Carney promises $2.7 billion to build rental homes in Toronto
https://www.ipolitics.ca/2026/08/05/carney-promises-2-7-billion-to-build-rental-homes-in-toronto/
Carney promises $2.7 billion to build rental homes in Toronto
https://www.ipolitics.ca/2026/08/05/carney-promises-2-7-billion-to-build-rental-homes-in-toronto/
4 Comments
$2.7 billion divided by (more than) 5,600 new rental homes is about $482,000 per home.
I would say a lot rides on the quality of that home – while I don’t know the exact state of the market, Condos.ca says the average price of condos sold over the past 14 days is $761/sqft, so these units would ideally be in the ballpark of 633 sqft.
This money will fund private developers in building rental units, but most of the units will rent at market rates. The below-market units are a minority, and there’s no guarantee that they’ll even get built. But even if they do get built, there’s no guarantee that they’ll remain below-market rentals permanently.
This amounts to paying developers for projects they would’ve eventually built anyway, and privatizing the upside while socializing the risk. The whole thing is a giant cash grab for private developers. Between this and the BC condo bailout, it seems private developers own this government.
Better article with more detail here imo:
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/economics/2026/08/05/carney-promises-27-billion-to-build-rental-homes-in-toronto/
Toronto desperately needs to up the pace at which housing is getting built – its shortages has spillovers for the whole country, not just the GTA
The math isn’t mathing for me.
This is $482k per unit but it’s not like the government is building it and owning it outright. The money is going to subsidize private investors who will profit.
How is this a reasonable investment?
Wouldn’t it make more sense to just build these units directly so that the government can own and operate them at much lower rents?
Why are we continue to subsidize these private solutions?