OTTAWA — Liberal Leader Mark Carney promised Monday to get the federal government back into the business of home building, while Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives pitched a national energy corridor to fast-track approval of key infrastructure.
The two rival party leaders touted the plans as national projects to stand up to the United States as it menaces Canada's economy with a steady stream of fresh tariffs.
Canadians head to the polls in a general election on April 28.
The Liberals propose doubling the pace of construction to almost 500,000 new homes a year, unleashing the power of public-private co-operation on a scale not seen since the end of the Second World War.
The government would create a new entity, Build Canada Homes, to act as a developer on new housing projects and provide more than $25 billion in financing to innovative builders of prefabricated homes in Canada.
At a campaign stop in Vaughan, Ont., Carney said the new approach aimed to "build faster, build smarter and to build more affordably."
The Conservatives' planned national energy corridor would expedite approval of transmission lines, railways, pipelines and other critical infrastructure.
Canada needs big projects that link its regions, east to west, as U.S. President Donald Trump threatens Canada with tariffs, Poilievre said at an event in Saint John, N.B.
"We need to be able to get our resources across Canada, bypassing America, so we can trade more with each other and sell our resources to the world," he said.
Eyes are turning to Wednesday when Trump is likely to slap "reciprocal tariffs" on countries including Canada over various alleged trade practices.
Carney has stressed the need for Canada to fundamentally reimagine its economy in response to Trump's levies and threats of annexation.
"We are facing the biggest crisis of our lifetimes, and we are going to build our way out of it," Carney said Monday.
Poilievre has campaigned on a need for change, warning that Canadians can ill afford to re-elect the Liberals after almost 10 years at the helm.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was set to start the day in Victoria before travelling to Edmonton.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 31, 2025.
Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press
