Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government is earmarking tens of billions of dollars to reduce homelessness and expand the country’s social housing stock, and says it will loosen the foreign buyer ban to allow new home purchases.
By Nojoud Al Mallees
(Bloomberg) — Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government is earmarking tens of billions of dollars to reduce homelessness and expand the country’s social housing stock, and says it will loosen the foreign buyer ban to allow new home purchases.
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne presented the federal budget on Thursday, which includes $45 billion for a suite of housing measures over 10 years and a goal of ending homelessness in a decade.
At the same time, the government is extending its foreign buyer ban for two years for existing homes, but creating a carveout for new builds.
“This would help protect housing affordability by keeping the vast majority of the market available for Canadians, while unlocking additional investment in new housing supply,” the government said in its budget document.
Immigration restrictions and weaker economic conditions have slowed down Canada’s housing market and improved affordability over the last couple of years. However, communities are struggling with larger unsheltered populations since the COVID-19 pandemic, with advocates calling on all levels of government to work on expanding social housing stock.
Homelessness focus
The spending plan dedicates new funding for homelessness, confirming an earlier report by Bloomberg News. It allocates $11.2 billion over the next four years to build supportive and transitional housing, as well as address mental health and addictions.
The government says the new funding will help put the country on a path to ending homelessness in 10 years.
But it stressed that provinces and territories will also have to contribute, including funding the operational costs of supportive housing, which typically offer wraparound services such as mental-health care and employment counselling.
Carolyn Whitzman, a University of Toronto housing policy expert, said she’s happy to see the government’s approach to homelessness focus on housing first.
“The evidence is that homelessness is primarily caused by loss of affordable housing and thus the best solution for homelessness is low-cost housing with supports if needed,” she said in an interview.
Build Canada Homes, a Crown corporation Carney launched in 2025 to spur non-market housing construction, will also receive an additional $13 billion. With $45 billion in total capitalization, the government says the organization will be on track to build 200,000 new homes over a decade.
“Budget 2026 charts a new course to triple the pace of non-market housing starts in Canada to 24,000 non-market housing starts each year over the next decade,” the document says.
Other funding will go toward renewing a rental assistance benefit for low-income individuals, as well as funding infrastructure that would support homebuilding on federal lands.
Immigration plan unchanged
After some speculation on whether the federal government would increase immigration levels, it opted to keep targets steady over the next three years. It intends to welcome 370,000 temporary residents and 380,000 permanent residents each year through 2029.
The budget says the government will also reform the temporary foreign worker program to align it with labour market needs, but provided no additional details.
Speaking to reporters, Champagne said the federal government wants to work with provinces to make the program responsive to local employer needs without putting pressure on areas with higher unemployment rates.
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Last modified: November 5, 2026
