Prime Minister signals possible housing tax cuts in B.C. economic vision | Daily Hive

Prime Minister Mark Carney signals possible housing tax cuts while outlining his economic vision for B.C.

Mark Carney. (Greater Vancouver Board of Trade)

Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered an expansive and highly consequential economic address Wednesday to the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, using one of British Columbia’s most influential business stages to outline an ambitious national strategy centred on energy, trade diversification, critical minerals, housing, infrastructure, and Canada’s growing geopolitical role.

Speaking before a packed audience of business executives, investors, elected officials, and industry representatives, Carney repeatedly framed the current global environment as a decisive turning point for Canada.

“Fortune favours the bold in a crisis,” said Carney during the session. “You really have to look for positive things. If you’re pulling back and trying to minimize risk all the time, it will overwhelm you.”

“We have a series of big shocks in the world, but we are very much in control of our destiny.”

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The Prime Minister’s remarks came amid rising global instability, escalating concerns about energy affordability and security, and intensifying competition among allied nations for strategic resources and supply chains.

Carney painted the picture of B.C. not as a peripheral player in that transformation, but as one of its central engines. He positioned the West Coast province as both Canada’s Pacific gateway and a cornerstone of the federal government’s broader nation-building agenda.

Carney described what he called a “three-dimensional energy crisis,” arguing that affordability, energy security, and climate transition are now deeply interconnected.

“The most immediate aspect of that crisis is affordability. The second challenge is a structural challenge of energy security. And the last is related to the existential challenge of climate change and the transition to net zero that’s necessary to combat it,” said the Prime Minister.

“When we master energy, we master our destiny,” he added.

“We need to move together”

According to Carney, Canada’s abundance of natural resources and clean electricity gives the country an opportunity to emerge as a globally trusted supplier at a moment when geopolitical fragmentation is reshaping international trade.

“In an uncertain world, we have another commodity that partners are choosing,” he said. “It’s the rarest of commodities, unfortunately, these days, which is trust. Canada is a stable, reliable partner in a world that is anything but.”

That trust, he argued, is translating into new commercial opportunities.

Carney said Canada has signed more than 20 economic and security agreements across five continents within the past year and is pursuing additional accords with India and the 11 countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which includes Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.

He says the goal is to have Canada double its non-United States exports this decade.

The Prime Minister linked that export strategy directly to B.C.’s ports, transportation systems, and energy infrastructure. He highlighted that the Port of Vancouver, the largest port in Canada, handles more cargo than the next five largest ports in the country combined.

Preliminary artistic rendering of Roberts Bank Terminal 2. (Vancouver Fraser Port Authority)

His address carried unmistakable political significance for B.C., with the federal government’s economic and national security strategy increasingly dependent on B.C. being a willing partner.

Carney repeatedly stressed that his federal government intends to accelerate major projects while maintaining partnerships with Indigenous communities and environmental protections.

“We need to move. We need to move in a coordinated fashion. We need to move together,” he said, noting that this was the message he would convene in a meeting with B.C. Premier David Eby later in the day.

“We need to move in a way that respects our environmental responsibilities, builds our partnership with First Nations, but builds the country’s independence, sovereignty, resilience, and prosperity at the same time.”

The Prime Minister referenced the federal government’s “nation-building projects” framework, introduced less than a year ago, which is intended to fast-track strategic major infrastructure and industrial projects. These projects are being expedited under the new federal Major Projects Office.

“One-third of those 22 projects and strategies that are being fast-tracked through the nation-building approach are from British Columbia,” he said to the applause of B.C.’s business community in the audience.

The list includes liquid natural gas (LNG) expansion projects, electricity transmission infrastructure, and critical mineral developments.

Carney also highlighted the Northwest B.C. Critical Conservation Corridor, which he said could connect isolated northern grids, unlock major mineral deposits and create a conservation area “the size of Greece.”

“It also could include a potential Alberta-B.C. intertie,” he said, referring to a possible electricity connection between the provinces.

The Prime Minister described electricity as foundational to Canada’s future economy, particularly as artificial intelligence (AI), industrial electrification, and clean technology industries expand.

“As the economy expands and grows, as AI accelerates, electricity demand in Canada is expected to double over the course of the next 25 years,” said Carney. “So we will double our electricity generation.”

“If things get stalled here [in B.C.], we’re going to be spending more time elsewhere in the country”

One of the most closely watched portions of the address came when Carney discussed ongoing discussions around a possible new oil pipeline connecting Alberta crude to Asian markets through B.C.’s West Coast export facilities.

“We’re also advancing discussions on a potential pipeline to transport at least one million barrels a day of low-emission Alberta crude to Asian markets,” he said.

However, Carney outlined several conditions that would need to be met before any such project proceeds.

“The pipeline will only be advanced with the following prerequisites being met,” he said.

Those conditions include the development of the Oil Sands Alliance carbon capture initiative, substantial economic participation for B.C., and constitutional consultation obligations with Indigenous communities.

Throughout the discussion, Carney attempted to frame Indigenous partnership not as a regulatory hurdle but as a necessary component of modern nation-building.

“One of the benefits of actually sitting down and talking about these things, as opposed to litigating about these things across federal government and provinces, is that it develops a shared understanding,” he said.

He later emphasized that negotiations between levels of governments have become more constructive than public debate often suggests.

“These discussions are much more constructive than they are portrayed,” he asserted.

B.C. Premier Eby has been publicly butting heads with Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith over the matter of expanding natural resource exports, with critics accusing Eby of being obstructionist — such as Eby’s November 2025 move of signing the North Coast Protection Declaration with First Nations to urge the federal government to uphold the existing oil tanker ban on the province’s northern coastline. This is further complicated by growing economic uncertainty stemming from the provincial government’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) and other controversial and secretive reconciliation strategies spearheaded by the current provincial leadership, as well as court decisions and ongoing litigation led by First Nations, such as the cases relating to Aboriginal title.

david eby first nations indigenous bc f dripa

David Eby. (Government of B.C.)

At another point in the discussion, Carney indicated that delays in B.C. could have consequences, both provincially and nationally.

“If things get stalled here [in B.C.], we’re going to be spending more time elsewhere in the country because we need to move forward,” he warned. “We need to invest at scale in the country.”

A recurring theme throughout the morning was the speed of economic decision-making.

Vancouver International Airport president and CEO Tamara Vrooman — introducing Carney before his address — joked that the federal government increasingly speaks about moving “at the speed of Carney.”

Carney himself embraced that framing.

“So speed, but doing speed the right way,” he said. “And that really requires partnership.”

The Prime Minister acknowledged growing frustration within the business community over regulatory duplication and approval timelines.

In response, he defended proposed federal reforms designed to consolidate reviews into a “one-stop shop” with legislated one-year decision timelines.

“Most federal approvals are siloed,” said Carney. “And they happen sequentially, not simultaneously.”

His federal government, he said, intends to reduce duplication between federal and provincial processes while consolidating federal oversight.

“Often, if you drew a venn diagram with very similar information that’s required, but not exactly the same information, which puts a huge, huge burden, a lot of those processes go through multiple regulators or points of contact at the federal level, and in many cases are duplicative of what’s happening at the provincial level,” he said.

“We’re putting in place the legislation, the architecture to one-stop shop, clear legislated commitment to have all the decisions within one year.”

Federal government discussing with B.C. government on cutting taxes on new housing

Although energy and trade dominated much of the event, affordability — particularly housing affordability — was also central to the discussion.

Carney argued that Canada’s affordability problems are inseparable from housing supply shortages.

“Part of the reason why housing’s not affordable is we haven’t built affordable housing,” he said.

“We need supply. We need the right kind of supply, deep affordability, we need to fix some of these structural issues in the core markets, and we need to grow incomes.”

The Prime Minister pointed to the federal government’s Build Canada Homes initiative, overseen by Gregor Robertson, who is the federal minister of housing and infrastructure and a former mayor of Vancouver.

Carney also outlined federal-provincial housing agreements aimed at reducing development costs and increasing housing supply.

“No GST, no HST on new housing,” he said of recent measures in the nation’s most populated province in partnership with the Government of Ontario.

“Development charges cut in half for the next three years on new build,” he added, suggesting some homes will see $200,000 in lower project costs per unit as a result of this temporary major financial reprieve.

He confirmed the federal government is engaged in discussions on a possible similar partnership with the Government of B.C.

“That’s material improvement in affordability, and what we’re looking to do is a structural change,” said Carney on the new Ontario approach, before adding that “we’re in early stages of discussion with the B.C. government around something similar.”

In early April, shortly after the announcement was made for Ontario, Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim called on the federal and provincial governments to secure an agreement that would lower development costs and keep housing projects moving forward, given that a growing high number of projects are now facing a pause or cancellation due to growing costs for construction and borrowing and the current structural economic challenges.

That agreement in Ontario committed the federal government and Ontario government to each commit $4.4 billion to fund new infrastructure — effectively enabling municipal governments in that province to reduce their fees for new building developments by up to 50 per cent, with the revenue from the senior governments offsetting and subsidizing the reductions in payments from builders and developers in a manner that does not impact municipal infrastructure requirements.

Amid growing costs due to inflation, population growth, and aging infrastructure, B.C. municipal and regional governments have seen an upward pressure to hike their fees. Municipal governments in Vancouver and Surrey have already introduced fee cuts and flexibilities in response to the current market conditions, while Metro Vancouver Regional District is moving to delay some of their highly controversial increases.

“The agreement in Ontario offers a template for funding infrastructure and lowering the cost of building,” said Sim at the time.

“We need a similar deal here in B.C., one that sees the Province match federal funds dollar-for-dollar to reduce development charges directly so projects can continue moving forward… We know the only way to improve long-term affordability is to keep building more homes. This is a window of opportunity for the Province to partner with the federal government and municipalities to lower costs and deliver the homes people need.”

Although there is currently lower demand for housing — partly due to the federal government’s immigration target changes — resulting in a downward pressure on home prices and rents, there is a growing concern that a prolonged interim pause on new home construction will lead to a steep escalation in prices and rents when demand returns in a few years.

Will Vancouver be the DSRB’s headquarters city?

Beyond economics and housing, the discussion revealed the extent to which Carney sees Canada assuming a broader strategic role among allied nations.

Carney described an evolving network of agreements among “like-minded countries” focused on defence, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, space, food security, and critical minerals.

“What’s happening in the world right now is that a series of like-minded countries are looking at deepening their relationships across various strategic sectors,’ he said.

That strategy also intersects with the new Defence Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB), which Vancouver business leaders hope could eventually be headquartered in their city.

Earlier this spring, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members and allied nations agreed Canada will host the headquarters office of the DSRB, which now sets the stage for a domestic competition to land the headquarters that could support 3,500 high-paying local jobs, provide the resulting permanent local economic spinoffs, and elevate the chosen city’s international relations profile. Vancouver is vying against Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal.

While Carney avoided committing to a location, he acknowledged Vancouver’s advantages.

“The many relationships and ties that British Columbia has beyond NATO in Asia are going to be very important to this,” he said.

The Prime Minister repeatedly returned to one central message: Canada’s international standing has shifted dramatically.

“The world really does want to do more with Canada,” said Carney. “They want to invest more here, they want more trade, they want more partnership.”

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