“I move that we spend no more than five more hours debating this housing bill, and then vote on it.”

“moved: That in relation to Bill C-20, an act respecting the establishment of Build Canada Homes, not more than five further hours shall be allotted to the consideration at the third reading stage of the said bill; and That, at the expiry of the five hours provided for consideration at the third reading stage of the said bill, any proceedings before the House shall be interrupted, if required for the purpose of this order, and in turn every question necessary for the disposal of the said stage of the bill then under consideration shall be put forthwith and successively without further debate or amendment.”

“Canada is in a housing crisis. Too many people cannot find an affordable home, and some have no home at all. We need this new agency to build affordable, non-market housing.”

“Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, we are in a housing crisis in Canada. Affordability is a challenge for too many Canadians: finding an affordable place to live, finding a place to live at all for those who are at risk or are homeless currently. We need to take action here. This is a dedicated agency for affordable housing, for non-market housing, the supply of which is short in Canada compared to our peer countries in Europe, where there is several times more non-market housing. We need an agency that is dedicated to that. We are in a crisis. That is why it is urgent that we have this agency created as a Crown corporation with the powers and accountability that enables, ensuring that we are taking action and delivering results as the Government of Canada, partnering with provinces, territories, cities and indigenous governments, and ensuring that we are delivering the affordable housing Canada needs.”

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“The housing crisis has lasted for decades because past governments did not build enough affordable homes. We need federal and provincial money to build non-market housing. This bill will help us build affordable homes faster and bring in private money to help pay for them.”

“Madam Speaker, the housing crisis has been decades in the making. It goes back to the federal government not taking enough action to build affordable housing and non-market housing. It goes back at least to the nineties, and arguably before that. Governments of all stripes take responsibility; governments at all levels or orders across Canada as well. Certainly, there are challenges at the local level. I served at the local level. There are challenges in approving enough, approving fast enough and approving a balanced mix with non-market. Non-market housing needs the support of provincial and federal governments. There has to be investment in that. Build Canada Homes is an excellent vehicle to fast-track, and attract private capital to, non-market housing and the affordable housing spectrum.”

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“Building homes costs more in the north and remote areas. We are working with Quebec and Nunavut to build hundreds of homes there. We are also supporting factory-built homes to help lower those construction costs.”

“Madam Speaker, costs do vary significantly across the country, certainly in the member opposite’s riding and in the territories. The good news is that we have agreements now with Quebec to build, with Build Canada Homes, hundreds and hundreds of homes throughout Quebec in partnership with Quebec. As well, there are examples in Nunavut: 750 homes with the territorial Government of Nunavut and with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the housing corporation in Nunavut that is Inuit-controlled. We have opportunities to build with provinces and territories where the cost is significantly higher. This affords an opportunity also to empower the manufacturing industry and get components of housing or volumetric housing to those remote territories and provinces. We see manufacturers now starting to set up in many parts of Canada to bring more efficiency to the farther regions out and bring those costs down as well.”

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“Conservatives do not support this housing bill, but we need it. Can the minister explain more about how we will work with provinces like Quebec, and how this bill holds people accountable?”

“Madam Speaker, I am sure the minister would agree that it is critically important that we work collaboratively with other jurisdictions, whether it is provinces, indigenous people or other stakeholders. It is very clear that the Conservatives made the decision long ago that they do not support Bill C‑20. If it was up to the Conservative Party, Bill C‑20 would never, ever pass. That is why I appreciate what the Minister of Housing is doing today. Given the importance of collaboration, I wonder if he can expand upon that point. He made reference to the province of Quebec and the benefits of collaboration. Could the minister just expand on that and provide some comments on accountability within the legislation also?”

“Provinces, territories, and cities are already working with our new housing agency to build thousands of affordable homes. We have agreements across the country, and private businesses want to work with us too.”

“Madam Speaker, to the point of collaboration, we have seen fantastic uptake from provinces and territories. I mentioned Quebec moments ago and Nunavut. We have a partnership with B.C. to build 1,100 new affordable homes and 700 of those are supportive and transitional homes for those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Both Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are in partnership with Build Canada Homes for more than 1,000 homes. Right out of the gate, we have agreements with provinces and territories; Yukon and Nunavut are examples, as are Ontario and Quebec. We have opportunities to build in every province and territory right now, and existing agreements are in place. That speaks to that collaboration. I think we are seeing the interest and the uptake. It is not only from different levels of government, like the City of Ottawa, but also from the private sector.”

“I want the member to come talk to me in person. I am ready to work with anyone to get more housing built across Canada.”

“Madam Speaker, I would ask the member to walk across the floor. I would be happy for him to come over and talk. We are here in Ottawa all the time. If he wants to be more bureaucratic and send emails, there is that, but I am here. I am here to talk about this. We are here to get housing built. That is the goal. I have certainly been approached and had conversations with many members on both sides of the House. I am certainly willing to focus on getting housing built in all the communities across Canada.”

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“Shipping materials to remote areas is expensive, and Build Canada Homes must plan for that. Shipping ready-made home parts cuts down on wasted materials that end up in landfills. We should also hire local workers to put these homes together.”

“Madam Speaker, there are challenging costs related to shipping anything to remote regions of Canada, and that is factored into the cost. Build Canada Homes has to factor that in when it is putting together these partnerships with provinces and territories, or with community builders in various regions around the country. The benefit of shipping manufactured components or volumetric homes is that is all that is being shipped: We are not shipping extra materials that are cut off and then turned into waste. Construction waste is the number one source of waste in solid waste landfills. We need to reduce the amount of waste in the industry, and we can do that with shipping. We have to factor in that cost. Ideally, we need to employ as many local people as we can for the assembly or installation of these homes.”

“Conservative members asked for housing money even though their leader told them not to. Our government made a deal with New Brunswick to build up to 1,500 homes. I want the minister to tell us more about that agreement.”

“Madam Speaker, I find it very funny that one member of the Conservative Party was talking about sending emails to the minister when his leader was asking the members of the Conservative Party not to send letters of support for projects under the housing accelerator fund. Can members imagine that? We welcomed the minister in New Brunswick a couple of months ago for a wonderful announcement, a $300‑million agreement with New Brunswick to be able to build up to 1,500 N.B. homes. Can the minister elaborate a bit more on this wonderful agreement we signed with New Brunswick? There are actually announcements happening right now across New Brunswick about some of those projects.”

“New Brunswick is already using modern ways to build homes. Many companies there are building houses and house parts.”

“Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his leadership in New Brunswick. The province of New Brunswick certainly has been an early adopter of manufacturing and modern methods of construction. There are many companies now set up in New Brunswick producing homes or components of homes. Some hon. members: Oh, oh!”

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“New Brunswick is doing a great job building 1,500 homes with our new housing program. It is also leading the way in factory-built housing parts. Other provinces and territories should copy its model to build more homes in both small towns and cities.”

“Madam Speaker, we see great leadership from New Brunswick, not only with respect to the 1,500 homes that are now in the works, between Build Canada Homes and New Brunswick, but also on the manufacturing side. It is one of the leading provinces in manufacturing homes and components of buildings and homes. That is where we see the future. Certainly, New Brunswick can produce for other Atlantic provinces as well, and ship within the region, but we are seeing that opportunity with manufacturing emerging in many other parts of the country. We are also seeing opportunities, like with New Brunswick’s model, where there are a lot of smaller projects in rural communities in New Brunswick that are being coordinated by New Brunswick as a province, the housing minister and his team. That is a fantastic model for getting a lot of different types of projects, small, medium and large, built across the province. We hope to see that in many other provinces and territories.”

“We are not building affordable homes fast enough. We need this new government agency to help companies and other levels of government build them faster.”

“Madam Speaker, as the member said, we are not building affordable homes fast enough. That is why we need to have Build Canada Homes as a Crown corporation, with all of the tools, financial instruments and accountability to make sure we can build faster from the federal side. We need to have these partnerships in place. We need to make it easier for the private sector to build. We need to make sure it is faster for the cities, provinces, territories and indigenous governments to get housing built. We need to be an enabler or a catalyst. We certainly rely primarily on the private sector to do the actual construction and building. All levels of government need to be coordinated to make sure it is easier and faster to get affordable housing built.”

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