{"id":746301,"date":"2026-06-19T02:20:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T02:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/746301\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T02:20:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T02:20:09","slug":"ottawa-b-c-to-spend-3-2-billion-to-cut-homebuilding-fees-and-convert-unsold-condos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/746301\/","title":{"rendered":"Ottawa, B.C. to spend $3.2-billion to cut homebuilding fees and convert unsold condos"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Prime Minister Mark Carney shakes hands with construction workers at a construction site in Vancouver on Thursday.Chad Hipolito\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

The federal and B.C. governments will spend up to $3.2-billion to help reduce homebuilding costs by cutting development charges, and they plan to help developers get rid of their unsold condominiums in the province. <\/p>\n

The joint housing announcement on Thursday is Ottawa\u2019s latest attempt to bolster the troubled homebuilding sector and condo market. Ottawa said about 2,500 newly built condos in British Columbia<\/a> are sitting empty with no buyers. <\/p>\n

Investors used to account for the majority of the new condo purchases, but a decline in the housing units\u2019 profitability has caused them to lose interest. That has led to a drop in sales, buyer defaults and scores of unsold product.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith higher interest rates, weak investor demand, developers are stuck,\u201d Prime Minister Mark Carney<\/a> said in prepared remarks for an infrastructure announcement in Vancouver. \u201cThey do not want to sell at a loss, but they also cannot afford to hold the empty units indefinitely.\u201d <\/p>\n

Rita Trichur: It\u2019s time to purge the concept of \u2018starter homes\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Through a new partnership, Mr. Carney said, the two governments would use financing tools from Ottawa\u2019s new housing agency, Build Canada Homes, to \u201cconvert thousands of vacant condo units into affordable homes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem is that these empty homes do not just sit idle,\u201d Mr. Carney said in his prepared remarks. \u201cThey also disincentivize new construction, unsettle lenders and investors, and create a housing market that is, in effect, frozen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Prime Minister\u2019s remarks did not provide details on the financing tools, or specify whether the government would purchase the unsold condo units from developers or provide them with other support to do conversions.<\/p>\n

Mr. Carney also announced an initiative similar to a new program in Ontario that will cut development charges, which are fees municipalities impose on developers to build infrastructure such as roads and sewers for new housing developments.<\/p>\n

Those charges have spiked across the country, saddling developers with hefty fees on top of their construction expenses. That in turn has driven up the cost of new housing.<\/p>\n

Ottawa will provide B.C. with $1.6-billion to help fund the province\u2019s infrastructure, and the province will match the funding.<\/p>\n

Nobody has the right to own a home: Pushing shoebox skyscrapers over family rentals<\/a><\/p>\n

The total $3.2-billion in financing will be provided over 10 years to expand infrastructure. The municipalities that receive the funding will be required to reduce development charges by up to 50 per cent for three years.<\/p>\n

Mr. Carney said the reduction in development fees could cut costs on a new unit by up to $40,000, which would make it more affordable for homebuyers.<\/p>\n

Developers agreed. \u201cIt will help to reduce the cost of delivering new homes, ultimately leading to price improvements,\u201d said Neil Chrystal, president with Polygon Realty Ltd.<\/p>\n

On the condo conversions, Mr. Chrystal said he believed the governments would use federal funding to buy completed condo inventory from developers.<\/p>\n

The aid for the development sector arrives several months after the federal government and Ontario announced measures to boost homebuilding in the country\u2019s most populated province.<\/p>\n

Ottawa and Ontario are spending $8.8-billion to help municipalities reduce development charges by up to 50 per cent. The two governments are also providing an HST rebate for buyers of newly built homes, which is designed to help clear the thousands of unsold new condos in Ontario. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Prime Minister Mark Carney shakes hands with construction workers at a construction site…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":746302,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,20739,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-746301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-ottawa","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/746301","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=746301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/746301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/746302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=746301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=746301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=746301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}