New initiatives under Budget 2024 aim to transform surplus government properties into homes
Canada’s federal government has released a detailed strategy to build more affordable homes on surplus, underused, and vacant public land across the country.
The new measures, included within Budget 2024 and Canada's housing plan, aim to make more land available by converting underused public properties and acquiring new lands. It will prioritize leasing public lands for affordable housing projects rather than outright selling.
“Right now, governments across Canada are sitting on surplus, underused, and vacant public lands, like empty office towers or low-rise buildings that could be built on,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement released Wednesday. “By unlocking more public lands for housing, we can lower construction costs and build more homes, faster, at prices Canadians can afford.”
Specifically, the government plans to build homes on properties owned by Canada Post and the National Defence, which possess large tracts of underused land across the country. It is also looking to convert underutilized office buildings into housing, including affordable rental units and student accommodations in urban areas.
Budget 2024 has allocated $500 million for a public lands acquisition fund, $117 million to unlock federal lands for affordable housing providers, $20 million to accelerate administrative processes, and $15 million to develop a public land bank and an interactive geospatial mapping tool to plan the use of public lands better.
The government will also introduce legislation specifically designed to facilitate the acquisition and deployment of public lands for affordable housing projects, working closely with other levels of government.
"Our mission is to build more homes and ensure they're affordable, and it's a crucial element of Budget 2024," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. The government aims to unlock the potential for 3.87 million new homes across the country by 2031, with a target of 250,000 homes through this new initiative alone.
Acknowledging the scale of the challenge, finance minister Chrystia Freeland said, "Our plan is about fairness for every generation. We are turbocharging the construction of more homes and making housing more affordable for everyone."
The government also intended to leverage low-cost federal financing programs, including the new Canada Builds initiative, to encourage provinces and territories to unlock their own public lands for housing development.
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"Public lands can help play a major role in building more homes faster and making housing more affordable,” said Jean-Yves Duclos, minister of public services and procurement. “With Budget 2024, we are accelerating the process of converting surplus federal properties into housing and enabling the construction of additional housing units. In doing so, we will restore the promise of Canada, where every generation can afford a place to call home."
"In order to overcome the housing crisis, we need to work with partners across the country. And by unlocking public lands, we will do just that – to help build more homes for Canadians at prices they can afford," said Sean Fraser, minister of housing, infrastructure and communities.
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