Neil Malik
Should Ottawa help pay for B.C.'s unsold condos?
Should Ottawa help pay for B.C.'s unsold condos?
Photo via Unsplash
The Topline
- The federal government has agreed to partner with B.C.’s government to help purchase more than 2,200 unsold condos in B.C. and convert them into rent-to-own homes.
- Officially called the Canada-British Columbia Partnership on Condo Conversion, Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters at a news conference last week that Ottawa will contribute up to 10 per cent of the roughly $1.45 billion plan, while the B.C. government covers the rest.
- The Prime Minister’s Office described the plan as “one of the fastest and most efficient ways to increase housing supply — welcoming British Columbians to new, affordable homes as quickly as possible.”
- Calling it a corporate bailout, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre posted on X that “taxpayers are being forced to bail out developers and bankers instead of letting condo prices fall to affordable levels.”
- Carney and B.C. Premier David Eby both acknowledged they messed up by rushing to announce the program before working out many of the key details.
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Switch sides,
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It’s a plan worth testing
The Carney government’s 2025-26 budget makes it clear: “This government is here to get big things done for Canadians, at a scale and speed not seen in generations.”
That being the case, if Ottawa wants more affordable housing as fast as possible, it’ll have to get creative. Buying up newly built unsold condos for below the cost of construction might be considered doing just that.
I say “might” because we still don’t know all the details, except for Carney’s press release saying there’s roughly 2,200 unsold condo units in B.C. sitting vacant right now in “priority growth areas.”
To get a sense of why, take a look at MLA Canada’s annual presale market intel report.
In January 2024 , it predicted lower interest rates would help bridge the affordability gap, unlock pent-up demand, and improve presale sales.
The January 2026 edition paints a very different picture. Lower interest rates haven’t motivated buyers, investors have largely disappeared, plenty of resale options exist, and completed condos are now competing against each other.
But instead of dropping the price, it seems like some B.C. developers would rather hang on to the empty units while hoping and waiting for an eventual market recovery.
The B.C. government wants to get those vacant homes quickly into the hands of people who are looking for more affordable housing options — because having brand new, turnkey condo units sitting empty while people struggle with affordability is kind of absurd.
Most — if not all — of the important details on how the plan will operate are still missing. But last week, Eby described it as a rent-to-own program meant to help people overcome the challenge of a down payment to qualify for a mortgage.
“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,” Eby told reporters at a press conference last week.
“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.”
Beau Jarvis, president and CEO of Wesgroup Properties, told 730 CKNW’s Jas Johal the development industry didn’t propose this idea, but he suspects the government will be getting “deep discounts” at a cost far less than if the government chose to build the same product.
Another benefit is that once these condos are purchased, tied-up developer money suddenly becomes available once again to start new housing developments for a population that’s expected to keep on growing.
That’s important because once new housing construction grinds to a halt, it takes years for it to restart.
Critics are calling this a taxpayer-funded bailout for big developers, but it’s actually not a bailout once you realize the government would have otherwise turned to developers to construct new homes. Why not use the money instead to acquire finished condo units at a cheaper cost?
“People can’t wait for housing,” Eby told reporters yesterday in Vancouver at a press conference alongside Carney. “We can buy housing at below our construction cost and make it available affordably.”
We’re still missing a lot of important details. But for now, give Eby and Carney credit for getting creative and trying something different. It just might work.
It’s a bailout in disguise
The late U.S. President Ronald Reagan once said : “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help.”
The word “terrifying” perfectly describes Carney and Eby’s suggestion that more government bureaucracy will help solve our housing affordability crisis.
The Prime Minister’s Office says the plan to purchase unsold condos is “one of the fastest and most efficient ways to increase housing supply — welcoming British Columbians to new, affordable homes as quickly as possible.”
But semi-retired development executive Mark Betteridge told The Level, “This plan would seem to add more public sector management as the assets are acquired.”
Which brings up a good point: when has the public sector ever been fast and efficient?
In addition to the purchase price of the condos, taxpayers will need to cover the salaries for a large government bureaucracy to negotiate bulk pricing with several developers, purchase, rent out, and manage over 2,000 units — while also launching and operating a rent-to-own program for all tenants.
None of that will be fast or efficient. The only thing quick about this whole thing was the announcement itself.
Eby and Carney rushed to announce the program before any important details were figured out. It was like nobody in either the premier’s or prime minister’s office imagined they’d be asked any questions on how the plan would work.
Betteridge, meanwhile, had no problem rhyming off a list of questions about the government’s purchasing process: “Are there geographic limitations? How are those losses calculated for being considered for a buyout? Who assumes the construction warranties?”
He also had questions about the rent-to-own process: “What does a qualified buyer look like? Is there a financial assessment of potential buyers? Are the purchasers held to owning the unit for X years?”
Without any answers, it’s hard not to see this as a corporate bailout for developers who pay a whole lot of taxes to various levels of government.
“Eby is hiking taxes and borrowing billions to give big bailouts to luxury condo developers and that’s wrong,” said Carson Binda from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
“This sends the wrong message to developers: build tiny, luxury condos and list them at fantasy prices and wait for taxpayer-funded bailouts.”
In the meantime, taxpayers better hope there’s enough local demand for smaller condos that were initially designed with Airbnb usage and offshore buyers in mind.
For locals who plan on starting a family, these one- and two-bedroom condos simply may not fit the bill — even if they were more affordable.
Allowing the market to do its thing while reducing red tape would have been a better idea, said Betteridge.
“Let the market speak on these 2,000 units, then channel public resources into creative, long-term help for the provision of infrastructure and faster approval processes for affordable housing. Losses to the private sector can normally be mitigated as either business investment or capital losses,” he added.
“Such is life in the fast lane.”
