On October 30, Build Canada Homes put land on the market for the first time. The federal housing agency released its first "Housing Development Opportunities": 13 development-ready parcels in Calgary, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Ottawa, meant to support about 1,725 homes, at least 300 of them affordable.[1] Depending on the site, qualified developers, non-profits and Indigenous partners may be able to buy, lease or partner on the land. More releases are promised starting in November.[1]

It is a small step in numbers. In structure it matters more. Until now, the agency's own sites were run as direct builds, where it hires design-builders. This is the first time it has offered parcels to outside proponents to develop themselves. Just over a year after launch, it is a good moment to review what the agency has done, what it is and isn't, and why none of it has reached southwestern Ontario yet.

The timeline so far

September 14, 2025: launch. Ottawa announced the agency with an initial $13 billion and named former Toronto deputy mayor Ana Bailão as CEO. Canada Lands Company was to move under it, which gives the agency access to 88 federal properties listed as suitable for housing. The first commitments were six "direct-build" sites for 4,000 factory-built homes (with possible capacity of up to 45,000 across the portfolio), a $1.5 billion Canada Rental Protection Fund and $1 billion for supportive and transitional housing.[2]

November 2025: the rulebook. The Investment Policy Framework set five priorities: construction ready to start within 12 months, depth and duration of affordability, modern construction methods, bundled or partnership submissions, and Canadian materials. A proposal portal opened in late November.[3]

January 7, 2026: procurement begins. Requests for qualifications went out for the six direct-build sites. Two are in Ontario: Arbo at Downsview in Toronto (540 homes, at least 40% affordable) and Heron Road in Ottawa (about 1,100 homes). A partnership with the City of Ottawa, worth up to $400 million, targets up to 3,000 homes in the capital.[4]

June 19, 2026: Royal Assent. Bill C-20, the Build Canada Homes Act, became law. It sets up the legal framework for the agency to become a Crown corporation, with further steps to follow. As a Crown corporation, the agency gains the legal power to make equity investments, and federal properties can be transferred to it from Canada Lands Company. The government said more than 11,000 homes were then underway or nearing construction.[5] By September, the agency's releases were calling it a federal Crown corporation.[7]

August 10, 2026: a board. Former CMHC chief executive Evan Siddall was named inaugural chair. By then the agency reported commitments to nearly 17,000 units through 17 partnerships, with more than 1,900 under construction.[6] (The August 5 Canada-Toronto rental partnership, which YTN covered in August, was one of them.)

September 22, 2026: the rental fund gets a manager. The Canadian Housing Acquisition Fund (CHAF), a sector-led group, was chosen to deploy the $1.5 billion Rental Protection Fund. It helps community housing providers acquire and renew existing at-risk rentals and recycles repaid money. Ottawa says it could protect about 7,000 homes in its first five years.[7]

October 30, 2026: first land offering. The agency now lists a pipeline of 24 sites covering more than 1,100 acres, which it expects to yield over 200 development parcels.[1]

Five common assumptions, checked

"It's another CMHC loan program." Not quite. The agency describes itself as a source of capital funding, flexible financing, public land and development support. The new law adds the power to make equity investments.[5][8] CMHC's insured lending programs still exist alongside it. London city staff wrote in June that the split between the two agencies' roles was "still unclear" to applicants.[9]

"It's only for non-profits." Partly true. The mandate is mainly non-market housing, but private developers are named partners, and the October 30 parcels are open to development firms as well as non-profit and Indigenous proponents.[1][2] The agency says its housing development sites on federal land will all use a mixed-market model, combining market and below-market homes.[10]

"It will cover operating shortfalls." No. The agency's FAQ says it provides capital funding and development support. Proponents have to secure operating funding from provinces, municipalities or other partners.[8] For anyone underwriting a mixed-income building, the long-run operating budget is still the proponent's problem.

"There's a scoring grid." Not yet. London's staff report said there were "no set criteria or scoring mechanisms" and no minimum or maximum funding amount. Applicants were told to submit multiple financial scenarios, and Class "D" cost estimates were accepted instead of detailed design.[9] That makes it quicker to apply, but harder to predict the outcome.

"The Rental Protection Fund will buy up private rentals." The scale argues against that. The target is about 7,000 homes nationally over five years, and Ottawa says even that depends on market conditions and on what acquisitions are available.[7] For owners of older buildings, the fund adds a pool of community-housing buyers backed by federal capital. It is not a source of demand across the whole market.

Where southwestern Ontario stands

The agency's land portfolio page lists 25 properties. Twelve are in Ontario: in Toronto, Ottawa, Mississauga and St. Catharines. None are in London, Windsor or Chatham-Kent.[10] So the public-land route that produced the October 30 offering has no local site to work with in the region yet.

The likelier local route is a municipal portfolio. A June 8, 2026 London staff report recommended applying with a bundle of City-owned and partner sites. It estimated about 2,400 units, including 1,250 affordable, with 900 (500 affordable) able to start within 12 to 18 months. The City's own pipeline includes 33 surplus sites for about 1,900 units, about half of them affordable. Staff warned that without federal money, some "Projects in Planning" under the Roadmap to 3,000 "may be delayed or not proceed."[9] As of October 30, the agency's newsroom showed no London or Windsor funding announcement.[11] Its only southwestern Ontario release so far is a $4.3 million, 12-unit Indigenous-led transitional housing project in Brantford, announced in July.[12]

Windsor's main new lever this fall is provincial-federal: the Development Charge Reduction Program deal, which YTN covered on October 26.

What to watch

  1. The November releases. The question is whether any southwestern Ontario land appears, or whether future offerings stay focused on the large former federal sites.
  2. A decision on London's portfolio. It would be the first test of whether a mid-sized Ontario city's bundled application turns into funded starts, and of how much of the market-rate share private partners end up building.
  3. The terms of the first land deals. Whether parcels are sold, leased or contributed as partnership equity will show how much land cost the agency is really taking out of project budgets, and what it asks in return on affordability.

For builders and lenders in the region, Build Canada Homes is still a policy story rather than a market one. A London decision or a local parcel in the November releases would change that quickly.

This article is for information only and is not investment advice.

Sources

[1] Build Canada Homes accelerates housing on public lands, Build Canada Homes (Oct. 30, 2026): https://www.bch-mc.ca/news/build-canada-homes-accelerates-housing-public-lands

[2] Prime Minister Carney launches Build Canada Homes to supercharge homebuilding across the country, Prime Minister's Office (Sept. 14, 2025): https://www.bch-mc.ca/news/prime-minister-carney-launches-build-canada-homes-supercharge-homebuilding-across-country

[3] Build Canada Homes Introduces Policy Framework to Guide its Investments in Affordable Housing, Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (Nov. 2025): https://www.bch-mc.ca/news/ottawa-ontario-build-canada-homes-introduces-policy-framework-guide-its-investments-affordable

[4] Build Canada Homes: Thousands of Homes in the Pipeline, Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (Jan. 7, 2026): https://www.bch-mc.ca/news/ottawa-ontario-build-canada-homes-thousands-homes-pipeline

[5] Government of Canada marks Royal Assent of the Build Canada Homes Act, Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (June 19, 2026): https://www.bch-mc.ca/news/ottawa-ontario-government-canada-marks-royal-assent-build-canada-homes-act

[6] Government of Canada announces Build Canada Homes inaugural Chair, Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (Aug. 10, 2026): https://www.bch-mc.ca/news/ottawa-ontario-government-canada-announces-build-canada-homes-inaugural-chair

[7] Build Canada Homes announces the launch of the Canada Rental Protection Fund, Build Canada Homes (Sept. 22, 2026): https://www.bch-mc.ca/news/build-canada-homes-announces-launch-canada-rental-protection-fund

[8] Frequently Asked Questions and Finance pages, Build Canada Homes (accessed Oct. 31, 2026): https://www.bch-mc.ca/faq and https://www.bch-mc.ca/finance

[9] Request to Submit an Application for New Affordable Housing Funding Through Build Canada Homes, City of London staff report to the Community and Protective Services Committee (June 8, 2026): https://pub-london.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=124542

[10] Land Portfolio and Housing Development Sites pages, Build Canada Homes (accessed Oct. 31, 2026): https://www.bch-mc.ca/land-portfolio and https://www.bch-mc.ca/housing-developments

[11] News, Build Canada Homes (accessed Oct. 31, 2026): https://www.bch-mc.ca/news

[12] Build Canada Homes invests to support Indigenous transitional housing in Brantford, Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (July 17, 2026): https://www.bch-mc.ca/news/brantford-ontario-build-canada-homes-invests-support-indigenous-transitional-housing-brantford