The federal government will invest $13 billion to launch the previously promised Build Canada Homes agency tasked with accelerating affordable-housing construction nationwide, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced.

The program is designed to act as a one-stop shop for housing projects, using federal land, financing tools, and partnerships with provinces, municipalities, Indigenous communities, and private developers to fast-track construction. By removing land costs from projects and offering flexible financial incentives, it aims to double housing supply, restore affordability, and reduce homelessness, the government contends.

“We have a responsibility to those less fortunate,” Carney told reporters. “We don’t build enough social housing, we don’t build enough affordable housing. So, it’s us filling our core role, but in a smart way that drives innovation.

Initial projects will prioritize six federal sites in Dartmouth, N.S.; Longueuil, Que.; Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, and Edmonton, where 4,000 factory-built homes are planned, with potential for up to 45,000 units. Additional early initiatives include a $1.5-billion rental protection fund to preserve affordable apartments, $1 billion for transitional and supportive housing, and more than 700 units in partnership with the Nunavut Housing Corporation. The government will also roll its real estate investment, development and management are, Canada Lands Company, into Build Canada Homes.

In addition, the agency plans to scale modular and mass-timber construction to cut building timelines by up to 50% and reduce costs by as much as 20%, while enforcing a new Buy Canadian policy that prioritizes domestic materials to offset the effects of increased U.S. tariffs.

Ana Bailão, former a former Toronto city councillor and Dream Unlimited executive, has been appointed as the inaugural CEO of Build Canada Homes.

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