MNI BRIEF: Carney Seeks Agency To Double Canada's Homebuilding

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney made a campaign trail promise Monday for a new government entity seeking to about double the pace of homebuilding to 500,000 units a year, taking aim at an affordability squeeze that helped bring down his predecessor Justin Trudeau. 

Carney referred back to the years following World War II when the government set up an agency to build entire housing subdivisions using pre-set patterns, an approach he said he is needed again amid low construction productivity and rising costs. “The way we build homes needs to change. Prefabricated and modular housing will play a big role in the future,” Carney said. (See: MNI INTERVIEW: Canada Home Agency Sees Deeper Supply Shortfall)