Budget 2026 omits pledge to double home building as Ottawa sets new non-market housing target

OTTAWA — The disappearance of the federal government's pledge to double the pace of home building from the 2026 budget has raised questions about the future of its plan to address the housing crisis. The focus of the financial document has shifted from a general goal of building homes to a more specific target for government-supported non-market housing.

The 511-page budget makes no reference to the Liberal Party's commitment to double the pace of construction within ten years, even though it was a key promise in its 2025 election platform and appeared repeatedly in last year's budget.

New target of 24,000 homes a year

In place of the earlier pledge, the budget sets a target of tripling the current pace of non-market housing construction, to 24,000 units started per year over the next decade.

This category typically includes social housing, co-operative housing and projects that rely on government financing or support to provide rents below market rates.

However, according to the budget documents, this type of housing makes up only about four per cent of the country's total housing stock.

As a result, the 24,000-unit target is not equivalent to doubling all the homes built in Canada. It applies to a specific segment of the housing sector.

Government says its commitment continues

The Canadian Press asked the office of Housing Minister Gregor Robertson whether Ottawa had abandoned the original pledge.

After repeated requests for clarification, the office pointed to a statement from last May confirming that the government is still working to double the pace of home building within ten years.

The office also noted that housing starts nationally are up more than 20 per cent compared with the period before the pandemic, and that rental projects are being built at a high pace, with rents falling in recent years.

But the absence of the target from the budget drew criticism from the opposition.

Scott Aitchison, the Conservative housing critic, accused the Liberals of quietly backing away from their promise. He said that focusing on subsidized housing will not, on its own, resolve the affordability crisis.

How many homes does Canada actually need?

Mike Moffatt, founder of the Missing Middle Initiative, estimated that meeting the old pledge would require raising annual housing starts to about 500,000 homes, while Canada has never exceeded roughly 300,000 in its best years.

Moffatt said the original figure was extremely ambitious and may not reflect differences among the types of housing needed or the effect of changing population growth on demand.

In its fall 2026 report, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) projected that about 231,000 homes a year would be built if current trends continue.

But restoring the level of housing affordability recorded before the pandemic by 2036 would require building between 417,000 and 469,000 units a year, a gap of between 187,000 and 238,000 homes each year.

New funding and obstacles to building

The budget proposes an additional $13 billion over ten years, starting in the 2028-29 fiscal year, to strengthen Build Canada Homes and expand affordable housing projects.

The government estimates that Build Canada Homes' investments will support 200,000 new homes over ten years, with the agency's total capital rising to $45 billion.

The plans set aside part of the funding for housing projects led by Indigenous communities, with implementation depending on partnerships with provinces, municipalities and the non-profit sector.

The government's policies also include tax relief for some new homes, infrastructure funding programs and faster local approvals.

But urban planner Andy Yan said the pledge to double construction was more aspirational than an achievable target, because the federal government does not alone control municipal permits, materials costs or interest rates.

Moffatt also warned that building social housing faces the same labour and materials constraints that hold back commercial projects.

While Ottawa says it is continuing to work to increase supply, the question remains how progress toward the pledge to double construction will be measured, and whether the new focus on subsidized housing will translate into homes Canadians can afford.