Ottawa and B.C. Launch $1.45 Billion Plan to Buy Up Unsold Condos

Prime Minister Mark Carney and British Columbia Premier David Eby unveiled a joint plan last month to buy up roughly 2,200 unsold new-construction condos in the province, a program worth about $1.45 billion that aims to soak up a glut of finished inventory while adding to the affordable housing supply.

Under the Canada-B.C. Partnership on Condo Conversion, delivered through the Build Canada Homes agency, the federal government has agreed to cover roughly 10 per cent of the cost, or about $145 million, with the province and other partners funding the remainder. Once purchased, the units are expected to be converted into below-market rental and supportive housing rather than resold on the open market.

The program lands at a moment when Metro Vancouver's new-condo market has a historic overhang of unsold units, with data from CMHC showing thousands of completed homes sitting empty as buyer demand cooled. Some analysts have suggested the purchase could absorb close to half of the region's unsold new-condo inventory, giving struggling developers a path to recoup costs and avoid further project delays or cancellations.

The announcement has not been without controversy. Housing critics, including NDP MP Jenny Kwan, have questioned why public money is being used to acquire distressed private condominiums rather than funding new non-market housing directly, with some commentators labelling it a disguised bailout for developers. Federal Housing Minister Gregor Robertson has pushed back on that framing, maintaining the program is a housing measure rather than an industry rescue.

The condo conversion plan builds on B.C.'s existing rental protection fund model, which has previously used bulk purchases to preserve existing rental buildings, but this marks the first time the approach has been applied at scale to newly built, never-occupied condo units. Details on which specific buildings and cities will be involved are expected to be released in the coming months as due diligence on individual properties continues.