This House of Commons committee meeting of the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA) was studying Bill C-20, an act to establish Build Canada Homes. Appearing were Mitch Gascoyne from CentreCourt, Laurent Levesque and Maxime Pelletier from UTILE, Samuel Watts from Welcome Hall Mission, and departmental officials Lindsay Boldt and Jean-Sébastien Langelier.
Mitch Gascoyne described a severe contraction in Toronto’s housing market, with condo starts at historic lows, and argued that the root cause is that the all-in cost of delivering housing remains too high relative to what the market can absorb, even as land and construction costs have fallen. He supported Bill C-20, saying Build Canada Homes’ most important role is as a provider of catalytic capital for affordable projects where market economics alone are insufficient, and he emphasized that BCH should be additive to CMHC, not a replacement, and that tax and fee reform and BCH capital are complements, not alternatives.
Laurent Levesque welcomed Bill C-20, noting that CMHC has less leverage in affordable housing following the end of the affordable housing fund, and stressed that student housing must be explicitly integrated into federal policies as a key solution to the housing crisis. Maxime Pelletier made three main asks: that BCH implement a true portfolio approach to funding, moving from project-by-project accountability to reporting across all units; that CMHC’s programs be aligned with BCH’s to avoid implementation challenges for non-profit developers; and that BCH quickly clarify its expectations for modern construction methods so developers can plan accordingly.
Samuel Watts strongly supported Bill C-20 but argued it must be accompanied by upstream efforts such as targeted rental support and support services, because four walls and a roof alone are insufficient. He recommended that the definition of affordable housing be put into the legislation rather than just on a website, and made four additional asks: permanent dedicated funding for transitional and supportive housing; federal negotiation with provinces for a targeted rental protection fund; affordability maintained in perpetuity when public funds are used; and that the CEO of BCH sit on the National Housing Council as an ex officio member. He also flagged the need for formal coordination among HICC, CMHC, BCH and Canada Lands Company.
Departmental officials Lindsay Boldt and Jean-Sébastien Langelier answered questions on the bill. Boldt explained that BCH will operationally define affordable housing as less than 30% of before-tax household income, that loan guarantees require Minister of Finance approval under the Financial Administration Act, and that BCH’s mandate is to focus on affordable housing development while CMHC focuses on market housing. She clarified that Canada Lands Company could become a subsidiary of BCH, that BCH has a developer function that includes direct-build sites and partnerships, and that BCH will need to balance its $13 billion capital allocation across financing, development and modern construction methods. Langelier noted that the bill gives BCH flexibility to enter into partnership agreements with provinces, including Quebec.
The meeting began with a lengthy procedural debate. The committee adopted a motion to invite the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure and the Minister of Jobs and Families to appear on Main Estimates. A motion from Andréanne Larouche to invite officials on the benefits delivery modernization was amended to invite Cliff Groen and other officials for one hour, and was adopted. A subsequent Conservative amendment to expand the document production order was debated at length, with Liberal members arguing the request was too broad and would divert resources from service delivery. The committee eventually suspended that debate and, by majority vote, proceeded to clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-20. An NDP amendment to clause 33 requiring detailed annual reporting to Parliament on targets, outcomes, homelessness counts and a housing insecurity index was defeated.
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