This House of Commons committee meeting of the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities studied the management of the benefits delivery modernization program and federal housing policy. Appearing were Cliff Groen, Associate Deputy Minister and Chief Operating Officer for Service Canada; David Wilkes, President and CEO of the Building Industry and Land Development Association; Tim Richter, President and CEO of the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness; and Raymond Sullivan, Executive Director of the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association.
Cliff Groen stated that the benefits delivery modernization program is a digital transformation across multiple programs, with the old age security system operating as expected and having issued nearly 100 million payments to over 7.7 million Canadians. He noted that an OAS action plan reduced the number of clients waiting for initial payment beyond the first month to 50,000 at the end of April, a decline of 35,000 since January, and that the $6.6 billion program estimate includes future work and contingency funding that has not been required. He disagreed with the characterization of cost overruns, arguing that initial estimates were a rough order of magnitude and that costs evolved as expected, and he clarified that $176 million in the spring economic update was for increased processing capacity and maintenance, not for the BDM program.
David Wilkes argued that federal policies affecting access to capital have a direct impact on housing types, and he recommended improved national data on the new housing market, a better understanding of the interplay of housing and immigration, support for capital requirements to build housing, incentives to expedite municipal approvals, and transparency on government fees and taxes on new homes. He stated that in the GTA, fees and taxes constituted 25% to 30% of the cost of a new home, and that the federal government should tie funding to changes in municipal behaviour, such as limiting rounds of site plan discussions.
Tim Richter argued that a fundamental flaw in federal housing policy is a lack of clarity on priorities and outcomes, and that success should be measured by reduced homelessness and core housing need, not by money spent or units started. He recommended that the federal government prioritize reducing homelessness and core housing need as outcomes, coordinate with provinces through a national housing accord, and focus on deeply affordable and supportive housing, noting that the physical construction of units is not the main issue but rather the friction in permitting and funding processes.
Raymond Sullivan argued that housing starts are not the right metric, as high starts can coexist with worsening affordability and homelessness, and that the solution is to stabilize the market by increasing non-market community housing to 20% of the housing supply. He recommended that Build Canada Homes set specific targets for homes in different income bands, and that the federal government ensure intergovernmental coordination and predictable, long-term funding to build a pipeline of affordable housing, disagreeing with the notion that reducing government fees alone would solve affordability.
The committee approved draft releases for the ongoing study on housing starts and the upcoming study on homelessness.
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