The Government of Canada has announced plans to develop public lands in Calgary for affordable housing in what is being called the Canada Public Land Bank.
Calgary Skyview MP George Chahal made the announcement on Wednesday morning from Calgary’s Currie Barracks and marks the first step under the new Public Lands for Homes Plan to build more homes faster to address the national housing crisis.
“Public land should be used for public good and is one part of the government’s plan to address the housing crisis,’ Chahal said at the conference. “We will partner with homebuilders and housing providers to build homes on every possible site across the public portfolio using all available tools.”
Chahal made the announcement on behalf of Public Services and Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos at a Currie property in Calgary’s southwest, one of the five federal properties now ready to be converted into housing.
The property, located at 3830 Quesnay Wood Drive S.W., is available for construction of a six-storey condominium apartment building that will offer 99 new units of housing, with a minimum of 30 per cent dedicated to affordable housing. The parcel is already zoned and ready for development.
“The Canada Public Land Bank is stepping up the pace to ensure that more Canadians have a safe and affordable place to call home,” Chahal added.
The Canada Public Land Bank features 56 federal properties in total that have been identified as being able to support housing, including five new properties now intended for leasing and ready for builders to submit their proposals.
The 56 properties listed in the Canada Public Land Bank represent a total of 305 hectares of land, which is the size of approximately 2,000 hockey rinks or almost 400 Canadian Football League football fields. This new list will grow regularly in the coming months, along with further details on listed properties.
Calgary Skyview MP George Chahal announces plans to develop federal lands in Calgary for housing on Aug. 28, 2024.
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The property, located at 3830 Quesnay Wood Drive S.W., is available for construction of a six-storey condominium apartment building that will offer 99 new units of housing, with a minimum of 30 per cent dedicated to affordable housing. The parcel is already zoned and ready for development.
“Available, accessible and affordable housing options are scarce, and too many people do not have a safe place to call home,” Duclos said in a statement.
“We need to do things differently and work in partnership to build more homes, faster. We are leading a Team Canada effort to unlock public lands for housing at a pace and scale not seen in generations, thus leveraging these properties to build strong communities and more affordable housing for the benefit of all Canadians.”
Meaghon Reid of Vibrant Communities Calgary welcomes the news but also has some questions and concerns.
“Anything we can build in this housing crisis is a good thing, however, I do have some questions about making only 30 per cent of them affordable. Are those deeply affordable for the people who need them,” she told Global News.
“I’m also wondering has the government been sitting on this land for awhile, and how does this wrap up with the other federal housing announcements?”
In addition to Currie, Chahal also announced another federal property located in Edmonton at the Village at Griesbach, which is earmarked for 45 new townhomes, half of which will be affordable housing.
Officials say Canada Lands Company is an essential piece in the development of federal lands and in partnership with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the organization has launched a call for proposals from housing providers to access some of the Canada Public Land Bank properties available in Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa and Montréal on a long-term leasing basis at a discounted value.
In 2024, the Government of Canada launched Solving the Housing Crisis: Canada’s Housing Plan, which lays out an ambitious whole-of-government approach to addressing the housing crisis by building more homes, making it easier to rent or own a home, and helping Canadians who cannot afford a home.
A key component of Canada’s Housing Plan is the Public Lands for Homes Plan. This plan includes partnering with all levels of government, homebuilders and housing providers to build homes, faster, on surplus and underused public lands across the country.
The Public Lands for Homes Plan supports the government’s goal of unlocking 250,000 new homes by 2031.
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