Should Ottawa build homes again? ‘Conversations’ happening, minister says

The path to filling Canada's housing supply gap might see the federal government take a more active role in building homes, the federal housing minister hinted on Wednesday.

As pressure mounts on the federal government to take a more active role in filling the housing supply gap, the minister in charge of the portfolio is exploring new — and potentially old — approaches to getting homes built.

The need to build more homes to accommodate Canada’s growing population has put the federal Liberal government on the defensive in recent weeks, as opposition leader Pierre Poilievre criticizes Justin Trudeau’s government on concerns over unaffordable housing.

The national housing supply is under pressure from record levels of immigration in recent months, and plans to scale up Canada’s current pace of building are facing headwinds from rising interest rates.

One in five builders said they’ve been forced to cancel entire projects in the current environment, according to a report from the Canadian Home Builders Association released last week.

Sean Fraser, the minister newly in charge of the combined housing and infrastructure portfolio, was at the University of British Columbia on Wednesday to announce funding for affordable housing units in the province.

Global News asked Fraser whether the government was considering restoring the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.’s (CMHC) former mandate to build homes itself to fill in the gap and restore affordability. The freshly minted housing minister said that was among the “conversations” happening right now in the government.

The CMHC’s origins in 1946 were as a builder of housing in post-World War II era. The Crown corporation shifted away from that role to focus more on funding and research in the 1980s.

Fraser said Wednesday the Liberals are looking to reverse a “complete retreat” from the housing portfolio by successive governments — Liberal and Conservative — over the past few decades.