Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged Friday in front of hundreds of municipal politicians—including Vancouver city councillors—that his government will be a “reliable partner” on a wide range of issues affecting cities.
Carney highlighted housing and infrastructure in his first address to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ conference in Ottawa, where he later took questions from Vancouver Coun. Rebecca Bligh, who is president of the FCM.
“Collaboration between the federal government and all municipalities is more important than ever, as we are at a hinge moment in Canada's history,” Carney told the crowd. “It is a more dangerous and divided world. Unfortunately, geopolitical risks are rising, and they are threatening our sovereignty.”
The global trading system, which has helped power Canada's prosperity for decades, is undergoing the biggest transformation since the fall of the Berlin Wall, he said, adding that “our long standing weak productivity” is beginning to strain government finances.
Life as a result has become less affordable for Canadian families, said Carney, who cited the nation-wide housing crisis as the reason for the erosion of standards of living in Canada.
'Deeply affordable housing projects'
The prime minister said his government’s housing plan aims to accelerate the development of “deeply affordable housing projects.” The plan, he said, will provide $25 billion in financing for affordable-home builders and catalyze a new housing industry based on Canadian technology, workers and lumber.
In parallel, the government will also work with municipalities to slash development charges in half for all new multi-unit housing over the next five years.
The crucial point, he added, in the government reducing development charges is to make “municipalities whole” with investments in water, power lines and wastewater.
That commitment generated applause from the crowd.
“These things cost money,” said Carney, noting he will discuss the issue with premiers in meetings in Saskatoon next week. “We're not going to give lectures. We're going to give help and assistance so we can all move forward.”
'Out of the business of building homes'
In a sit-down discussion with Bligh following his speech, the prime minister vowed to continue with the previous government’s “housing accelerator fund,” which was championed under former prime minister Justin Trudeau.
The fund, which Vancouver developers have used, provides low-cost financing to builders. Carney also promised during the election campaign to further reduce housing bureaucracy, zoning restrictions and other red tape to have builders navigate one housing market, instead of 13.
“The federal government has been out of the business of building homes and building deeply affordable homes, and that has been part of the part of the problem that's built up over time,” Carney told Bligh. “It is not the sole contributor to homelessness, but it is a contributing factor, and we need to turn that around.”
He said municipalities are central to every aspect of people’s lives and to his government’s economic agenda, which he described as “very ambitious, very positive, very collaborative” but entirely achievable “because this is Canada.”
Bligh was joined by council colleagues Lisa Dominato, Peter Meiszner and Mike Klassen at the FCM conference. Dominato and Klassen will join Mayor Ken Sim June 3-6 for meetings in Ottawa with government officials.
It will be Sim’s first trip to Ottawa since elected mayor in October 2022.
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