This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact The Epoch Times Reprints.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says Canada’s housing market is facing a “triple crisis” as construction lags in some major cities, an increasing number of Canadians are being priced out of home ownership, and prices are too low to encourage owners to sell.
Poilievre made the comments during a Sept. 9 press conference in Brampton, Ont., arguing that the federal government’s Build Canada Homes does not address the housing issues.
“This crisis has changed into something new and even worse than there was before they first inflated the housing bubble, and now Liberals are bursting the housing bubble,” Poilievre said. “It is a triple crisis, with prices too high for buyers to buy, too low for sellers to sell, and inadequate for builders to build.”
While rental construction has shown improvement in recent months, Canada’s broader housing market continues to be burdened by high regulatory costs, steep development fees, and slow approval processes especially in major cities such as Toronto and Vancouver, according to new statistics from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The housing agency also noted, however, that Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, and Halifax built new homes at near-record pace in the first half of 2025.
Toronto has been particularly hard-hit, with housing starts down 69 percent since last year and provincial construction industry associations such as the Residential Construction Council of Ontario reporting layoffs.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s proposed Build Canada Homes (BCH) act would create a new federal housing agency where the government would act as a developer with the aim of building more affordable homes. The plan puts forward $25 billion in financing for prefabricated homebuilders while prioritizing the use of Canadian lumber. It also provides a $10 billion investment in low-cost financing and capital for affordable home developers.
“Where we are focused today, tomorrow, in the future, is on Canadians having the best quality of life possible,” Carney said during a Sept. 5 press conference. “Yes, it starts with the economy and responding, meeting the moment ... but it also goes to the fundamental of being safe in your community, owning your own home, being able to pay your rent, living a good life.”
No specific launch date for BCH has been announced, though Carney said during a Sept. 5 press conference that the initiative will be launched “in the next few weeks” in order to achieve his government’s goal of “doubling the rate of housing starts in this country” over the next decade.
The Conservatives put forward a four-point plan Sept. 9, calling on the Carney government to scrap federal sales tax for all houses sold for under $1.3 million, cut the capital gains tax on any funds reinvested in homebuilding, incentivize municipalities to free-up land, cut development charges and red tape, and get Canada’s immigration levels “under control.”
“The government keeps talking about how they have these wonderful plans for home building. You know what they need to do? Only one thing: Get out of the way,” Poilievre said.
The Carney government recently released progress updates outlining nearly 500 planned measures to cut red tape across its regulatory departments and agencies.
