Canada's budget puts nearly C$30 billion toward ending homelessness

As of 8:39 p.m. ET, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026

Canada's federal budget proposes nearly C$30 billion with the stated goal of ending homelessness in the country within 10 years.

The plan in Budget 2026, tabled Nov. 5 by Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, would provide C$11.2 billion over four years starting in 2027-28 and C$17.8 billion in future years. "Canada has the resources, the people, and the will to end homelessness—but every level of government and each sector has a role to play," the budget says.

"We have 65,000 Canadians who suffer from homelessness," Champagne said at a news conference before the budget was tabled, CBC News reported. "I think it's the right thing to do." The Prime Minister's Office says homelessness has nearly doubled since 2018.

Where the money goes

According to the budget document, the plan includes:

• C$1.8 billion over four years and C$3.2 billion later for a new Integrated Supports Fund, run through the federal housing agency Build Canada Homes, for projects that combine housing with health, mental health, addictions and social services.

• C$3.6 billion over four years and C$6.4 billion later to build supportive and transitional housing.

• C$2 billion over two years for community mental health and addictions facilities.

• C$2.1 billion over three years starting in 2028-29 and C$4.4 billion later to renew the Reaching Home initiative and the Veterans Homelessness Program for 10 years.

• A 10-year renewal of the Canada Housing Benefit, which gives low-income renters monthly help.

The Prime Minister's Office says the housing money is meant to deliver about 25,000 supportive and transitional homes.

Ottawa would pay construction costs, while provinces and territories "will be expected to fund wraparound services and operations," the budget says. Communities receiving Reaching Home money would face stricter reporting requirements, including real-time data, as a condition of funding.

Winnipeg first

Carney announced the first deal on Nov. 6 in Winnipeg with Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew and Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham. The Prime Minister's Office said it includes more than C$1 billion in federal money: up to C$800 million for more than 2,000 supportive and transitional homes and more than C$200 million toward a new Winnipeg Centre for Mental Health and Addictions.

"Homelessness is one of the hardest challenges our country faces, and no government can solve it alone," Carney said in the release.

Reaction

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said his party would vote against the budget. In his reply in the House of Commons, he called it "a costly credit card budget that Canadians can't afford" and said its borrowing would "inflate the cost of fuel, food and homes." His remarks addressed the budget as a whole, not the homelessness plan specifically.

NDP Leader Avi Lewis, who criticized the overall budget, called the homelessness money "a good thing," CBC reported. NDP housing critic Jenny Kwan said in the Commons that "the investment does not match that ambition," according to NetNewsLedger.

Tim Tierney, president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, said the budget "enables the kind of decisive action on homelessness that municipalities have long called for," CBC reported. Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson welcomed the investment but said First Nations leaders were not included in developing it. "Our people deserve more than a place in someone else's plan," she said, according to NetNewsLedger.

The spending still needs Parliament's approval.