Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced eight new housing projects in the city of Ottawa as part of the Build Canada Homes partnership announced late last year. The $400 million partnership was announced in December, with the prime minister saying financing would “unlock an additional 1,000 non-market housing units in the city’s portfolio.” In remarks on Thursday, he said that goal had been exceeded, with the eight new projects providing more than 1,100 new rental homes in Ottawa. “We are fast-tracking these projects to get shovels in the ground in the next few months… and I want to thank Ottawa city council for their unanimous vote of confidence in this work,” said Carney. His remarks were delivered at a site on Geyser Place in Barrhaven, where a housing project with 118 units has been proposed. City council approved the Build Canada Homes partnership on Wednesday. As part of the deal, the city will be exempting development and community benefit charges from Build Canada Homes projects, waiving cash-in-lieu of parkland and building permit fees, and eliminating planning fees to help speed up the building process and reduce costs. “This deal will create thousands of new homes, including deeply affordable homes, built on public land in our city, and I think this is what the public expects of us, of their elected representatives, especially in response to something as significant as the housing crisis,” said Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe. The partnership includes plans to build 2,000 units on surplus federal lands and financing for 1,000 affordable housing units from the city’s affordable housing pipeline. The city says the 2,000 units on surplus federal lands will include 1,200 homes at market rate, and a target of 800 homes that would be “affordable for moderate-income households and below,” a city news release said. Within those 800, the city says there is a target of 200 “more deeply affordable homes for the lowest-income households.” Carney said the approved projects cover many parts of the city, including Nepean, Centretown, Sandy Hill, Overbrook, and Lincoln Heights. Federal Housing Minister Gregor Robertson said the partnership shows what can be accomplished when different levels of government work together. “By unlocking public land and backing shovel-ready projects, we’re helping deliver thousands of homes in Ottawa, with affordability and long-term community needs front and centre,” he said. The federal government says all projects under this agreement will prioritise modern methods of construction and follow a Buy Canadian approach, where possible, to strengthen local supply chains, support Canadian materials, and speed up delivery. According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, overall housing starts in Ottawa are up 7 per cent in the first three months of 2026 compared with the January to March period of 2025. Project sites According to the federal government, the eight sites are:
