Image Credit: Kent Simmonds / CFJC Today

By Dylana Kneeshaw

CANADIAN HOME BUILDING

Federal government pledge to bolster housing stock met with cautious optimism by local homebuilders

May 5, 2025 | 5:22 PM

KAMLOOPS — Ambitious housing promises made by Prime Minister Mark Carney while on the campaign trail pledged to see the nation’s housing stock grow by 500,000 homes in the next ten years.

Without delving into the politics of the plan, Matt McCurrach, the president of the Canadian Home Builders Association says the demand for more homes is there.

Much of the Liberals’ idea leans on using pre-fabricated builds and modular units, which McCurrach says are a faster way to get a home constructed. Using that method alongside other building practices could be useful in bolstering the housing supply.

“With that being said, though, to build efficient modular (homes) you need plants, you need space. B.C. can be tough because of the mountains that we have, we don’t have a ton of flat land. There are some plants in the South Okanagan and in Alberta,” he explains. “And again, if you build modular which are factory built homes, you need to move them on the roads — which can be done, but again in B.C., it’s beautiful but the roads can be challenging to move the homes around.”

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However, to actually achieve that amount of new builds, McCurrach believes the industry would need expedited permit applications for residential construction in cities, more skilled labourers and accessible land to build on as soon as possible.

“The demand is there but we need to get building quicker and we need to build smarter and more affordable. But overall, we need less red tape and permit applications to move through our system a lot quicker than they are right now.”