Think tank warns Ottawa’s new housing agency may repeat past government failures
Fraser Institute analysts have criticized the federal government’s new Build Canada Homes (BCH) initiative, arguing that Ottawa’s track record in real estate management raises serious doubts about its ability to deliver on ambitious housing promises.
Their comments appeared in a recent Financial Post op-ed, where they warned that “if the federal government cannot efficiently downsize its own office footprint—despite ample funding and years of effort—how can it credibly promise to deliver complex housing projects?”
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s administration recently announced the launch of BCH, a federal agency tasked with building 4,000 factory-built homes at an initial cost of $13 billion. The move comes as Canadians grapple with an affordability crisis that has put homeownership out of reach for many.
Yet, as the Fraser Institute analysts pointed out, “Ottawa cannot efficiently downsize its own office footprint despite ample funding and years of effort. That record hardly inspires confidence in its promise to deliver complex housing projects across the country.”
Federal real estate record under scrutiny
The federal government’s real estate management has long been a source of concern. In 2017, Ottawa admitted that half its office space was underused, but it took until 2019 to develop a plan to sell off surplus properties. By 2023, the office footprint had only shrunk marginally—from 6.0 million to 5.9 million square metres.
In 2024, the government pledged $1.1 billion over 10 years to accelerate the sale of underused properties, aiming to save taxpayers $3.9 billion in the first decade. However, the original goal of a 50% reduction by 2034 has already been scaled back to just 33 per cent, according to government projections.
An auditor general report released in 2025 found that the government “lacks even basic data on its own real estate portfolio, routinely misses internal targets for consolidation, and continues to rely on a lengthy process that takes six to eight years to offload surplus buildings.”
The report also flagged poor cooperation between departments and a lack of financial incentives for space reduction, with nearly half of the largest departments refusing to sign space-reduction agreements.
Questions over Build Canada Homes’ execution
The Fraser Institute analysts cautioned that BCH is likely to face similar pitfalls, including “poor coordination across the government, competing political priorities, and no real pressure to deliver.”
The agency’s mandate to build affordable homes using Canadian-made and climate-friendly materials could further complicate efforts, they said: “If a product requires a government mandate to be used, it’s not the most cost-effective option.”
With $3.5 billion a year in taxpayer funding and no clear benchmarks for success, the analysts questioned whether BCH spending would “simply compete with private-sector development rather than add greatly to the overall stock of houses.”
They warned that if the agency underperforms, “Canadians could be left with few new homes and a considerable bill.”
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