Alberta received the lowest grade among Canadian provinces on a report evaluating home building progress. The Report Card on More and Better Housing gave Alberta an overall score of D+ for “failing to adopt better building codes, incentivize factory-built housing, and regulate construction in flood-prone areas.” “This, in spite of smart reforms being implemented by municipal governments in Calgary and Edmonton,” the report reads. The report card was commissioned by the Task Force for Housing and Climate. The task force was formed in 2023 to provide practical and actionable advice to governments on housing. It created the Blueprint for More and Better Housing, offering “a comprehensive set of more than 140 policy actions for adding 5.8 million homes by 2030 that are affordable, low carbon and resilient.” “Provincial governments control the bulk of housing policy tools and must step up,” said Dr. Mike Moffatt, a task force member and author of the report card. “Provinces often speak about the housing crisis, but many are not walking the talk. Without meaningful reform from all orders of government, we won’t build the homes Canadians need.” The federal government earned the highest grade on the report card, with a B. The report says the federal government adopted key recommendations, including “federal tax incentives for rental construction, leasing of federal land for housing, and incentivizing municipal zoning reforms, which are having a positive impact on housing supply.” The provincial and federal governments were evaluated based on five categories relative to the task force’s blueprint: “Alberta has done less to legalize family-friendly density than other provinces and is lagging on resiliency and energy efficiency,” the report reads. No province received a grade higher than a C+. Quebec, Prince Edward Island and British Columbia all scored a C+, while New Brunswick and Ontario got Cs. Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador and Manitoba all got a C-, while Alberta sat alone with a D+. “Calgary and Edmonton have taken leadership and instituted several helpful reforms on issues ranging from zoning to approval processes. Work on adopting these provincewide. Institute hazard mapping reforms and ensure homes are not built in areas prone to floods and wildfires,” the report said. The group on the task force is bipartisan, with former Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson and former Conservative Cabinet Minister Lisa Raitt involved. Mark Carney was a member of the group before he became the leader of the Liberal party. Read the full report on the task force’s website. Friday afternoon, the province offered the following statement: “Alberta’s government rejects the findings of this baseless, politically-motivated report. This is not a report on affordable housing — as it claims to be — but is instead a report by a climate activist group that ignores reality in an effort to push their green agenda," the statement said. “The fact that British Columbia, one of the least affordable housing markets on the planet, received the highest grade among provinces is a perfect example of how this report fails to recognize what is most important in housing: affordability. “If this were to be a legitimate report on affordable housing, it would highlight the fact that Alberta’s strong, housing-forward policies have helped Alberta break records when it comes to housing starts in the province, and that our province led the country in housing starts per capita in 2024. This momentum has continued into 2025, with Alberta continuing to see historic growth in our housing starts through the first quarter of 2025. Despite making up less than 13 per cent of Canada’s population, during Q1, Alberta built more than 25 per cent of all housing starts in the country. “The fact that this report gave the federal government an “A-” in factory-built housing alone is disqualifying, given that following the devastating wildfires in Jasper last summer, the federal government rejected our government’s $112 million modular housing proposal to rebuild the community and provide homes for displaced Jasperites. “We reject any idea that Alberta is not building climate-resilient housing. Last year, Alberta’s government introduced province-wide building code requirements that strengthen construction standards to protect against environmental conditions such as weather and climate. These changes allow for improved energy efficiency in housing and small buildings, while still emphasizing consumer affordability. In addition, government initiatives such as the Affordable Housing Partnership Program take many factors into consideration, including sustainability, when funding new developments. Builders and homeowners can assess the risk that their property may face and build or upgrade their homes beyond the established code requirements. “The report also fails to acknowledge the many strong steps Alberta’s government has taken to mitigate the risks Albertans’ homes and communities may face against floods. This includes completing the Springbank Reservoir to protect homeowners in Calgary and extensive flood mapping resources that municipalities can use to make decisions that will help reduce the risk of their residents being impacted by floods. “Alberta’s housing record speaks for itself, and we urge the rest of the country to follow our lead in adopting smart, housing-forward policies that deliver real results for Canadians.”
