{"id":28746,"date":"2025-09-18T10:52:58","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T00:52:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/?p=28746"},"modified":"2025-09-18T12:54:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T02:54:49","slug":"canadas-new-13b-housing-agency-is-laser-focused-on-mass-timber","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/canadas-new-13b-housing-agency-is-laser-focused-on-mass-timber\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada\u2019s New $13B Housing Agency is Laser-Focused on Mass Timber"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The world’s most ambitious public housing programme will use as much mass timber as possible to create an entirely new housing industry<\/em>. That is according to Mark Carney, Canada’s Prime Minister, who doubled down on his commitment to developing an all-new housing agency\u2014Build Canada Homes\u2014 “a bold approach and unprecedented investments to increase the housing supply.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As reported by Wood Central on Tuesday<\/a>, Build Canada Homes will use federal funding, public land, and regulatory support, alongside private-sector incentives, to establish a CA$13 billion programme to accelerate homebuilding nationwide. The agency will bring \u201call aspects of housing under one roof,\u201d overseeing everything from emergency shelters to supportive and market-rate housing across urban and rural communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"SECOND
In May, Wood Central revealed that Intelligent City, a Vancouver-based company that specialises in producing mass timber housing, is poised to take advantage of a push to use modern methods of construction to help Canada solve its housing crisis. (Photo Credit: Journal of Commerce via Intelligent City)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBuild Canada Homes will transform the way government works with the private sector to build,\u201d Carney said. \u201cWe will create an entirely new housing industry using Canadian technology, Canadian workers, and Canadian resources\u2014and give builders the tools they need to build more, build sustainably, and build at scale.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To streamline delivery, the government will open public lands and remove bureaucratic hurdles, aiming to cut construction timelines by up to 50 per cent and reduce costs by as much as 20 per cent through the use of innovative housing technologies: \u201cBuild Canada Homes will place an intense focus on using cost-efficient and modern methods of construction such as factory-built, modular and mass timber,\u201d Carney said, before adding that it will embrace a Buy Canada policy<\/em>, which prioritises domestically produced lumber, steel and other materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Canadian
The announcement comes after Mark Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau, established policies and rules to drive modular and mass timber construction. Here, the former prime minister tours a construction facility before making a housing announcement in Calgary, Alta., Friday, April 5, 2024. (Photo Credit: The Canadian Press\/Alamy Live News)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For its first build-out, the agency will directly construct 4,000 homes on six federal sites in Dartmouth (NS), Longueuil (QC), Ottawa and Toronto (ON), Winnipeg (MB) and Edmonton (AB). A CA$1.5 billion fund will acquire at-risk rental buildings to preserve affordability, while CA$1 billion is earmarked for transitional and supportive housing for those experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Former Toronto Deputy Mayor Ana Bail\u00e3o will serve as Build Canada Homes\u2019 inaugural CEO, bringing deep expertise in municipal and housing policy to the role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yesterday, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada welcomed the plan and is pushing to be \u201cincluded as an active partner in the development of Build Canada Homes. Architecture and design are essential to its success and to meeting Canada’s climate commitments,” it said. \u201cMore good architects should get involved in social housing,” architect Daniel Libeskind said. \u201cOur government is focused on bringing down housing costs,\u201d Carney said. \u201cCentral to that mission is rapidly scaling up the supply of homes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n