Budget 2026 omits Liberal home-building target, minister's office points to old statement

Budget 2026, tabled last week, does not include references to the Liberals' hallmark affordability pledge, according to reporting by The Canadian Press carried by the Toronto Star and the Winnipeg Sun.

The 511-page document outlines a new plan to triple the pace of non-market housing construction to 24,000 starts per year over the next decade. Non-market housing is usually more affordable and relies on government support to get built, but those homes account for only a small share of the overall number of units built in a year.

The Canadian Press asked Housing Minister Gregor Robertson's office whether Ottawa is abandoning its goal of doubling the annual pace of overall home building. After repeated requests, his office pointed to a six-month-old statement given to The Canadian Press in May confirming that the government was still "working toward doubling homebuilding over the next decade."

Robertson's office also said on Tuesday that national housing starts are up more than 20 per cent since the pre-pandemic period, rental construction is setting a record pace and rents have trended lower over the past few years. His office said: "Since forming government, we launched an ambitious national plan to focus our efforts and spur co-ordinated action between governments, homebuilders, and communities. We moved quickly to increase housing supply and improve access to safe, warm, affordable homes."

MP Scott Aitchison, the Conservative housing critic, accused the Liberals of quietly dropping the promise to double home building and replacing it with the smaller non-market target. He said in a statement to The Canadian Press: "Their announcements and promises have turned into another Liberal housing illusion. Tripling the speed of slow is still unbearably slow and will not restore affordability." He added: "Canadians need homes they can afford, not more failed Liberal targets and broken promises."

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.'s fall housing supply report said the annual pace of housing starts is well short of levels needed to restore pre-pandemic affordability to the market in the next 10 years. Its "business-as-usual" forecast sees Canada breaking ground on 231,000 homes per year, which it estimates would leave the market up to 238,000 homes short of affordable levels by 2036.

Mike Moffatt, founding director of the Missing Middle Institute, said the goal of doubling home building would mean bringing the annual number of housing starts up to 500,000 in a given year, when Canada has so far topped out around 300,000. He said the target may also be "excessive," given that the government can effectively control the pace of population growth.

Budget 2026 proposed giving another $13 billion over 10 years to Build Canada Homes, a Crown corporation tasked with reversing years of lagging non-market home construction, and pledged tens of billions of dollars over the coming decade to an effort to end homelessness across the country.

Sources

This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.