Developers to take losses in rent-to-own condo acquisitions, says B.C. premier | Daily Hive

B.C. premier says government condo acquisition plan creates no down payment rent-to-own homes, with developers taking losses

Prime Minister Mark Carney and B.C. Premier David Eby. (Government of BC)

The federal and provincial governments have begun defending their highly controversial partnership to acquire up to 2,200 unsold market condominium units built in British Columbia by private developers for the purpose of creating affordable housing for working people, as they push back against overwhelming criticism that the plan amounts to a taxpayer-funded bailout for developers.

Today, B.C. Premier David Eby and Prime Minister Mark Carney each offered new details about the still-evolving initiative, emphasizing that their governments intend to purchase “distressed” condominium units at discounted prices and convert them into rent-to-own housing rather than subsidize developer profits.

The plan, first unveiled last week as part of a broader federal-provincial infrastructure agreement, would see federal agency Build Canada Homes and provincial Crown corporation BC Housing work together to acquire newly-built vacant/unsold strata market condominium units in priority growth areas across B.C.

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The announcement last week quickly drew criticism from opposition politicians, taxpayer advocates, and other critics, who argued governments should allow the private market to adjust on its own rather than intervene by purchasing unsold homes. At the time, no details on how it would exactly work were publicly released, which invited much speculation on the policy’s implications.

During a press conference on Thursday, Eby acknowledged that much of the criticism stems from the fact that the strategy was announced before the framework, policies, and other details were finalized.

“The federal government was enthusiastic about us announcing this before all the details were out. But in the absence of the details, the plot has been lost a little bit here,” said the premier, noting that the plan was announced when Prime Minister Carney was in Vancouver last week before Team Canada’s FIFA World Cup match against Qatar.

Creating a rent-to-own model aimed at renters, without any down payments

A central feature of the plan would be a rent-to-own program intended to help renters who can afford monthly rental housing costs, but cannot accumulate a down payment — a key upfront obstacle for many looking to transition from renting to homeownership.

Buying distressed condominium developments and pairing them with government-supported financing, Premier Eby argued, addresses a different problem than simply allowing housing prices to fall.

“The reality is for many people in the province, especially young people, is that they are renting, and their rent is more than enough to cover a mortgage payment and strata fee, but they don’t have the down payment,” said Eby.

“Buying a distressed condo development at or below the cost of construction with no profit for the developer, and then making financing available for these buyers through a rent-to-own program addresses that concern in a way that just home values going down doesn’t.”

The premier was asked by media whether this investment would be better spent on social housing. However, he highlighted that a significant supply of social housing is already being built, and stressed this new program would target households that fall between social housing eligibility and conventional homeownership — essentially describing working households with the higher end of lower incomes and the lower end and middle range of middle incomes.

“I struggle a little bit with the idea that we’re not building enough social housing,” said Eby, highlighting that 3,000 social housing units will reach the completion and occupancy stage in 2026. “At some point, I do think we need to make sure that there’s opportunities for young people who aren’t going to qualify for social housing to be able to get into the housing market.”

“There are a group of people that have been systematically underserved in the current housing market, and it’s people who can afford to pay a decent level of rent, but they just can’t come up with a down payment,” he added.

Speaking separately on Thursday during a press conference in Ottawa, Prime Minister Carney said the federal government would provide roughly 10 per cent of the financing for the $1.45-billion plan, which amounts to about $145 million.

Later in the day, during his own press conference, Premier Eby noted that the provincial government would also provide a similar amount in direct funding, which reaches a total of about $300 million in direct government funding. The remaining balance, reaching $1.45 billion, would be through financing.

“The rest would be financing as we, if let’s say we buy a building and we have to hold it for a bit before we sell it on the rent-to-own programme. It assists us in holding the building. And so these are the details that we’re currently working on in the program,” said Eby.

Separately, last week’s announcement included a broader joint package that provides up to $3.2 billion over 10 years to reduce development charges imposed by B.C. municipal governments by up to 50 per cent for eligible new housing projects — similar to the joint strategy by the federal and Ontario provincial governments first announced for Ontario in May 2026.

Eby says developers would still take financial losses

Eby rejected the characterization that the B.C. condominium acquisition plan is intended to rescue developers struggling with unsold inventory.

Instead, he said the provincial government intends to capitalize on current market conditions by purchasing completed housing below construction cost.

“If you are a condo developer that took a bet on the high end of the market and you’re facing significant potential loss of profits, what we are proposing will not assist you. The Government of B.C. has been very clear, I’ve been very clear, that we are seeking to make housing more affordable for people. And that includes inevitable corrections in the market,” said Eby.

“What we see as an opportunity right now is the chance to buy products below the cost of construction, below the cost of what government can build them for, and make them available through a rent-to-own program for British Columbians.”

According to Eby, the economics for the program currently do not work for properties within the borders of the city of Vancouver — given the high cost of construction and land prices — but they do in other markets of Metro Vancouver and the broader Lower Mainland area and elsewhere in the province.

“The numbers don’t work in Vancouver, but they do work in places like the Fraser Valley, Vancouver Island, and the Okanagan,” he said.

Theoretically, if all 2,200 units were to be focused within Metro Vancouver, it would be enough to wipe out 50 per cent of the region’s unsold new condominium inventory, with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) data showing there were 4,376 completed but unabsorbed condominium apartments across Metro Vancouver in May 2026,

When asked by media directly whether the plan amounts to a bailout for developers, Eby argued the opposite.

Instead, Eby said the government expects developers participating in the program to incur financial losses. He repeatedly said the government intends to acquire units below construction cost whenever possible, and that they believe they will be able to buy many units below the cost of construction, given the current weak market conditions and the holding costs the developers incur.

“It doesn’t provide a cent of profit to developers that are in over their head,” said the premier.

“In fact, we expect developers to be taking losses on many of these initiatives. Ultimately, it’s just another way for us to give people a chance to get into housing that wouldn’t otherwise have the chance.”

Eby also highlighted that some private developers are already exploring bulk condominium sale deals to remove their holding costs on unsold vacant inventory, as previously reported by Daily Hive Urbanized this past spring.

B.C. government proposed alternative to GST rebate provided to Ontario

Eby revealed the concept emerged after the federal government offered B.C.’s provincial government funding similar to a GST rebate program introduced in Ontario, in partnership with Premier Doug Ford’s provincial government.

According to Eby, the federal government had approximately $300 million available, with the initial proposal being to eliminate GST on new homes.

“The federal government had $300 million available, and the proposal on the table was what they had done with Ontario, which is to eliminate the GST on new homes,” said the premier.

He said his provincial government rejected that same approach because first-time homebuyers in B.C. are already exempt from both GST and PST on qualifying new homes.

“To put it bluntly, that just doesn’t work in British Columbia,” said Eby, emphasizing the market circumstances in his jurisdiction are different than in Ontario.

“The goal here is to get people into homes, to give them the ability to get into the market when they might not otherwise be able to do so as a renter.”

Eby also acknowledged that B.C. developers and industry advocates had been calling for the GST rebate for homebuyers. He called this a real bailout.

“The proposal being advanced by the developers themselves is that we eliminate the GST on people who already own homes that are seeking to buy another home. And that’s just not our priority. That would be a bailout,” he said.

“It would be giving a tax cut to developers in order to avoid them having to take a cut to their profits in selling their buildings.”

Eby also acknowledged that if the program ultimately proves unpopular, the provincial government could choose not to proceed.

“People hate it? That’s okay. We don’t have to do it,” quipped the premier.

Prime Minister says B.C. government initiated the plan

Prime Minister Carney today confirmed the unsold condominium acquisition concept originated with the provincial government.

“The Province of British Columbia, which initiated the idea, sees an opportunity, potentially, given what’s happening in that market, to convert some of these condos that are lying unsold to affordable housing.”

Like Eby, Carney acknowledged the pair of senior governments did not do a good job last week in explaining the plan.

“I don’t think we’ve done, self-included, a particularly good job of rolling this out and explaining exactly what it is,” said the prime minister.

Carney also rejected suggestions that the plan resulted from lobbying by developers.

“No developer asked for this for me directly,” he said flatly.

Instead, he said the governments are focused on helping families unable to assemble a down payment under an affordable rent-to-own scheme.

“We don’t start with developers,” said the prime minister, before adding that “it’s great that there are developers and they build condos.”

“There’s an opportunity that potentially gets affordable housing to families, particularly those who can’t get the down payment together. If that opportunity is there, and we can convert condos in order to do that, we will do that with British Columbia,” he continued.

He also emphasized that no individual property transactions have yet been identified.

“There’s no specific transaction. There’s no specific contemplated transaction at this stage, but there is an opportunity,” added Carney.

“And if it’s there, and I think the issue will be if and when there are transactions, then judge those transactions on the basis of the economics of that, not on the concept.”

Robertson says the condo acquisition plan is one housing affordability tool among many

On Tuesday, during a press conference in Ontario, federal Minister of Housing and Infrastructure Gregor Robertson also defended the B.C. condominium acquisition plan, while emphasizing it represents only one component of the federal government’s broader housing strategy.

“That’s one tool that we can use to get more affordable housing available,” said the former Vancouver mayor when asked.

Addressing criticism over the use of public funds, Robertson asserted that the governments cannot ignore vacant newly-built housing while affordability and homelessness continue worsening.

“In a time like this, where we have record levels of homelessness, we have people that can’t access affordable rental apartments, and we have empty homes in Vancouver, in Toronto, we need to take action on this and make the most responsible decisions with it,” he continued.

Robertson said additional information on how the program will operate will be released in the near future.

“There’ll be more details on what that program is in the near term,” he added.

While governments have now provided significantly more information than was included in last week’s announcement, following an overwhelming public and media outcry, major questions remain unanswered, including how eligible projects will be selected, what discounts governments expect to negotiate, the precise framework of the proposed rent-to-own model, and how affordability will ultimately be defined.

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