`Residential developers are welcoming the opportunity to partner with the federal government through its new Build Canada Homes (BCH) agency, and relieved that it will partner with private builders instead of constructing homes itself, The Globe and Mail reported.`

Prior to finalizing BCH, Prime Minister Mark Carney had publicly toyed with the idea of having his government serve as a developer under it.

Carney said BCH focus will focus on “deeply affordable housing,” initially using public land in Dartmouth, N.S.; Longueuil, Que.; Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg and Edmonton, while supporting private developers as they get projects off the ground. The plan also clarifies how BCH will collaborate with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, which has been administering the government’s National Housing Strategy.

“They are looking to catalyze the growth of a non-market housing building sector,” said Alana Lavoie, non-profit homebuilder Habitat for Humanity’s national director of housing policy and government relations, told the Globe.

Neil Chrystal, president and CEO of Vancouver-based developer Polygon Realty, called Carney’s plan to partner with the private sector “hugely important” in an interview with the Globe.

Pictured: Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia’s True North project in Dartmouth, N.S.

Photo: Passivedesign.ca