Ottawa working with provinces to reduce developer fees, says housing minister
Housing Minister Gregor Robertson deflects on past statement that average home prices must fall in Canada
Jami Makan, Feb 20, 2026
The federal government is in discussions with the provinces to jointly fund housing infrastructure and bring down developer fees, Canada’s housing minister told an industry audience Friday.
The two levels of government could jointly invest up to $25 billion to fund infrastructure such as water, transit and community centres, Housing Minister Gregor Robertson told a Feb. 20 meeting of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade.
Robertson said his government is currently investing $12.2 billion in its current Build Communities Strong Fund that provinces will match 50-50, “so we’re close to $25 billion to invest in community infrastructure and reduce the development charges so we bring down that cost to build,” he said.
Discussions with the provinces are ongoing to secure their commitments to match the federal dollars. “ … Then that will roll out with the new infrastructure fund,” he said.
Developer fees are frequently cited by B.C. homebuilders as a key contributor to the so-called cost-of-delivery crisis, in which the cost of delivering new homes exceeds what buyers can afford to pay for them.
Robertson said cities have needed development charges to complement a lack of funding for that infrastructure.
“By investing in the urban infrastructure in particular—rural too, but community infrastructure—[and] taking that pressure off of local governments, they can reduce their development charges [and] still build the infrastructure that we need,” he said.
The former Vancouver mayor deflected on his previous, much-discussed statement that average home prices must fall in Canada to restore affordability.
He said the housing system across Canada is “very complex.” He said he saw a long period of increasing values.
“The markets went up for many, many years, and we’ve shifted now back to having a complex array of markets across Canada,” he said.
“Toronto is having the toughest time right now. The condo market in particular, prices have come down significantly there,” he added. “Vancouver has a comparable problem to that—a little bit smaller-scale, obviously—but we’re seeing other markets, other cities in Canada that are very strong, very healthy, so it’s a mix across the country.”
Robertson said his focus with the government’s signature Build Canada Homes agency is to build non-market housing. He said the country did not build enough affordable, non-market housing for over 30 years.
“That’s really the key here, is driving the supply of affordable housing and enabling the market to come back and get on its feet,” he said.
Robertson also emphasized that Build Canada Homes, which is supported by an initial investment of $13 billion over five years, will help developers incorporate modern methods of construction into their operations.
www.biv.com/news/real-estate/ottawa-working-with-provinces-to-reduce-developer-fees-says-housing-minister-11907444
