Prime Minister Mark Carney and Premier David Eby announced a federal-provincial partnership on June 18, 2026, to bulk-purchase 2,200 unsold condominiums in British Columbia. The $1.5-billion plan has drawn sharp criticism from the Urban Development Institute (UDI), which represents the development industry. UDI president Rick Ilich called the initiative a misguided use of taxpayer funds that fails to address the root causes of housing unaffordability for the middle class.
Critics Label Plan a Developer Bailout
Ilich stated that the industry had proposed solutions to help homebuyers, but the government's route caught them off guard. “The industry proposed ideas to help homebuyers — all things only all levels of government control — but they took a shocking route and caught us off guard,” he wrote in an opinion piece. He dismissed the notion that developers lobbied for the government to absorb market risk, calling the plan a “developer bailout.”
The UDI has consistently asked for reductions in regulations, government fees, and the GST imposed on buyers, as well as policies that drive up construction costs. Ilich emphasized that the industry's goal is to build communities where British Columbians can lay down roots, not to have the government become a landlord or speculator of distressed assets.
Focus on Workforce Housing for Middle-Income Earners
Ilich argued that the government should pivot toward immediate structural reforms to make housing attainable for middle-income earners. He highlighted the need for workforce housing — a category for employed people who do not qualify for government assistance but cannot afford market rents in their city of employment. These include essential service workers such as teachers, hospitality employees, grocery clerks, emergency first responders, and frontline health-care workers.
“Targeting housing at the middle-income workforce does more than put a roof over heads. It directly solves the severe staffing shortages and retention crisis plaguing our essential services due to the local cost of living,” Ilich wrote. He noted that allowing frontline workers to live where they serve is a matter of public safety, especially during natural disasters or emergencies when a localized workforce is essential for a coordinated response.
Broader Benefits of Workforce Housing
Ilich pointed out that bringing workforce housing to urban areas would improve quality of life, reduce gridlock on roads, and ease pressure on public transit. It would also advance municipal sustainability goals by encouraging green mobility and reinforce regional economic resiliency, fostering thriving, complete neighbourhoods.
He criticized the province for funneling tax dollars into purchasing existing condo inventory while simultaneously scaling back or suspending critical funding for the Community Housing Fund — programs designed to build new, dedicated affordable housing with projects that had already laid the groundwork. “I suggest their advisers missed the mark,” Ilich concluded.
