Affordable Housing and Homelessness

Across this country, we have an affordable housing crisis.

People are living in tents. People are “couch-surfing”. Home ownership is all but a dream for many.

Imagine what our communities would look like if an additional half a million units of affordable housing were built across this country.

The reality is that families, individuals, single parents and seniors alike are unable to obtain safe, secure, and affordable housing. This is a very real struggle for so many in Vancouver East and across the country. This national problem is of crisis proportions and is steadily worsening. For example, 2018 statistics for the City of Vancouver showed the highest number of people living homeless since the first regional homeless count in 2005. Indigenous peoples face even larger barriers to securing safe affordable housing, and accounted for 40% of the homeless people living in the region, despite being only 2.2% of the overall population. These numbers are unacceptable, because each number represents people in our community who are in crisis.

Our current housing crisis started in 1993, when the Federal Liberals cancelled the National Affordable Housing Program.

As a result, this country lost out on half a million units of affordable housing that would otherwise have been built.

The impact is real and significant. I have met school children who tell me that they are worry about their housing situation. Women who were fleeing domestic violence are left with no choice but to return to the abuser because she cannot secure housing. Families had their children apprehended for no other reason other than the fact that they could not meet their housing needs. The homeless population are becoming more desperate. In one instance, I learned that a fight broke out because people were fighting for awning space in an attempt to stay dry as heavy rain poured down. It is high time for government to deliver what so many across the country have called for – a National Affordable Housing program.

Housing is a human right
Speech delivered on January 31, 2019 in favour of the NDP Motion to take immediate action on Canada’s Housing Crisis.

The Hub: Trump says corporations are buying up homes. Is it happening in Canada?

When U.S. President Donald Trump announced his plans to block institutional investors like Blackstone and Invitation Homes from buying up single-family homes, he spurred renewed interest from Canadians wondering if giant hedge funds are also buying up homes in this country, contributing to the ongoing housing crisis.

On January 7, Google Trends showed the top search queries in Canada related to Trump were tied to his single-family homes decree and how that related to the Canadian real estate market. The fringe People’s Party of Canada X account claimed “foreign multinationals” were buying up homes in Canada. Popular YouTuber Moose on The Loose posted a video with over 144,000 views claiming corporate ownership of homes has driven up the prices of homes in Canada. NDP housing critic Jenny Kwan alleged that we are witnessing the “financialization of housing” in Canada, calling for a moratorium on corporations purchasing new properties.

But what’s the actual truth? And what’s the current situation in Canada when it comes to investors buying up real estate and contributing to driving up housing costs?

Click image or link to read the news story - https://thehub.ca/2026/01/15/trump-says-corporations-are-buying-up-housing-is-it-happening-in-canada/

iPOLITICS: Donald Trump wants to ban institutional investors from buying single-family homes. Should Canada do the same?

U.S. President Donald Trump says he wants Congress to codify his plan to ban institutional investors like Blackrock from purchasing single-family homes as part of a push to restore affordability to the housing market.

Canada’s housing market is generally more expensive than the U.S. and ranks as one of the least affordable in the G7 when comparing income-to-price ratios.

Would a similar ban in Canada make sense?

The federal NDP says it could help, but would need to focus on rental housing, blaming corporations and real-estate investment trusts (REITs) for purchasing low-cost units, evicting tenants for renovations and then jacking up rents.

NDP housing critic Jenny Kwan said Canada should impose a moratorium on corporations purchasing new properties or at the very least, limit how many units they can own.

“Financialization of housing is happening here in Canada,” Kwan told iPolitics last week, noting that Canada lost over 200,000 affordable housing units between 2016 and 2021.

“[Investors are] using housing as a commodity instead of a necessity.”

Kwan said REITs and other corporate investors are buying up affordable housing properties at such an accelerated pace that for every one unit added to the market, eight are lost.

She said the Liberals need to do more than just promise faster housing construction and urged the government to end favourable tax treatment for REITs that allow investors to recoup proceeds largely tax-free because they are treated as capital gains.

Kwan accused the Liberals of blaming newcomers to Canada for driving up home prices when the real culprits are profit-driven investors, and called for Ottawa to provide new funding for non-profits and co-ops to purchase distressed affordable housing properties.

Under this plan, non-profits would have a right to first refusal for these units.

The federal government has pledged funding for such efforts, launching a $1.5-billion Canada Rental Protection Fund in 2024 that would help the community housing sector acquire “at-risk rental apartment buildings,” with the goal of ensuring they remain affordable over the long term.

Click image or link to read the news story - https://www.ipolitics.ca/2026/01/13/donald-trump-wants-to-ban-institutional-investors-from-buying-single-family-homes-should-canada-do-the-same/

Media Release: Statement on Federal Housing Advocate's Report

Statement from NDP Housing Critic Jenny Kwan on Federal Housing Advocate's Report

After a recent damning report from the Parliamentary Budget Office critiquing the policy design of Build Canada Homes, the Federal Housing Advocate’s report today exposes major additional gaps in the Federal government’s housing policies, revealing that the government has allowed homelessness to escalate while relying on inadequate, short-term fixes. Across Waterloo, London, Hamilton, and Toronto, the Advocate heard consistently that people living in encampments face unsafe shelters, inaccessible housing, and constant threats of eviction. These conditions are the predictable outcome of inadequate policy development, underfunding, and enforcement-first approaches that criminalize survival.

The report’s recommendations make clear what needs to be done. Federal investments must be expanded and sustained with a human rights-based approach, including meaningful engagement with encampment residents, municipalities, and Indigenous organizations, and evaluation of programs like the UHEI to ensure lessons inform future strategies. Adequate pathways out of encampments require scaling up deeply affordable and supportive housing, integrating health care, and protecting people from forced evictions that exacerbate trauma and risk, especially during extreme weather.

The report also emphasizes the urgent need for culturally specific and trauma-informed Indigenous supports, gender-responsive housing, and protections for refugee claimants. Community organizations must be empowered and resourced rather than monitored and penalized. All federal housing initiatives, from Build Canada Homes to the National Housing Strategy, must embed a human rights framework, set clear outcomes, and provide sustainable funding to ensure real change along the continuum of housing, including setting clear targets of 40 percent of housing set to 30% of income.

Canadians are witnessing the consequences: lives put at risk, and systemic inequalities entrenched. The Prime Minister and Housing Minister cannot continue to defer responsibility. They must act immediately to align federal policy with human rights, expand investments, end criminalization, and commit to long-term, trauma-informed solutions that actually meet the needs of people experiencing homelessness. I call on the Prime Minister and Housing Minister to follow through immediately on the recommendations from these two reports.

National Observer: Budget watchdog sees modest boost in new housing from Build Canada Homes

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne defended "historical" housing spending in Budget 2025 on his way out of the cabinet meeting Tuesday. He told reporters he respects the PBO's work but added that "sometimes you need a bit of nuance."

Champagne said that future budgets will update spending priorities and no one should "prejudge" any of those commitments.

“You don’t take decisions for ‘29 in ‘25," he said.

“We’re going to do the work now and we’ll take the decisions that are going to be needed as we go forward."

NDP housing critic Jenny Kwan accused the government of inflating homebuilding expectations through its budget last month.

"The commitment on this new generational investment that the government's talking about, it is barely a drop in the bucket to address the housing crisis," Kwan said before question period.

Click image or link to read the news story - https://www.nationalobserver.com/2025/12/03/news/budget-watchdog-sees-modest-boost-new-housing-build-canada-homes

Canadian Press: Budget office sees modest boost in housing supply from Build Canada Homes

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne defended “historical” housing spending in Budget 2025 on his way out of the cabinet meeting Tuesday. He told reporters he respects the PBO’s work but added that “sometimes you need a bit of nuance.”

Champagne said that future budgets will update spending priorities and no one should “prejudge” any of those commitments.

“You don’t take decisions for ‘29 in ‘25,” he said.

“We’re going to do the work now and we’ll take the decisions that are going to be needed as we go forward.”

NDP housing critic Jenny Kwan accused the government of inflating homebuilding expectations through its budget last month.

“The commitment on this new generational investment that the government’s talking about, it is barely a drop in the bucket to address the housing crisis,” Kwan said before question period.

Click image or link to read the news story - https://rdnewsnow.com/2025/12/02/budget-office-sees-modest-boost-in-housing-supply-from-build-canada-homes/

Globe & Mail: Ottawa’s spending on housing set to drop by more than 50% over next three years, PBO says

Federal spending on housing is projected to drop by more than half over the next three years, according to a new report by the Parliamentary Budget Officer.

The finding is at odds with the Liberal Party’s campaign pledge to bring in Canada’s most ambitious housing plan since the Second World War with billions in funding.

The government’s Nov. 4 budget did follow through with a campaign promise to launch a new agency called Build Canada Homes, setting aside $7.3-billion over five years.

However the PBO points out that overall federal spending on housing is set to decline to $4.3-billion in 2028-29, down from $9.8-billion in the current fiscal year – a 56-per-cent reduction.

NDP MP Jenny Kwan said the PBO’s findings are “shocking” and deeply concerning.

Ms. Kwan said the report shows that what has been announced to date “is barely a drop in the bucket to address the housing crisis.”

Click image or link to read the news story - https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-ottawa-housing-spending-to-drop-more-than-50-over-next-three-years-pbo/

HANSARD: Budget speech and debate

Click below to read Jenny's budget speech and debate

HANSARD: Follow up on indigenous housing funds committed by the Liberal government

HANSARD: Will the Prime Minister bring back a national vacancy control, like the one we used to have before the war, to protect renters?

FINA VIDEO: First-time homebuyers are being unfairly left out the GST exemption

On October 27, 2025, MP Jenny Kwan appeared at the Standing Committee on Finance, calling for a change to the Liberal government's First-Time Homebuyers' GST Exemption.

The change that she sought, if it had passed, would apply the GST exemption based on the closing date of the sale.

Without this change, first-time homebuyers who signed pre-construction agreements before May 27, 2025, won't qualify for the GST exemption – even though the closing date is after the exemption is in place.

MP Kwan tried four times to move amendments to make this change but it was rejected by the Committee chair, -- and, not one Conservative, Bloc or Liberal did anything to support this change.

They could have challenged the chair as they did with other amendments which were then passed - but they did not.

Affordable Housing