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Ottawa wants to get banks, pension funds involved in affordable housing: minister

The federal housing minister said Build Canada Homes is seeking to involve Canadian banks and Canada's pension funds in financing affordable housing, as of February 1, 2026.
Amid mixed data from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., housing starts rose 5.6 per cent in 2025 but stalled in fall, driven by Alberta and Quebec, with Ontario and British Columbia declining, Robertson acknowledged.
The agency reports Build Canada Homes launched in September with $13 billion capitalization, has 450 applications, and the 540-unit Arbo development in Toronto will be at least 40 per cent affordable.
The plan seeks to crowd federal government, provincial partners and private investment into affordable housing to smooth market valleys and redeploy developers and builders during slow markets, but officials warn delays risk missing a window to boost affordable housing projects.
Pension funds and banks face political and implementation challenges as affordable housing doesn’t generate much profit, complicating their duty to maximize returns.

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Ottawa wants to entice banks, pension funds to get involved in affordable housing: minister

The federal housing minister says he wants to ramp up the lagging pace of homebuilding in some provinces by bringing developers off the sidelines and into Ottawa's affordable housing projects.

17 hours ago·Canada

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