Ministers Working Together to Tackle Key Housing and Homelessness Issues

Yesterday, federal, provincial, and territorial ministers responsible for housing met in Vancouver, British Columbia, to discuss solutions to key housing and homelessness issues facing people in Canada.

Co-chaired by the Honourable Gregor Robertson, Canada’s Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, and the Honourable Bernadette Smith, Manitoba’s Minister of Housing, Addictions and Homelessness, the meeting of the Federal, Provincial and Territorial Forum on Housing focused on a coordinated approach to advancing housing and homelessness priorities and strengthening collaboration to meet pressing and evolving needs across the country.

Amongst the most critical issues facing the country is the shortage of affordable housing, and the severity of homelessness that requires expanding deeply affordable, supportive and transitional housing. The housing crisis is multi-faceted, leading to a complex and rapidly evolving environment – one that demands a strengthened partnership between jurisdictions and collaboration across sectors, such as trade, labour, urban planning, to break down barriers to accelerate housing supply and increase affordability.

Ministers acknowledge the positive impact of the nearly $16 billion in joint federal, provincial, and territorial investments under the National Housing Strategy, which have supported over 600,000 households across the country. With the expiry of the bilateral agreements under the National Housing Strategy in 2028, Ministers committed to renewing the federal, provincial and territorial housing partnership to ensure ongoing support for affordable housing. (Note: Although it shares several objectives of other governments, Québec has not endorsed the multilateral housing partnership framework and signed its bilateral agreement outside of the National Housing Strategy.)

Building on commitments made through the National Housing Strategy and at the First Ministers’ Meeting in June 2025, Ministers agreed to keep working together to build a strong economy and advance innovative projects of importance for Canada, with provincial and territorial lenses, that can enable an increase in the supply of housing across the country, including affordable housing.

Ministers also committed to working together on five priorities aimed at improving housing outcomes across the country:

Renewing intergovernmental partnerships on affordable housing beyond the expiry of the National Housing Strategy in 2028.
Addressing homelessness through strengthened responses and coordinated investments, including more deeply affordable, supportive and transitional housing with wraparound supports for vulnerable populations to help reduce chronic homelessness.
Increasing housing supply, with a focus on affordable housing, by coordinating efforts to unlock new housing starts and reduce barriers.
Supporting Indigenous housing and working with First Nations, Inuit and Métis to advance Indigenous-led solutions and improve access to safe, culturally appropriate housing.
Scaling up modern methods of construction by accelerating the adoption of modular, prefabricated, and other innovative technologies, where they make sense, to enhance speed and efficiency in delivering housing.

Ministers concluded the meeting with a commitment to ongoing collaboration, regular engagement, and collective action to address Canada’s housing crisis through the Federal, Provincial and Territorial Forum on Housing.

Minister Smith announced that as Manitoba’s two-year term as provincial/territorial co-chair of the Federal, Provincial, Territorial Forum on Housing will come to an end in December 2025, Ontario will assume the next two-year provincial/territorial co-chair term beginning in January 2026.

Quotes
“We are taking a Team Canada approach to transforming our housing systems and making housing more affordable across the country. This meeting is part of our commitment to building bold, building strong, and building together alongside provinces and territories.”
Honourable Gregor Robertson
Minister of Housing and Infrastructure and Minister responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada, Government of Canada

“As primary partners in housing, provinces and territories are committed to continue working with the Federal Government to increase access to housing where needed most, and we are encouraged by today’s discussion regarding renewing partnerships on affordable housing beyond the expiry of the National Housing Strategy. All provinces and territories, including Manitoba, have unique housing needs and we look forward to expediting these conversations as we work collaboratively with our federal partners on a renewed vision for housing.”
Honourable Bernadette Smith
Minister of Housing, Addictions and Homelessness, Government of Manitoba

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BACKGROUNDER

In 2018, ministers responsible for housing endorsed a multilateral Housing Partnership Framework, which recognizes federal, provincial and territorial governments as primary partners in housing. The framework asserts a shared vision for housing and sets the foundation for the delivery of key National Housing Strategy (NHS) initiatives.

The Federal, Provincial, and Territorial (FPT) Forum on Housing is the primary intergovernmental forum to discuss housing policy and program design, as well as monitor and evaluate the state of housing in Canada. The Forum also provides opportunities to discuss the assessment of NHS effectiveness and shared knowledge to inform decision-making and priority setting by each government, as well as adjustments to FPT agreements where appropriate.