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Evan Siddall Returns to Federal Housing as Build Canada Homes Chair
The federal government has pivoted from financing housing to building it directly, and the appointment announced this month makes the pivot official. Evan Siddall, who spent six years running the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation before moving to Alberta Investment Management Corporation in 2020, will chair Build Canada Homes when the new Crown corporation reaches full operational status this fall.
Build Canada Homes is not another program. It is a developer. The corporation holds title to underutilized federal land, secures financing, hires contractors, and delivers units. Where CMHC acted as insurer and lender, Build Canada Homes acts as owner-operator. The shift reflects a judgment that private incentives have failed to close the gap between what gets built and what the country needs, which CMHC estimates at 3.5 million units by 2030.
Siddall's tenure at CMHC coincided with the launch of the National Housing Strategy in 2017, a ten-year, multi-billion-dollar framework that positioned the federal government as a more active participant in supply. He was known for public warnings about household debt levels and for describing housing as a tool for macroeconomic recovery, not just shelter policy. That framing, sometimes called "housing-led recovery," treated construction volume as a lever for employment and GDP growth during downturns.
Why This Appointment Signals Scale
Appointing someone with institutional asset management experience sends a specific message about how the government intends to run this entity. At AIMCo, Siddall oversaw pension funds with long time horizons and tolerance for lumpy cash flows. Pension-fund logic applied to housing development means prioritizing steady yield and multi-decade performance over quarterly results. It also means borrowing against future rental income to finance upfront construction, a model that works only at significant scale.
The corporation has access to roughly $15 billion in initial capitalization and loan capacity, routed through the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund and related credit facilities. That figure is large enough to matter. At current construction costs in major markets like Toronto and Vancouver, $15 billion translates to between 40,000 and 60,000 units, depending on density and land costs. Those are not demonstration projects. They are material additions to supply in cities where vacancy rates sit below 2%.
The Structural Problem Build Canada Homes Must Navigate
The Crown corporation model solves one problem and creates another. It solves the coordination failure that happens when federal money flows through provincial and municipal approvals, each layer adding delay. A federal entity that owns the land and controls the financing can move faster. But housing is still a provincial and municipal responsibility under the Constitution. Zoning, building codes, servicing agreements, and occupancy permits all require local sign-off. A federal developer does not bypass that process. It becomes subject to it.
This is where Siddall's profile matters. He is a known quantity to provincial finance ministers and municipal housing leads. He has testified before parliamentary committees, negotiated bilateral agreements with provinces, and defended controversial positions in public. That capital may reduce friction when Build Canada Homes submits its first rezoning application or requests an expedited permit review.
The corporation's success will not be measured by announcements. It will be measured by units occupied. Construction costs remain elevated, skilled trades are in short supply, and municipal approval timelines in high-demand markets stretch well past 18 months. If Build Canada Homes can compress that timeline while keeping per-unit costs below private-sector benchmarks, the model proves itself. If it cannot, the federal government will have added a new Crown corporation without adding meaningful supply.
Siddall takes the chair at a moment when the gap between political commitment and physical delivery has never been more visible. The question is whether institutional discipline translates to shovels in the ground.
The federal government has pivoted from financing housing to building it directly, and the appointment announced this month makes the pivot official. Evan Siddall, who spent six years running the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation before moving to Alberta Investment Management Corporation in 2020, will chair Build Canada Homes when the new Crown corporation reaches full operational status this fall.
Build Canada Homes is not another program. It is a developer. The corporation holds title to underutilized federal land, secures financing, hires contractors, and delivers units. Where CMHC acted as insurer and lender, Build Canada Homes acts as owner-operator. The shift reflects a judgment that private incentives have failed to close the gap between what gets built and what the country needs, which CMHC estimates at 3.5 million units by 2030.
Siddall's tenure at CMHC coincided with the launch of the National Housing Strategy in 2017, a ten-year, multi-billion-dollar framework that positioned the federal government as a more active participant in supply. He was known for public warnings about household debt levels and for describing housing as a tool for macroeconomic recovery, not just shelter policy. That framing, sometimes called "housing-led recovery," treated construction volume as a lever for employment and GDP growth during downturns.
Why This Appointment Signals Scale
Appointing someone with institutional asset management experience sends a specific message about how the government intends to run this entity. At AIMCo, Siddall oversaw pension funds with long time horizons and tolerance for lumpy cash flows. Pension-fund logic applied to housing development means prioritizing steady yield and multi-decade performance over quarterly results. It also means borrowing against future rental income to finance upfront construction, a model that works only at significant scale.
The corporation has access to roughly $15 billion in initial capitalization and loan capacity, routed through the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund and related credit facilities. That figure is large enough to matter. At current construction costs in major markets like Toronto and Vancouver, $15 billion translates to between 40,000 and 60,000 units, depending on density and land costs. Those are not demonstration projects. They are material additions to supply in cities where vacancy rates sit below 2%.
The Structural Problem Build Canada Homes Must Navigate
The Crown corporation model solves one problem and creates another. It solves the coordination failure that happens when federal money flows through provincial and municipal approvals, each layer adding delay. A federal entity that owns the land and controls the financing can move faster. But housing is still a provincial and municipal responsibility under the Constitution. Zoning, building codes, servicing agreements, and occupancy permits all require local sign-off. A federal developer does not bypass that process. It becomes subject to it.
This is where Siddall's profile matters. He is a known quantity to provincial finance ministers and municipal housing leads. He has testified before parliamentary committees, negotiated bilateral agreements with provinces, and defended controversial positions in public. That capital may reduce friction when Build Canada Homes submits its first rezoning application or requests an expedited permit review.
The corporation's success will not be measured by announcements. It will be measured by units occupied. Construction costs remain elevated, skilled trades are in short supply, and municipal approval timelines in high-demand markets stretch well past 18 months. If Build Canada Homes can compress that timeline while keeping per-unit costs below private-sector benchmarks, the model proves itself. If it cannot, the federal government will have added a new Crown corporation without adding meaningful supply.
Siddall takes the chair at a moment when the gap between political commitment and physical delivery has never been more visible. The question is whether institutional discipline translates to shovels in the ground.
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