As of the day after the election, the Liberal Party of Canada, under the leadership of Mark Carney, has won a minority government in the federal election. They are currently leading or elected in 168 seats. The Conservatives, like before, form the Official Opposition, with 144 seats (leading or elected) but in the surprise upset of the night, leader Pierre Poilievre has lost his seat. As of this moment, there is no indication if he will step down as party leader.
Prime Minister Carney’s next step will be to name a Cabinet. He will need to staff up the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and his ministers will need to staff up their departments. It is expected this will take a bit of time since many senior staff have gone on to other employment prior to the election and Prime Minister Carney will certainly want to bring in his own people to lead in key roles. Whether it be in the PMO or various ministries, all ministers and staff will need to become familiar with their files.
Currently, there is no indication of when Parliament will return. Once it does, the government will need to deliver a Throne Speech outlining its priorities. Canadians already have a good sense of what those priorities are, as most of them would have been articulated in the Liberal campaign platform (see this post for a breakdown of the housing elements in the Liberal campaign platform). However, a Throne Speech will often outline which of those campaign promises are the immediate priorities of the government.
As for the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA), we will continue to push for housing supply and affordability challenges to be at the top of that priority list. CHBA has ranked the main parties’ housing promises as they relate to our main asks and recommendations, and there still is work to be done by the Liberals. This includes ensuring that their proposed entity of “Build Canada Homes (BCH),” if it moves forward, sticks to affordable housing on crown lands and does not compete with the residential construction industry – a sector already challenged with higher interest rates, higher costs of materials and labour, and an overall slowing of housing starts.
CHBA has already been in communication with government officials on CHBA’s recommendations, and will be communicating these concerns, along with recommendations, to Prime Minister Carney, as well as the Finance Minister, the Housing Minister, and other members of Cabinet when appointed.
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