{"id":322401,"date":"2025-12-03T09:26:17","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T09:26:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/322401\/"},"modified":"2025-12-03T09:26:17","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T09:26:17","slug":"ottawas-spending-on-housing-set-to-drop-by-more-than-50-over-next-three-years-pbo-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/322401\/","title":{"rendered":"Ottawa\u2019s spending on housing set to drop by more than 50% over next three years, PBO says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

A roofer working on a new housing development in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Que., southwest of Montreal.Christinne Muschi\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Federal spending on housing<\/a> is projected to drop by more than half over the next three years, according to a new report by the Parliamentary Budget Officer.<\/p>\n

The finding is at odds with the Liberal Party\u2019s<\/a> campaign pledge to bring in Canada\u2019s most ambitious housing plan since the Second World War with billions in funding. <\/p>\n

The government\u2019s Nov. 4 budget did follow through with a campaign promise to launch a new agency called Build Canada Homes, setting aside $7.3-billion over five years.<\/p>\n

However the PBO points out that overall federal spending on housing is set to decline to $4.3-billion in 2028-29, down from $9.8-billion in the current fiscal year \u2013 a 56-per-cent reduction.<\/p>\n

The PBO figures assume that various housing programs will expire, or \u201csunset,\u201d however government departments could decide to extend them.<\/p>\n

Opinion: Affordable housing is out of reach everywhere in Canada<\/a><\/p>\n

Jason Jacques, the interim PBO, said in a statement that Build Canada Homes is expected to add only \u201ca modest amount\u201d to the housing supply. <\/p>\n

The PBO estimates about 26,000 units will be created over five years, which would be a 2.1-per-cent increase in housing completions relative to the PBO\u2019s baseline projection.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe federal government says it wants to double housing construction over the next decade. However, no detailed plan to reach that goal has been released,\u201d the PBO said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Finance Minister Fran\u00e7ois-Philippe Champagne said the PBO report doesn\u2019t account for future spending decisions the government will make over the coming years.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes you need a bit of nuance,\u201d he told reporters. \u201cWithout getting technical, obviously there\u2019s a number of decisions that will have to be taken from now to \u201928-\u201929.\u201d<\/p>\n

Analysis: Have homes gotten pricier \u2013 or has money lost its value?<\/a><\/p>\n

Housing Minister Gregor Robertson expressed a similar view, saying what has been announced to date is an \u201cinitial\u201d investment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is just the beginning. We\u2019re going to deliver a ton of affordable housing, and we\u2019re going to leverage a lot of investment from across Canada to get that done,\u201d he told reporters following a cabinet meeting. <\/p>\n

Prior to the budget, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced<\/a> in September that Build Canada Homes will partner with existing developers, rather than entering the business of building homes itself.<\/p>\n

He said then that the new entity would focus on \u201cdeeply affordable\u201d housing, using public land for housing and helping get projects off the ground so that \u201cbuilders can do what they do best, which is to build.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Liberal platform had said the agency would \u201cget the federal government back into the business of building homes.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Prime Minister\u2019s September remarks were welcomed by developers, including the Building Industry and Land Development Association.<\/p>\n

Following the budget\u2019s release, some critics pointed out that the housing funding fell short of the amounts promised during the campaign. <\/p>\n

Federal budget falls short on housing affordability, experts say<\/a><\/p>\n

The budget included plans to find about $60-billion in internal savings over five years, with specific breakdowns by department.<\/p>\n

The Housing, Infrastructure and Communities department listed savings that would ramp up to about $1.7-billion a year. About half of this would be found by \u201cmodernizing\u201d operations, \u201cstreamlining\u201d program delivery and \u201crecalibrating\u201d government programs, it said. The other half would be found by \u201crecalibrating\u201d government programs led by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. No further details were provided in the budget.<\/p>\n

Kevin Lee, CEO of the Canadian Homebuilders Association, said the government should be doing more to reduce taxes and cut red tape if it wants to support homebuilding.<\/p>\n

He said the new agency is primarily aimed at social housing and won\u2019t help affordability in the broader market.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe PBO report is pretty much pointing out what we\u2019ve been saying all along, which is that Build Canada Homes is fine, but it\u2019s certainly not going to help the next generation of Canadians become homeowners or anything like that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mike Moffatt, founding director of the University of Ottawa\u2019s Missing Middle Initiative, said the government has not clearly stated how it will manage existing programs that are set to expire.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government lacks a coherent plan or vision on the future of housing in Canada,\u201d he said. As for Build Canada Homes, he said it looks like a good program, but it lacks clear benchmarks that can be used for accessing performance. <\/p>\n

He also said the Liberal government has so far overpromised and underdelivered when it comes to building new housing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government\u2019s rhetoric does not match their actions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre raised the PBO report Tuesday in Question Period, saying it shows the Prime Minister has broken his housing promises.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy won\u2019t he listen to us and stop building bureaucracy so that we can start building homes?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

NDP MP Jenny Kwan said the PBO\u2019s findings are \u201cshocking\u201d and deeply concerning.<\/p>\n

Ms. Kwan said the report shows that what has been announced to date \u201cis barely a drop in the bucket to address the housing crisis.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: A roofer working on a new housing development in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Que., southwest of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322402,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[45,49,48,714],"class_list":{"0":"post-322401","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}