The next phase of policies aimed at increasing Canada’s housing supply will involve an “industrial strategy” to boost the workforce and address zoning challenges, according to the federal minister overseeing the file.

Many government pledges this year have focused on providing funding, and Fraser sees that focus shifting to other housing hurdles in the months ahead. 

In an exclusive interview with BNN Bloomberg’s Paul Bagnell, Sean Fraser said changes to Canada’s workforce present one of the most pressing issues when it comes to increasing housing supply and bringing costs down.

“Even if we do everything perfectly, and other levels of government do too, we need to grow the productive capacity of the Canadian workforce if we're going to hit that target,” Fraser said in the television interview that aired Thursday.

“The next phase will involve an industrial strategy to help build out the workforce capacity, including through factory-built homes to allow us to scale dramatically the pace of construction. I know that target’s ambitious, but my view is we can make it possible if we collaborate closely with other levels of government and the private sector.”

ZONING RULES

Changes to municipal zoning rules will also be needed to boost supply, Fraser said.

The federal government’s housing accelerator fund, which is already supporting housing projects in more than a dozen Canadian cities, incentivizes municipalities to make zoning changes in order to access to the funding.

“We have an opportunity to fundamentally change the way that cities build homes in this country,” Fraser said.

“By putting federal cash on the table, we are seeing major cities across Canada, and very soon, small communities as well, that are going to be allowing four units on any lot in the city, that are going to have more density near transit, near post-secondary, near parts of the community where economic opportunities, services and infrastructure already exist.”

Ottawa unveiled its latest agreement under the accelerator fund on Thursday, announcing $471 million to support the construction of 53,000 new units in Toronto.

“The pace of change has been extraordinary. It has dramatically outperformed my own very high expectations,” Fraser said.

“We now have agreements signed with cities and we're not done. We expect to add more than 300,000 approvals over the next decade. This has been a major change and we're seeing it all at once.”

With files from The Canadian Press