In an increasingly turbulent world, Canada is determining our future. We have the strength to build, the discipline to deliver, and the values to take care of each other.
Budget 2026 is the major next step of our ambitious, pragmatic, generational plan to make Canadians maîtres chez nous, building our sovereignty and giving us the freedom to live our lives as we choose. And being maîtres chez vous begins with a place to call your own.
Today the Honourable Eleanor Olszewski, Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience and Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan) visited the King Thunderbird Centre in Edmonton to highlight Budget 2026's plan to end homelessness within 10 years. Backed by nearly $30 billion, this is an unprecedented federal initiative to tackle homelessness and ensure all Canadians can live in dignity and community.
For decades, governments, communities, and front-line organisations have grappled with homelessness, and their experience has shown what makes the biggest difference.
Homelessness is about more than a roof over one's head. It is about the help people rely on every day, the stability of a safe and affordable home, and the health care many need, including for mental health and addictions. For too long, these systems have operated apart, and not at the scale this crisis demands. Addressing these gaps requires close collaboration between federal, provincial, and territorial governments, alongside community partners. Budget 2026 challenges all partners to come together and deliver what we have learned works: help, housing, and health.
Help: reaching people early, and staying with them until they find a home
- $6.5 billion to renew and strengthen the Reaching Home Initiative and support for veteran homelessness. This funding supports community-led efforts to prevent homelessness, connect people with shelter and essential services, and help them find employment support and a permanent home. Communities will be expected to provide more consistent and timely data to measure the scale of homelessness and track progress in reducing it.
- $5.5 billion to renew the Canada Housing Benefit to provide direct monthly rental assistance to low-income Canadians, including survivors of gender-based violence, so they can pay their rent, keep their homes, and avoid becoming homeless.
Housing: a safe place to go, from transitional homes to deeply affordable ones
- $10 billion through Build Canada Homes to support the delivery of about 25,000 supportive and transitional homes across Canada. The federal government will fund construction, while provinces and territories fund operations and the services residents need to stay housed. This investment will grow as more partners step forward.
Health: care and a home, together under one roof
- $5 billion for a new Integrated Supports Fund, delivered through Build Canada Homes, to build facilities that bring together housing, health care, mental health and addictions treatment, and other social services, with public, private, and philanthropic partners. The model builds on the success of Toronto's Dunn House, where residents' emergency room visits have been cut in half.
- $2 billion for the Build Communities Strong Fund's Health Infrastructure Fund to build new community mental health and addictions treatment facilities and refurbish existing ones.
A home is more than a roof over someone's head. It is the foundation for good health, personal security, and the opportunity to build a better life. This is what it means to be maîtres chez nous: a sovereign Canada, where we take care of each other, where we create opportunities for all, and where we are free to live our lives as we choose.
