Whether you currently lack a permanent place to live or are renting and dream of owning your own home, there’s reason for cautious optimism in 2026.

Last fall, Prime Minister Carney announced the launch of Build Canada Homes, a new federal agency with the mandate of making it possible to construct more affordable housing at scale.

With initial funding of $13 billion, the agency’s focus will be to help get bigger housing projects off the ground through a combination of sourcing land, attracting private capital and incentivizing builders.

At the same time, supporting our construction industry and prioritizing the use of Canadian-produced materials such as lumber, steel and aluminum.

To help source more affordable land for construction sites, the federal government’s Public Lands for Home Plan involves – at least in theory, building homes on everything from Canada Post properties to National Defence lands to converting unused federal offices into homes.