Build Canada Homes headquarters lands in Toronto, not Ottawa

Build Canada Homes, the federal Crown corporation created to accelerate affordable housing construction across Canada, will headquarter in Toronto instead of Ottawa, the organization announced.

The corporation will operate from 1 University Avenue in Toronto, the former headquarters of the Canada Lands Company, which is being folded into Build Canada Homes. A company spokesperson said the location "provides an established operational and efficient foundation" for the organization's national work.

Build Canada Homes maintains operational offices in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, and Halifax. The organization was established last year with an initial $13 billion earmarked for affordable housing projects and initially fell under the federal Department of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada. The Liberal government passed legislation setting out a path to establishing it as a full Crown corporation, formalized by recent cabinet order.

CEO Ana Bailão, a former Toronto city councillor, is overseeing the corporation's rollout. The company has not yet disclosed employee headcount or workforce distribution across cities, saying the organization's structure is still being finalized.

Ottawa struck a deal with Build Canada Homes in April in which the city is reducing or waiving development charges, permit fees, and property taxes in exchange for funding toward 1,000 new affordable or supportive housing units. The corporation committed to investing in 2,000 new housing units on federal land, with initial development sites at 1495 Heron Rd. and Wateridge Village. In August, Evan Siddall, former CEO of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, was appointed inaugural chair of the Build Canada Homes board.