An announcement by Prime Minister Mark Carney and Premier David Eby provided general information on concepts to increase the supply of affordable homes and deliver housing-enabling infrastructure funding, but few details were shared. Speaking in Vancouver, the Prime Minister stated the intention of the government to “leverage innovative financing tools from Build Canada Homes to convert thousands of vacant condos into affordable homes.” The announcement also provided high level concepts of a ‘housing enabling’ funding stream from the Build Canada Strong Fund (BCSF).
Speaking with the Vancouver Sun, UBCM president Cori Ramsay said while it is possible that the purchase of condo units could add to the supply of affordable housing, more details would need to be provided to evaluate the initiative. Ramsay also asked why the funds were not used to restore the funding clawed back from the Province’s Community Housing Fund in the last budget.
UBCM has been in communication with provincial staff on initial concepts for a housing enabling infrastructure program. The following provides context, details and questions for clarification in relation to last week’s announcement.
Background
The BCSF is a federal program that promises to deliver $51 billion over 10 years, under three funding streams:
- Federal Direct Delivery Stream ($6B across Canada)
- Provincial & Territorial (bipartite agreement) Stream ($2.2B for BC)
- A healthcare sub-stream ($600M for BC)
- A housing-enabling sub-stream ($3.2B for BC)
- Transit infrastructure
- Post-secondary infrastructure
- Local government infrastructure
- Community Stream ($27.8B across Canada)
- Formally the Canada Community-Building Fund which continues to be administrated by UBCM.
Analysis of recent announcement
The June 18, 2026 announcement was focused on BC’s allocation of the Provincial & Territorial (P/T) Stream with additional announcements outside of the P/T Stream.
The housing-enabling stream includes transit, post-secondary and local government infrastructure. At this time, there is no bipartite agreement signed between the parties and the Province has not determined the allocation of the $3.2B between the three sub-streams.
The local government infrastructure sub-stream will require regional DCC reductions focused on the Metro Vancouver and Capital regions. It appears that the DCC reduction requirement will range between 30-50% and will be in place for three years, targeted to multi-unit residential buildings. Regional districts and municipal reductions will not be linked and will not create a dependency between the two local governments with respect to the program.
The other funding announcements outside of the P/T Stream are:
- $50M Coastal Community infrastructure – a new concept from the federal government with an unspecified funding source.
- $284M a one-time transfer from the federal government to each province and territory to reduce barriers to new construction.
- $2.5B Transit – represents the current Canada Public Transit Fund regional agreement and a federal contribution to the Surrey Langley Skytrain project.
- $200M (shared 50/50 by Canada and BC) for Tumbler Ridge
Based on the information provided in the June 18, 2026 announcement and additional information provided by Ministry of Housing & Municipal Affairs staff, the P/T Stream does not appear to align with UBCM’s infrastructure advocacy asks. Specifically, it is unclear if the proposed funding will have a net positive impact on those local governments that will require a DCC reduction. However, until more details are provided, that determination cannot be made.
Questions for consideration
As local governments await further details on the housing enabling stream, UBCM will continue to engage with Provincial staff to explore questions of program design.
Key among these questions are what overall amount will be made available for local government infrastructure and how the Province will ensure that local governments will be made financially whole in light of the stated aim to reduce DCCs. UBCM is also asking what, if any, additional program requirements and/or criteria will be included within an agreement or funding program guide.
We will continue to monitor the development of both initiatives and will provide an update when more information is available.