Government of Canada unlocks 14 more federal properties for housing
Oct. 8, 2024
Global Korean Post
–
In Budget 2024 and Solving the Housing Crisis: Canada’s Housing Plan, the federal government announced an ambitious whole-of-government approach to addressing the housing crisis by building more homes, making it easier to rent or own a home, and helping Canadians who cannot afford a home.
A key component of Canada’s Housing Plan is the new Public Lands for Homes Plan. This plan aims to partner with all levels of government, homebuilders and housing providers to build homes, faster, on surplus and underused public lands across the country.
As part of this plan, the Government of Canada is identifying properties within its portfolio that have the potential for housing, and is actively adding them to the Canada Public Land Bank. Wherever possible, the government will turn these properties into housing through a long-term lease, not a one-time sale, to support affordable housing and ensure public land stays public.
Today, Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Public Services and Procurement, joined by Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, and Terry Beech, Minister of Citizens’ Services, announced that 14 new properties have been added to the Canada Public Land Bank.
A total of 70 federal properties have now been identified as being suitable to support housing. This list will continue to grow in the coming months, with further details on listed properties available soon.
As part of the initial launch of the Canada Public Land Bank in August 2024, the Canada Lands Company, in partnership with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, issued a call for proposals for 5 properties located in Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa and Montréal. The call for proposals for the properties in Toronto and Montréal closed on October 1, 2024, and evaluations have begun. The call for proposals for the Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa properties will close on November 1, 2024.
To provide feedback on the land bank and its properties, the Government of Canada launched a call for housing solutions for communities: a secure online platform.
To date, the Government of Canada has already received interest and feedback from provinces, territories and municipalities, as well as developers, housing advocates and Indigenous groups. This information will be used to develop and bring more properties to market starting this fall.
To solve Canada’s housing crisis, the federal government is using every tool at its disposal. The Government of Canada is accelerating its real property disposal process to match the speed of builders and the urgency of getting affordable homes built for Canada.
