The Government of Canada gave housers a gift on National Housing Day: a bit more insight into the scope and mandate of Build Canada Homes.

This National Housing Day marks almost three decades since homelessness was declared a national disaster – and there is no irony that it is a disaster precipitated by federal withdrawal from non-market community housing. We can now celebrate the return of the federal government to this social and economic priority, but we can’t yet celebrate the end of the disaster.

Build Canada Homes (BCH) is the newest federal approach to addressing a housing and homelessness crisis. On November 22, the Minister of Housing released the Investment Policy Framework for BCH – let’s have a look at what it means for non-market community housing.

As expected, and as the government has made clear in advance, BCH will move beyond building-by-building approaches and shift to “portfolio approaches” and “multi-year pipelines” of affordable housing projects. Some non-market community housing developers already have the capacity to pull together a portfolio pipeline, some don’t. Those who don’t should consider bundling projects and teaming up. While BCH acknowledges that “project sizes will be tailored to community need” and “projects may be smaller in rural, northern, or Indigenous communities”, they are also actively encouraging partnerships and collaborations that increase capacity. They are also welcoming provinces, municipalities, and NGOs to act as aggregators.

The government has been clear from the start that BCH’s other complimentary mandate is to industrialize “modern methods of construction” (MMC): factory-built housing and housing components. The Investment Policy Framework puts some additional emphasis on standardized designs, scalability, and replicability. It puts specific emphasis on Canadian softwood lumber, both as part of MMC and as part of a “Buy Canadian” requirement. When combined with the requirement for low-carbon construction materials, the writing on the wall is clearthink wood and mass-timber.

I’m encouraged to see BCH encouraging proponents to look at the CMHC Housing Design Catalogue, and hopefully this also means BCH will support expansion of the catalogue into more multi-residential designs. If BCH is intervening to promote replicability and scale, adding some apartment buildings to the catalogue will certainly help.

There aren’t a lot of specifics on numbers in the Investment Policy Framework; I had been expecting more insight into interest rates, lending terms and grant levels. We didn’t get that, but we did get a solid commitment on income-based definitions of affordability.

The framework includes an illustrative table showing maximum affordable rents for median, moderate, low and very low-income households, with incomes defined relative to median area income; the website shows a step-by-step guide on how it works. It is very similar, but not identical to the Housing Needs Assessment Tool used by the Housing Assessment Resource Tools group at UBC. Proponents seeking BCH support must indicate which income groups are served by their project, and projects will be assessed based on the “depth, breadth and duration of affordability”.

Income-based measures of affordability has been a core recommendation from CHRA, and we’re happy to see it here.

At the launch of BCH in September 2025, the Prime Minister committed $1 billion specifically for supportive and transitional housing; this is reflected in the framework too. Crucially, it’s capital dollars, not operating funding. BCH is making it clear that proponents must line up long-term operating funding for wrap-around supports from other sources: BCH is about the build, not the supports. The framework is also very clear that long-term care and shelters are not eligible.

A few other notes on scope: community-based affordable homeownership is eligible; acquisition is eligible through the upcoming Canada Rental Protection Fund, and acquisition-conversion through BCH itself: student housing and seniors housing, are eligible, echoing priorities from the Liberal election platform; co-op housing is also eligible.

The framework includes multiple mentions of Indigenous housing through Indigenous governments, and through “Indigenous housing providers and urban Indigenous organizations”. That implies an important recognition of Indigenous-led community housing organizations, friendship centres, and urban Indigenous NGOs that offer housing without jurisdictional barriers, complementing housing offered through distinctions-based approaches.

BCH commits to opening an application portal in the coming weeks, which may provide more details on what funding and financing is available. Meanwhile, they are open to proposals through a general email address.

Community housing developers who have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars to bring projects to shovel-readiness are keeping a close eye on the transition between CMHC and BCH.

CMHC recently updated the web page for the Affordable Housing Fund, which was, until now, the government’s flagship program to build non-market community housing. It now says:

“Demand for funding is highly competitive — priority will be given to the existing pipeline of projects and proponents of shovel-ready projects. Once the budget is fully allocated, the application portal will close. At that point, clients may be directed to Build Canada Homes to explore funding opportunities.”

There is a similar note in the BCH Investment Policy Framework:

“During this transition period, BCH and CMHC are working in close collaboration to ensure that projects or proposals submitted through CMHC’s AHF are also considered for BCH funding. The goal is to identify the most appropriate funding mechanism for each project, ensuring that federal investments are deployed effectively and aligned with the scale and nature of the proposed housing solutions.”

This transition has been a priority for CHRA, and we have been assured by government officials that they share the goal of a smooth transition without gaps. For the non-market community housing sector to avoid experiencing gaps, we need to align our projects to BCH’s priorities right away, even if applying to AHF.

The BCH Investment Policy Framework provides some very welcome clarity on where this new federal agency is heading, and CHRA is particularly pleased with the clear emphasis on non-market community housing.

There are a few things we still need to see, and hopefully they will be coming soon:

1. The range of financing and funding opportunities BCH can provide. As non-market community housing developers build pro-forma budgets, they need to know what assumptions they can enter for loans and contributions. Will BCH subordinate to other lenders? What will BCH recognize as equity? Is BCH offering only long-term financing, or are other loan products also available?
2. Capacity-building. As BCH fulfills its mandate to “create the conditions for a high-capacity, growth oriented non-market housing sector that can scale”, it must invest in sector capacity by recapitalizing the Community Housing Transformation Centre, investing in professionalization through the Chartered Institute of Housing Canada, and ensuring opportunity for non-profits led by Indigenous and other equity-denied groups.
3. Operations and leasing. BCH and Canada Lands Company have released Requests-for-Qualifications for design-build contractors in Ottawa, Winnipeg, Edmonton, and Toronto, with others to follow. The presumed model is BCH as developer and owner, leasing properties to non-profit operators. Those operators should be present in the design phase, and BCH should outline what they should expect under this model.
4. Outcome-oriented targets. BCH should adopt:
   1. a timeline to end homelessness & reduce core housing need,
   2. targets for rapidly increase the supply of for-Indigenous, by-Indigenous community housing,
   3. targets to grow the proportion of non-market community housing, including supportive housing.

Building homes is hard. Building Build Canada Homes is also hard. The non-market community housing sector has decades of expertise and know-how, and stands ready to work with BCH to find the right models to scale quickly and effectively. Housers are ready to get it done.