Housing affordability and access are top of mind for Canadians—and with good reason.
In the last quarter century, the average Canadian home price has more than quadrupled, making it one of the least affordable housing markets in the world. Despite the urgency, systemic barriers continue to delay development, increase costs, and put homeownership further out of reach for millions.
To restore affordability, experts state that Canada must build 3.5 million new homes by 2030. Unfortunately, we’re nowhere close. In 2024, only 227,000 units were constructed—less than half the number required each year. At this rate, Canada will fall drastically short, further eroding housing affordability and access.
This isn’t just a housing shortage; it’s a systems-level crisis. Addressing it requires coordinated action, bold innovation, and a shift in how we plan, build, and deliver housing. Under Prime Minister Carney’s leadership, Canada is taking steps towards that shift.
His government’s new housing plan promises to double Canada’s rate of homebuilding, unlock $36 billion in public financing, and scale prefabricated and modular housing that can cut construction time by up to 50%, costs by 20%, and emissions by 22%. It includes:
- $26 billion in financing for innovative prefab builders
- $10 billion in low-cost capital for affordable housing
- The creation of a new national developer, “Build Canada Homes” to deliver housing at scale and catalyze a next-generation housing industry
But ambitious policy alone isn’t enough. To execute at this scale, Canada needs the infrastructure to support innovation and adoption.
That’s where Foresight Canada comes in.
Ecosystem Enablement, Not Just Innovation
Foresight’s role is to help build national capacity to identify, scale, and adopt housing solutions that are faster, smarter, and more sustainable. We act as a bridge—between innovators and end-users, policy and practice, ambition and execution.
Across sectors, our approach remains the same: foster collaboration, reduce friction, and unlock the talent, capital, and partnerships needed to scale what works. When it comes to the built environment, we’re already leading the charge.
Foresight is advancing solutions that address:
- Emissions from buildings and materials
- Construction-sector productivity
- Skills gaps and workforce development
- Public procurement and permitting reform
- Scaling of low-carbon technologies and industrialized construction
This work spans the full built environment value chain—from early-stage design to financing, permitting, and deployment. Foresight bridges the gap between promising technologies and real construction projects by supporting their direct integration into builds that are already underway.
Through our Clean Productivity model and sector-focused efforts like our Built Environment programming, we help governments and industry:
- Strengthen adoption pathways for high-potential solutions
- Mobilize private and public capital
- Build the workforce and supply chains needed to support industrial-scale transformation
Many of the priorities outlined in the federal government’s plan—scaling prefabricated houses, investing in clean construction, and expanding skilled trades—directly align with the work that Foresight is already doing. Our role is to ensure these priorities translate into real-world action and impact.
Model in Action: The Level-Up Challenge
This approach came to life in Round 5 of the CMHC Housing Supply Challenge: Level-Up, which focused on unlocking system-level change to tackle one of the biggest barriers to housing delivery: entrenched inefficiencies.
The goal? To scale innovative solutions that reduce development timelines and deliver permanent improvements to how housing gets built in Canada. Foresight played a national leadership role as the lead Scaling Hub, accelerating the companies and systems Canada needs to build housing faster, smarter, and affordably.
We worked with 18 high-potential innovators with tailored growth strategies, commercialization support, and industry connections to prepare their solutions for national adoption. These companies were selected to lead innovation in both market and community housing.
This work was delivered in partnership with fellow Scaling Hubs DMZ, GroundBreak Ventures, The Decision Lab, Highline Beta, and the University of Toronto’s School of Cities as part of a coordinated national effort to deliver results.
The Path Forward
The Level-Up Challenge proved what’s possible when public ambition meets ecosystem coordination. The government set the challenge, ventures brought the solutions, and Foresight helped turn those innovations into actionable realities, streamlining their path to implementation.
But Level-Up is just one piece of a much larger opportunity.
Foresight’s work in housing, construction, materials, and infrastructure continues to support Canada’s transition to a faster, more affordable, and sustainable built environment sector.
Our country doesn’t just need more homes. It needs the systems, partnerships, and innovation infrastructure to deliver them differently and the leadership required to align efforts across jurisdictions..
As Canada’s housing innovation enabler, we’re proud to lead this work—bringing together all levels of government, industry leaders, and communities to align priorities and accelerate the adoption of technologies that will shape how Canada builds, now and into the future. The future won’t build itself. Let’s get to work.
By bringing leaders and innovators together, we're building the future of green construction. Let’s reach new heights, together.
Connect with us to learn more about our Built Environment sector support.
