Prime Minister Carney announces new affordable housing, with federal land in Ottawa eyed for major housing build

To help Canada’s housing demand —particularly for affordable units — Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced the new $13 billion Build Canada Homes agency, which will construct 4,000 homes in six Canadian cities, including Ottawa. 

The government said the new initiative — which can scale up to a capacity of 45,000 homes — will transform public-private collaboration and deploy modern methods of construction. It will leverage public lands, offer flexible financial incentives, attract private capital, facilitate large portfolio projects, and support modern manufacturers. 

During his remarks, Carney credited Nepean home builder Caivan, which had been building six modular homes a day. By the end of the year, they intend to increase that to 38 — meaning 10,000 homes will be built in the Capital annually. 

“The two sets of homes behind me were manufactured in two days and assembled on site in a week. We kept the townhouses open so you could see how it fits together, how the computer design fits together and trailers to those structures,” said Carney. 

Carney admitted that the cost of buying or building a house is becoming unaffordable, and said the housing crisis has been in place for over 40 years. He said years-long delays in getting building permits, alongside land development charges and taxes, make it out of reach for many.  

Build Canada Homes will offer financial incentives to developers and also allow them to get approval in bulk, rather than submitting dozens of applications. 

Another bonus? By utilizing factory-built, modular, and mass timber options, homes can also be built throughout the winter when conditions in a place like Ottawa can make it difficult to break ground. 

“We need to move with speed and determination because the upheaval in the global trading system is not a transition, it's a rupture. Its effects are already profound. Workers displaced from their jobs. Supply changes disrupted and massive amounts of investment held back due to extreme uncertainty. Now more than ever we need to take control of our destiny,” said Carney. 

Former Toronto city councillor Ana Bailão has been named CEO of the Build Canada Homes agency. The former deputy mayor served on the board of Toronto Community Housing.

Construction on the federally funded homes is expected to begin next year, and Carney asked his colleagues to identify other parcels of land that can be added to the Canada Land Bank. 

Multiple federally-owned sites in Ottawa could one day see affordable housing 

To date, there are over 88 properties on the list nationwide, totalling 463 hectares. Combined, that’s the equivalent of 3,000 hockey rinks, 600 Canadian football fields, or about the size of Downtown Ottawa. 

There are 36 sites in the Ottawa area. They include federal office complexes in Confederation Heights; the Jackson Building and the Edward Drake Building; and Hurdman North, where upwards of 4,000 units could be built. 

Tunney’s Pasture also made the cut, which is in the midst of a redevelopment plan of its own. The City has received the Plan of Subdivision application for the site and Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper is hosting a community information session on Sept. 22 in the Wellington Room at the Hintonburg Community Centre, starting at 6:30 pm. 

He said the application's focus is on transferring roads and servicing infrastructure to the City. Development applications such as rezonings and site plans are anticipated at a later date.

A parcel of land at 1730 Robertson Road is also on the list. During the recent federal election, Liberal MP Anita Vandenbeld told the Lookout she wants to see affordable housing built there. 

“One of the things they [the Queensway Carleton Hospital] want to do is build housing that will have primary care on the main floor, and then the next few floors would be transitional from the hospital,” Vandenbeld said in April. “Somewhere on this campus with greenspace in between could be housing for the frontline workers in the hospital. Because if you look at the neighbourhoods around the Queensway Carleton Hospital, these are out of reach for a lot of the people that are working in that hospital.”

The Sunday announcement was held in a southern corridor between Woodroffe Ave and Merivale Rd. It was among nine Ottawa-area properties added to the list in October 2024 with about 1,000 future housing units. It’s located in Vandenbeld’s Ottawa-West Nepean riding, metres away from the Nepean riding, which Carney represents. 

About a week and a half ago, nearby residents noticed the construction of quick-build homes on the National Capital Commission-owned land between Viewmount Dr and Colannade Rd. They began inquiring about what was up, but local politicians said they had no clue. The Lookout asked the NCC, who said they would look into it, but we haven’t received an answer in time for publication. 

It appears the structures are only there for the photo op — at least for now. Carney said one of the homes built for the press conference will be shipped to Nunavut. It’s unclear which site in Ottawa will be selected for the ambitious building plans. 

Earlier this year, during Merivale Baseline Secondary Plan discussions, stakeholders were told it would be years before the Nepean corridor was developed. The final Secondary Plan won’t be finished until Spring 2027. 

Ottawa is not building homes fast enough 

The City of Ottawa has been falling short on its provincial housing targets. In 2024, its aim was to see 12,583 housing starts under construction. But in the end, only 7,871 were started — 63 per cent of its target. In 2023, Ottawa met 93 per cent of its target. 

But the Capital was not alone. Over half of the 50 municipalities listed on the progress tracker were below 80 per cent of their target for 2024. As a result, the Ontario government said Ottawa would not be getting any money through the Building Faster Fund for 2025. Stats for this year are looking more promising, though. By the end of July, there were 5,716 housing starts this year compared to 3,243 during the same period in 2024. 

A recent city audit also found approval for new housing developments had slowed. The average process last year took 649 days compared to a 284 day average in 2022. Legal issues are also to blame.