Fast-Track or Fail: 6 Ways Canada is Fixing The Housing Crisis

Canada’s housing crisis isn’t just a problem—it’s an emergency. With 3.5 million homes needed by 2031, the gap between what’s being built and what’s required is widening fast. In this episode, we dive deep into six game-changing strategies governments, developers, and communities are using to speed up development proposals and get shovels in the ground—faster.

Ciao! Welcome to a new episode of Building Wealth Through Real Estate...Brick by Brick with me, Nico James-Bock, Founder of The CondoWiz™ Group and Broker at Keller Williams Co-Elevation Realty in Toronto.  

From record rental construction and modular housing innovation to bold housing start targets, tax breaks, and cutting through red tape, we unpack what’s working, what’s stalling, and how Canada can turn approvals into keys in hand. Whether you’re in real estate, construction, or just trying to understand why your dream home feels out of reach, this is the episode you can’t afford to miss.

🎯 Key Topics:

• Why 2025 will see record completions—and why 2029 might not
• CMHC’s ambitious housing start targets
• How prefab homes are slashing build times
• The incentives and tax cuts motivating developers
• How modernized codes can speed approvals without cutting corners

📺 Watch on YouTube -  Fast-Track or Fail

Until the next time,

Ciao ciao

Transcript

Canada's housing crisis isn't just a problem, it's an emergency. With 3.5 million homes needed by 2031, the gap between what's being built and what's required is widening fast. In this episode, we dive deep into six game-changing strategies governments, developers, and communities are using to speed up development proposals and get shovels in the ground faster.

From record rental construction and modular housing innovation to bold housing start targets, tax breaks, and cutting through red tape, we unpack what's working, what's stalling, and how Canada can turn approvals into keys in hand. 

Ciao! Welcome to a new episode of Building Wealth Through Real Estate. I help you build wealth, brick by brick.

I'm Nico James-Bock, and I am the founder of the CondoWiz™ Group and Broker at Keller Williams Co-Elevation Realty in Toronto. 

Here are 6 ways Canada is speeding up housing supply, or at least trying: 

Number 1, Doubling housing starts via federal and CMHC targets.

CMHC projects Canada needs 430,000 to 480,000 new housing starts annually, nearly double the current pace, which is approximately 250,000 per year, to restore affordability to pre-pandemic levels. Ambitious housing start targets means CMHC targets a more than 80% increase in starts. Requires doubling annual output to reach affordability goals.

Number 2, high volume of purpose-built rentals under construction. There are currently nearly 100,000 purpose-built rental units under construction, a multi-decade high. In Ontario and BC alone, about 150,000 condo units are underway.

Number 3, Record-setting completions, especially rentals. So, taking on the previous point, 2025 is on track to set a new high for total completions, especially for purpose-built rentals and new condominium units for sale. New completions in Toronto, roughly 32,000 to 33,000, and Vancouver, 20,000 rentals alone, are easing rental market tightness and slowing rent growth to about 2% year-over-year.

These completions are a result of a record number of starts in 2019, 2020, 2021, when the cost of borrowing was at near zero percent. So, investors, buyers, we're taking advantage of those cheap dollars and investing, buying. So, the record completions that we're seeing in 2025, it feels uncomfortable, it feels sluggish.

But we're going to need those completions as we proceed further into the next years. People are still pouring into the GTHA in Ontario, in other provinces, in Canada as a whole. So, these completions are needed and they will be absorbed.

We are slowly heading into another crisis. 

Number 4, prefabricated modular homes for speed and efficiency. Another way that the government and industry is helping to stave off this or deal with the current crisis is to increase the building of prefabricated modular homes.

Canada's Rapid Housing Initiative, or RHI, backed by CMHC, has deployed modular construction to deliver housing faster. For instance, entire buildings can be erected in days after permits, not months or years. This method accelerates deployment and cuts delays.

Polynomial construction, mass timber, and 3D printing are emerging technologies, technical solutions, supported in policy discussions to boost productivity. 

Number 5, financial incentives and tax breaks for developers, which are sorely, sorely needed. The Federal Build Canada Homes Plan offers several key incentives.

GST cuts for new or substantially renovated homes, especially for first-time buyers. 50% reductions in development charges in high-cost areas like Toronto and Vancouver. These savings are passed on to buyers.

Revival of the MIRB, or Multiple Unit Residential Building. Tax deductions encouraging rental construction. 

Number 6, Provincial and municipal support for Modular Housing.

Ontario has issued comprehensive guidelines for modular construction, while other provinces, such as British Columbia, offer grants up to $500,000 for mass timber projects. Additional federal investments, $6 billion, are tied to modernizing building codes for accessibility, affordability, and climate performance. So, just to give you an overview, housing starts targets output boost from $250,000 to $480,000 a year.

A surge in rental construction, 100,000 units under construction. Record completions, providing rent relief and more supply, will help alleviate some of the problems that we're facing. Pre-fab solutions, faster builds, lower costs.

Developer incentives, reduced cost barriers. Modernized codes for faster approvals and innovation. All of the inventory that we're seeing now in the market is going to be absorbed, and three to four years from now, we're not going to have the record number of completions.

We have stalled in housing starts. So, 2024 and 2025, there are fewer housing starts. That means fewer units will be available when they're needed three to four years.

That's going to drive prices upwards of multi-unit residential properties. So, the tide is turning. It doesn't feel that way, I know.

But the tide is turning, and we need to be prepared for what's coming. And hopefully, if we can't build our way out of this crisis, we can at least start to build smarter, faster, and together. If we fast-track approvals and embrace innovation, Canada can meet the challenge.

That wraps up another insightful episode of helping you build wealth through real estate, brick by brick. Remember, information is power, especially when it comes to your financial future in real estate. Let's hope that various levels of government, from federal, provincial, municipal, hope they follow through on their plans and initiatives.

If you found this information useful, then like this podcast, leave a comment, and please share this episode with anyone who may find the content useful. 

Ciao ciao!