The Ottawa Real Estate Board has expressed significant concerns about the federal government's latest budget, stating it fails to adequately address the immediate housing affordability crisis facing the nation's capital.
Budget Misses Mark on Immediate Needs
In a news release issued on Wednesday, the board acknowledged that Budget 2025 takes some positive steps but ultimately falls short in solving the urgent supply challenges confronting renters and prospective buyers in Ottawa. The criticism focuses particularly on the budget's inability to provide relief for those seeking entry into the housing market.
Paul Czan, President of the Ottawa Real Estate Board, emphasized the pressing nature of the situation in an interview with the Ottawa Citizen. "We wish that there was more focus on housing in the budget," Czan stated. "Giving more attention to supply would have been much more welcome. Ultimately, that's the biggest problem that we're still facing."
The Critical Gap in 'Missing Middle' Housing
The board identified a specific and crucial shortfall in the budget's approach: the lack of encouragement for constructing low-to-medium-density housing. This category includes essential entry-point homes for first-time buyers such as townhouses, duplexes, and low-rise apartments.
This type of housing is often referred to by urban planners and housing advocates as the "missing middle" because it remains significantly under-represented in new construction projects across the city. Recent data from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation confirms this imbalance, showing that the majority of housing starts in Ottawa are rental apartments, followed by rowhouses and single-family homes.
"We need to provide people with lateral movement in the housing market, into their first home, and fill in that missing middle," Czan explained, highlighting the need for more diverse housing options that bridge the gap between renting and single-family home ownership.
Budget Investments and Their Limitations
The response comes after Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne presented Budget 2025 to the House of Commons on Tuesday. The budget does include substantial housing-related investments, notably $51 billion over 10 years for the Build Communities Strong Fund, designed to support infrastructure projects including housing, health care, and education.
Additionally, the budget proposes $13 billion in funding over five years for the federal government's Build Canada Homes initiative. This program, initially announced in September, aims to accelerate the construction of affordable off-market housing through scaled production methods.
Ottawa has been selected as one of six cities for the initial phase of this initiative, which plans to develop 4,000 factory-built homes on federal land, with potential for expansion up to 45,000 units.
Despite these substantial financial commitments, the Ottawa Real Estate Board maintains that the budget doesn't sufficiently target the specific types of housing most needed by those struggling to enter the market. Czan acknowledged the government's difficult position, noting, "We definitely need a budget that's going to be investing in the future of Canadians, and despite the budget being a deficit, it's something the government has to do."
The board's assessment underscores the growing concern among housing experts that without more targeted support for the "missing middle" housing segment, many Ottawa residents will continue to face significant barriers to achieving home ownership in the current market.
