed Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO), Annette Ryan, indicates that housing starts in Canada are actually slowing down. The PBO report points out that the government’s newly established agency, Build Canada Homes, is projected to deliver only about 26,000 incremental units over a five-year period—a figure critics argue falls drastically short of what is required to hit federal targets. Compounding these doubts, previous forecasts by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) warned that a sluggish economic climate could further dampen residential construction over the next three years. Seizing on these findings, Conservative housing critic Scott Aitchison strongly criticized the Liberal government, labeling their housing strategy an absolute failure.
Providing a broader geographical context, Marc Desormeaux, a senior economist at the Business Council of Canada, noted that the country—excluding the province of Ontario—actually witnessed record-breaking housing starts in 2025. According to Desormeaux, Ontario’s construction sector has been uniquely bottlenecked by a massive backlog of unsold condominiums in Toronto alongside a noticeable slowdown in population growth. Economists also warn that broader geopolitical headwinds, such as the ongoing war in Iran, could worsen construction costs and keep interest rates elevated, posing a persistent threat to the sector in the coming months. Nevertheless, many financial experts argue that setting such ambitious federal benchmarks remains a net positive, as it pushes provincial governments and the private sector to operate with greater urgency and efficiency.
