Posted Jun 23, 2026, 7:12 PM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Vancouver
Posts: 176
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Quote:
Originally Posted by whatnext
I'm making conclusions based on what the Prime Minister said. Things like:
"...and, at the same time, too many completed condos are sitting empty. In Metro Vancouver alone, around 2,500 finished units are standing vacant with no buyers. With higher interest rates and weak investor demand, developers are stuck. They don’t want to sell at a loss, but they also cannot afford to hold empty units indefinitely.."
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You are cherry picking and misinterpreting Carney's remarks just to fuel your sense of outrage. This section is Carney describing the market - his full remarks can be found here: https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/speeches/20...-new-partnership-accelerate-homebuilding
The full section says:
Quote:
While there are still clear challenges in the housing market, there are signs of progress.
Rents are starting to come down and affordability is beginning to improve.
Rents are at a 20-month low, and the rent-to-income ratio has fallen to its lowest level in over six years.
In Vancouver, rent for a one-bedroom is down more than 6% compared to last year.
Now is the time to reinforce that progress, by tackling the housing crisis from every angle.
In B.C., not enough affordable homes are being built, so demand continues to far outpace supply.
And, at the same time, too many completed condos are sitting empty. In Metro Vancouver alone, around 2,500 finished units are standing vacant with no buyers.
With higher interest rates and weak investor demand, developers are stuck. They don’t want to sell at a loss, but they also cannot afford to hold empty units indefinitely.
The problem is that these empty homes do not just sit idle. They also disincentivise new construction, unsettle lenders and investors, and create a housing market that is, in effect, frozen.
The result is that many British Columbians still cannot find homes they can afford.
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Later he describes what he wants to do and in the Q&A he expands on that:
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To that end, today, we are announcing the new Canada-British Columbia Partnership on Condo Conversion.
Together, we will leverage innovative financing tools from Build Canada Homes to convert thousands of vacant condo units into affordable homes.
One of the fastest and most effective ways to increase the housing supply is to convert vacant properties into affordable housing.
Over the coming months, our governments will formalise this partnership and will begin bringing affordable housing back to the market by this fall.
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In the Q&A he is asked “How does the math on this actually work? Is the government just buying these units at retail prices to bail out developers who overbuilt?” and he answers:
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“Looking out at condos that have been built, that are unoccupied, that are going to sit there potentially for another couple of years; we are going to go and use the right financing mechanisms and convert those into affordable housing so people can move in and use those,” said Carney.
“Effectively what you are doing is buying them at a price and spreading out the financing because you can do that for the underlying condo at our financing rate, but targeting at a level that is affordable," he said. "It is a way to clear off on the books this overhang.”
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Carney is pretty vague about this beyond talking about "financing mechanisms" - I read that as the gov't offering re-financing terms to the developer. Whether the developer takes a hair cut as part of that is TBD but, again, there's NOTHING in Carney's remarks that justify your outrage and claims of a handout.
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