During the 2025 election, no promise was bolder than Carney’s pledge to deliver “the most ambitious housing plan since the Second World War.” His government vowed to double the pace of residential construction, assuring a generation of young Canadians locked out of homeownership that relief was coming. Yet, by the summer of 2026, the data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) indicated that the administration’s blueprint was fundamentally failing.
Rather than a historic building boom, construction is contracting. In July 2026, actual monthly housing starts were down a shocking 19% year-over-year. The year-to-date total of 131,851 units represented a 4% decrease compared to 2025. The government’s flagship response, the “Build Canada Homes” program, has largely consisted of localized, massive cash injections—such as a $2.7 billion subsidy for Toronto rental units announced in August 2026. However, CMHC data confirmed that despite these flashy announcements, fewer projects are actually breaking ground in major markets like Vancouver and Calgary. Unsurprisingly, an Angus Reid poll in April 2026 found that 67% of Canadians felt the government had failed on housing.