OTTAWA,
ON, Aug. 19, 2024 /CNW/ - Canada is facing a housing crisis that is
impacting lives and communities across the country. We need to
build more homes, faster, to solve today's challenge and meet the
demand of a growing Canada.
Today, the Honourable François-Philippe
Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, and
the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and
Communities, announced the launch of a consultation to source
additional ideas on accelerating innovation and productivity in
Canada's homebuilding
industry.
The consultation will engage a broad range of stakeholders
across the construction sector, academics and community leaders
through a series of thematic roundtables, as well as solicit
feedback from the general public through online submissions. The
goal is to identify avenues to expedite homebuilding, provide new
ideas to change the way homes are built and bring down housing
costs for Canadians. The online consultation will be open until
September 13, 2024.
The consultation will include:
- Enhancing productivity within Canada's housing ecosystem
- Incenting innovation and technology adoption
- Exploring the impacts of access to capital
- Strengthening supply chains
An expert panel, comprising experts from Canada's homebuilding sector, will support the
consultation and provide advice to the ministers on how to boost
the capacity of the industry. The panel is composed of the
following members:
- Isabelle Demers, Vice-President,
Association des professionnels de la construction et de
l'habitation du Québec
- Emma Kozak, Vice-President of
Real Estate Lending, Royal Bank of Canada
- Kevin Lee, CEO, Canadian Home
Builders' Association
- Bryce Nugent, Director, Modular
Housing Association Prairie Provinces
- Carolyn Whitzman, Adjunct
Professor, University of Ottawa
Quotes
"The homebuilding industry has a tremendous opportunity to build
more homes to better meet housing demand from Canadians. By working
together, we can ensure Canada has
the skills and environment to promote innovative solutions and
tackle Canada's housing
crisis."
– The Honourable François-Philippe
Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry
"Creating an Industrial Housing Strategy for Homebuilding is
another way we're leading a Team Canada approach to overcome the
housing crisis. Through meeting the housing sector's needs,
fostering innovation within it, strengthening supply chains and
supporting productivity, we will help ensure that everyone has a
safe and affordable place to call home."
– The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure
and Communities, and Minister responsible for Canada Mortgage and
Housing Corporation
Quick facts
- In Canada's Housing
Plan—released in spring 2024—the Government of Canada committed to supporting homebuilders
but also acknowledged the need to build homes smarter, faster and
at prices Canadians can afford. As material prices rise and tight
labour markets persist, we're committed to an all-hands-on-deck
approach to a productive homebuilding sector.
- Innovative technologies, building methods and materials could
support higher productivity rates, but adoption is low. For
instance, only about 30% of Canadian homebuilders are using some
degree of prefabrication for their projects.
- The construction sector is capital-intensive, as developing a
new project requires substantial up-front investment. Debt
financing makes construction sector firms sensitive to higher
interest rates, as interest payments currently take up 40% of the
industry's net income compared with 23% for other firms in the
economy.
- The cost to construct a residential building in Canada has increased by 58% since 2020, well
outpacing the overall inflation rate of 15%. The supply chain was
significantly disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in
Ukraine, among other global
economic disruptions, and prices remain elevated.
Associated links
- Solving the Housing Crisis: Canada's Housing Plan
- Consultation: Informing an Industrial Strategy for
Homebuilding
- Budget 2024 – Chapter 1: More Affordable Homes
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