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Key Issues

  1. Public accounts
  2. HICC Comprehensive Expenditure Review
  3. OAG Report - Current and Future Use of Federal Office Space
  4. Progress on Chronic Homelessness
  5. PBO Report on Build Canada Homes

Public Accounts

Issue / question

The Department of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities’ information in the Public Accounts 2025.

Suggested response

  • The 2025 Public Accounts for the Department of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities must be read together with those of the Office of Infrastructure Canada (INFC) to gain a complete understanding of the results. Total lapse in authorities was $489.1 million for 2025 compared to $2.3 billion in 2024 under INFC.
    • On June 20, 2024, with the passing of Bill C-59, Infrastructure Canada became the Department of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, explaining the dual reporting in the public accounts.
  • Over 90% of the lapse in authorities for 2025 is attributable to Grants and Contributions. This is normal due to the volatility of infrastructure spending. The department seeks approval to reprofile the funds to future years to ensure the funding is available when needed.
  • In 2025, total expenditures of $5.3 billion ($4.9 billion in 2024) are primarily attributable to spending in the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program ($2.5 billion), the New Building Canada Fund Provincial-Territorial Infrastructure Component National Regional Projects ($717.3 million) and Reaching Home: Canada’s Homelessness Strategy ($713.8 million).

Background

  • On June 20, 2024, following the Royal Assent of Bill C-59 and pursuant to Division 11 of Part 5 of the bill, the Department of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Act was enacted.
    • As a result, all of Infrastructure Canada’s operations including the stewardship responsibility for the assets and liabilities were transferred to Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (HICC).
  • Several factors can contribute to lapses on a project-by-project basis; including the uncertainty of Canadian construction seasons, the complexity inherent to multi-million dollar procurement, labour shortages and supply chain delays which limit the span of control that the federal government has.
    • Recipients can begin incurring eligible costs once a project is approved, but funding only flows once funding agreements are signed, and recipients submit their claims, often well after construction is underway.
  • The department is tracking two contingent liabilities, which have not been reported in the Public Accounts as they do not meet the Receiver General reporting threshold. However, we understand that the impacts can be substantial if they materialize.
    • Signature on the Saint Lawrence Group, Montréal-based SNC-Lavalin and its consortium partners, acting as the Signature on the Saint Lawrence Group, filed a lawsuit on October 8, 2021, in Montréal seeking $378.7 million in compensation.
    • Ambassador Bridge, the ownership group of the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor and Detroit filed multiple lawsuits against the project. The amount and likelihood are both unknown, as a result it is not disclosed in the Public Accounts.
  • The department has implemented numerous new programs, but none with terms and conditions not previously encountered by the department. One unusual accounting transaction for the acquisition of the Pont du Québec did take place.
    • HICC played an intermediary role in the acquisition of the Pont du Québec. In order to comply with Deed of Assignment and Servitudes HICC carried out a symbolic acquisition transaction for $1 plus another $1 for future options to acquire land surrounding the bridge. It was subsequently immediately transferred to The Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Incorporated that holds control over the bridge. HICC had no controlling interest and therefore did not include the acquisition in its tangible assets as per accounting principles and standards.
    • HICC is required to record income from Canadian National Railway and Ministère des Transports et de la Mobilité, which subsequently was transferred to the Receiver General with no re-spendable authority.

HICC Comprehensive Expenditure Review

Issue / question

What are the savings for the Department of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities as part of the Budget 2025 Comprehensive Expenditure Review?

Suggested response

  • Under the Budget 2025 Comprehensive Expenditure Review, the Department of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities will realize $2.9 billion in savings over four years and $815 million ongoing.
  • Savings are being achieved through operating efficiencies and a combination of program reductions and sunsetting programs, including the Supporting Climate Resilient Initiative, housing infrastructure programs, legacy infrastructure programs and public transit.
  • The Build Communities Strong Fund announced in Budget 2025 will help ensure continuity of key infrastructure priorities within a streamlined approach.
  • In terms of workforce implications, spending reductions will involve a decrease of approximately 190 full-time equivalents by 2028-29. This includes a reduction of nearly 30% on the executive complement as the department streamlines delivery and support of its programs.

Background

  • The Government of Canada launched a Comprehensive Expenditure Review to ensure spending is responsible, cost-effective and delivers results for Canadians. Budget 2025 commits to reduce inefficiency and focus on core priorities by investing more in the workers, businesses, and nation-building infrastructure that will build Canada Strong; saving $13 billion annually by 2028-29, for a total with other savings and revenues of $60 million over five years.
  • Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (HICC) undertook a thorough review of its programs and spending, giving due consideration to all credible evidence at its disposal, to identify where there could be duplication, lower value for money, or programs and processes that are not maximizing outcomes for Canadians.

HICC’s reductions represent $2.9 billion over four years and $815 million ongoing.

  • Savings ramp up as follows:
    • 2026-27: $488,708,832
    • 2027-28: $648,795,886
    • 2028-29: $972,041,066
    • 2029-30: $815,426,906
  • To create Operating savings, HICC is realigning current program delivery and support functions and implementing horizontal efficiency initiatives to streamline management and operations.
  • The G&C savings are being achieved through a combination of sunsetting legacy programs, such as the Build Canada Fund, the Canada Strategic Infrastructure Fund, and the Green Infrastructure Fund, as well as funding reductions to three programs and initiatives: the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund, the Canada Public Transit Fund, and the Supporting Climate Resilient Infrastructure Initiative.
  • The Build Communities Strong Fund announced in Budget 2025 will help ensure continuity of key infrastructure priorities within a streamlined approach.

HICC Implementation Key Messages

  • Impacted executives and employees have been notified, and workforce transition measures are underway. HICC Senior Management continues to be committed toward timely implementation, focusing on clear and transparent communication with its workforce.
  • Careful workforce planning and staffing oversight measures are in place to help the department achieve long-term sustainability.
  • A review of the organizational structure has been undertaken to drive efficiency and focus efforts toward launching the Build Communities Strong Fund to invest in a growing Canadian economy.
  • Engagement and consultations with stakeholders are underway with:
    • Provinces, Territories and other levels of government to inform on impacts on programs and ensure planning is done accordingly.
    • Unions to consult on workforce measures as appropriate.

Workforce Adjustment Implications

  • Overall, spending reductions involve a decrease of approximately 190 full-time equivalents by 2028-29.
  • Included is a reduction of nearly 30% on the executive complement.
  • To minimize the impact of workforce adjustments on indeterminate employees, earlier this fiscal year the department initiated workforce planning measures, tightened hiring controls, and reduced backfilling of departures.
  • As a result of these measures, there are now 81 indeterminate employees and 38 term employees remaining to be reduced to achieve full savings.

ERRATUM

In the OAG Report - Current and Future use of Federal Office Space note, a typographical error has been corrected in the background section as follows:

  • "For example, the BCH has a clear focus on targeting income-based affordability..." should read "For example, BCH has a clear focus on targeting income-based affordability..."

The English HTML version of the note has been corrected.

OAG Report - Current and Future Use of Federal Office Space

Issue / question

Progress update on Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada’s response to the 2025 Auditor General Report 3, Current and Future use of Federal Office Space.

Suggested response

  • In September 2025, Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada’s Departmental Action Plan was submitted to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts in response to the Auditor General’s 2025 Report on Current and Future use of Federal Office Space. The Action Plan confirmed that the department agrees with the Federal Lands Initiative (FLI) recommendations in the report.
  • The federal government is investing over $318 million through the FLI to turn unused public properties into affordable housing. As the Auditor General’s report noted, the government is on track to meet its target for housing units committed and meet program requirements for energy efficiency and accessibility.
  • In addition, the government is committed to improving FLI reporting for greater clarity and exploring measures to support greater housing affordability.

Background

  • On June 10, 2025, the Office of the Auditor General of Canada (OAG) tabled an audit report titled Current and Future Use of Federal Office Space. The report included recommendations for Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS), Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (HICC).
  • The report examined whether 1) TBS and PSPC managed the government’s general-purpose office portfolio to provide adequate space for the public service while minimizing costs to Canadians; and, 2) CMHC, with the support of HICC, managed the Federal Lands Initiative (FLI) in a manner that enables it to achieve its aims under Canada’s National Housing Strategy.
  • The report concluded that while the FLI was on track to meet its target for housing units committed and its program requirements for energy efficiency and accessibility, there were still areas for improvement. To this end, the report recommended HICC and CMHC take action to:
    • Accurately report on all stages of housing units, from committed to built and ready to occupy. This includes clarifying projects with joint agreements and those that are delayed or in default; and
    • Collaborate to review the FLI's tools and measures to ensure they align with the goal of greater affordability. This includes considering an income-based affordability measure instead of a market-based one, as well as explore new avenues with partners to attract applicants who can provide a greater variety of housing types.
  • Since September 2025, when HICC submitted its Departmental Action Plan to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, indicating agreement with the audit recommendations relevant to FLI:
    • The National Housing Strategy quarterly report improved the clarity of its reporting related to the stages of housing development, including progress on units committed, under development, and built; and
    • HICC and CMHC have explored operational measures to better meet the FLI's goals and target the remaining uncommitted funding toward communities with the highest needs. These ongoing activities are slated for completion by March 31, 2026.
  • In addition, the audit report’s recommendations have been taken into consideration in the development of Build Canada Homes (BCH), as it relates to clearer outcomes reporting and better supporting those in greatest need. For example, BCH has a clear focus on targeting income-based affordability, including deeply affordable housing where costs are less than 30% of a household’s income.

Progress on Chronic Homelessness

Issue / question

Since the November 2023 Report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, what progress has the Government of Canada made in addressing chronic homelessness?

Suggested response

  • The Government of Canada is taking a leadership role in preventing and reducing homelessness, including chronic homelessness. In 2023-24 and 2024-25, Reaching Home assisted more than 40,000 people in attaining more stable housing.
  • Through Reaching Home, the government is investing $5 billion to support coordinated, evidence-based community responses to help them address their local homelessness needs.
  • In 2024-25, the Veteran Homelessness Program delivered wraparound supports to more than 1,400 Veterans. The program, which is committed to preventing and reducing Veteran homelessness across Canada, also delivered rent supplements to 200 Veterans.
  • The Government of Canada has launched Build Canada Homes, which will deploy $1 billion for supportive and transitional housing for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, further bolstering the federal response to chronic homelessness.

Background

  • Chronic homelessness is persistent or long-term homelessness where people have been homeless for at least 180 days at some point over the course of a year (not necessarily consecutive days); and/or had recurrent episodes of homelessness over three years that total at least 18 months.
  • In November 2023, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts released its “Report 31 - Chronic Homelessness” which called on Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (then Infrastructure Canada) and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, to increase coordinated efforts to support communities in addressing chronic homelessness and continue to develop and implement data reporting tools.
  • Results from the fourth nationally-coordinated Point-in-Time Count of homelessness in 2024 show that nearly 60,000 people are experiencing homelessness on a given night across Canada. Among communities that had also conducted Counts in 2020‑22, the rate of chronic homelessness among survey respondents was similar (71% in 2020-22 and 74% in 2024).
  • The estimated number of chronically homeless shelter users remained relatively stable from 2017 (28,900) to 2021 (28,631) but has steadily increased since 2022. In 2024, an estimated 36,058 shelter users experienced chronic homelessness.
  • Since April 2019, Reaching Home has delivered $1.16 billion to support 3,524 projects that include people experiencing chronic homelessness as a target population.
  • In the program’s first six years, over 202,000 people have benefited from core prevention services. 87% (of individuals contacted) remained housed three months after having received prevention/diversion services. During the same period, Reaching Home has also assisted over 112,000 people in attaining more stable housing.
  • In order to improve the availability of data on chronic homelessness at the local and national levels, Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada has been working with communities to develop timely, high-quality data on homelessness. As a result of these efforts, the department launched the National Homelessness Indicators web page in 2025, which tracks monthly trends in key homelessness indicators, including chronic homelessness, reported by a growing number of communities with quality data.

PBO Report on Build Canada Homes

Issue / question

What is your response to the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s recent report on Build Canada Homes?

Suggested response

  • Build Canada Homes (BCH) is not a program. It is a completely different way to build affordable housing for Canadians.
  • By combining flexible financial tools, including low-interest loans, equity investments, contributions and guarantees, land access and development expertise under one roof, BCH will make large-scale, mixed-market developments financially viable, attract private capital and safeguard long-term affordability.
  • BCH will act as a catalyst for an entirely new housing industry, something that sets it apart from anything done previously.
  • While BCH will leverage federal lands for affordable housing, it will also attract funding from other governments, non-profits, industry, and investors.
  • The PBO report recognizes that BCH will support a unit count several times greater than 26,000, when funding from partners is taken into account.

Background

  • The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) released a report titled “Build Canada Homes and the Outlook for Housing Programs under Budget 2025” on December 2, 2025.
  • In its report, the PBO estimates that the causal impact of Build Canada Homes (BCH) investments is nearly 26,000 units over five years (e.g. how many units are built that would not have been built in some other way if BCH were not involved), 13,000 of which will be affordable to low-income households.
    • This is based solely on the impact of BCH funding, omitting the role of its funding partners (e.g. other orders of government, private investors).
    • It is calculated by dividing BCH ’s total funding by an estimate of total per unit costs. A slightly different approach is taken for each stream:
      • Financing: Accrual ($5.4 billion) divided Affordable Housing Fund (AHF) (2017-present) per unit cost ($388,091)
      • Developer function: Cash ($3.1 billion) divided AHF (2017-present) total per unit cost ($388,091)
      • Supportive and transitional: Accrual ($1 billion) divided by federal contribution under Rapid Housing initiative ($272,579)
  • Taking into account the role of funding partners, the PBO estimates that BCH ’s financing function would generate nearly 87,000 units. The developer function and funding for supportive and transitional housing would generate even more units.
    • This figure is calculated by assuming BCH financing represents 16% of total unit costs because on average Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) contributions were 16% of project costs under the AHF.
  • The PBO’s methodology is based on data from the AHF. BCH seeks to take a different approach from CMHC in its financing, and may generate different results.
    • BCH will partner with private sector developers, other orders of government and Indigenous partners on mixed-market housing developments that combine affordable rental with market units. This approach will help unlock new sources of private capital and create more housing supply.
  • By leveraging factory-built construction, BCH will drive efficiency on its own projects, and catalyze the adoption of modern methods of construction and innovative technology in the housing sector. This approach will generate long-term and predictable demand that creates jobs and provides certainty to manufacturers to scale up production, allowing the entire housing sector to deliver new homes faster and cheaper to Canadians.
  • The PBO report estimates that federal spending on housing programs is set to decline 56% from $9.8 billion in 2025-26 to $4.3 billion in 2028-29 across all programs (BCH, CMHC, Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada, Indigenous Services Canada and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada). The decline is primarily due to cuts and sunsetting of programs from the existing National Housing Strategy.
    • Launched in 2017, the National Housing Strategy is a 10-year, $115+ billion plan to give more people in Canada a place to call home. Many investments under the Strategy are set to expire in 2028.
    • The PBO report does not factor in possible top-up or renewal of existing programs or new programs that may be developed.
  • BCH is part of a broader set of measures by the federal government to double the rate of housing construction, restore affordability and reduce homelessness. These include:
    • Removing local barriers to new supply through programs like the Housing Accelerator Fund;
    • Reducing development charges;
    • Funding essential infrastructure through programs like the Canadian Housing Infrastructure Fund, Canada Community-Building Fund, Canada Public Transit Fund and the new Build Communities Strong Fund;
    • Introducing tax incentives for purpose-built rental construction; and
    • Strengthening Canada’s housing system through existing programs such as the Apartment Construction Loan Program and Mortgage Loan Insurance products delivered by CMHC.

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