Government of Canada lists federal lands for housing and new tool for builders

Efforts also underway for call for proposals for housing in multiple cities

August 25, 2024 – Dartmouth, Nova Scotia – Public Services and Procurement Canada

Canada is facing a housing crisis that is impacting lives and communities across the country. We need to build more homes, faster, to get Canadians into homes that meet their needs, at prices they can afford.

To support this, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Public Services and Procurement, and the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, announced 5 federal properties that are available for housing, along with a new tool for builders called the Canada Public Land Bank, the first steps under the new Public Lands for Homes Plan.

Starting today, we are launching the Canada Public Land Bank, which features 56 federal properties that have been identified as being able to support housing, including 5 new properties now intended for leasing and ready for builders to submit their plans. This new list will grow regularly in the coming months, along with further details on listed properties.

Under the new plan, we will partner with the housing sector and communities to build homes on every site suitable for housing across the federal portfolio. Wherever possible, we will do it with a novel long-term lease, not a one-time sale, to ensure every site has affordable housing and public land stays public.

To provide feedback on the land bank and its properties, the Government of Canada is launching a call for housing solutions for communities: a secure online platform. Input provided will inform the development of these properties, including engaging the broader interest of Indigenous Peoples and organizations, community organizations, builders, and other partners and housing providers.

Canada Lands Company is an essential actor in the development of federal lands. As per Budget 2024, the government will evolve and adapt the mandate of Canada Lands Company to allow the organization to deliver housing solutions more quickly under the new Public Lands for Homes Plan.

Canada Lands Company, in partnership with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, has launched a call for proposals from housing providers to access some of the Canada Public Land Bank properties available in Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa and Montréal on a long-term leasing basis at a discounted value. The detailed proposal information can be accessed through links directly in the property listings in the land bank.

Additionally, the Government of Canada is accelerating its real property disposal process to match the speed of builders and the urgency of getting affordable homes built for Canada. Public Services and Procurement Canada will adopt service standards to deliver these properties to interested partners for the purposes of housing. New measures will continue to be announced under the Public Lands for Homes Plan in the coming months.