National Defence Minister David McGuinty announced plans to build more housing for the Canadian Armed Forces on Tuesday.PATRICK DOYLE/The Canadian Press
The Department of National Defence has unveiled the second phase of its housing construction program, which aims to build a total of approximately 7,500 new housing units across the country for Canadian Armed Forces members and their families.
Defence Minister David McGuinty made the announcement Tuesday at the Uplands Military Community Centre in Ottawa, along with Liberal MPs who have military bases in their ridings.
“We need to make sure that our members have the modern infrastructure they need to rest, to recharge and to prepare for the missions we’re asking of them,” Mr. McGuinty said.
“When they have stability at home, they are better equipped to meet the security challenges of today, and the ones we know are coming tomorrow.”
The plan will facilitate the construction of primarily one- and two-bedroom units at all 25 locations the Canadian Forces Housing Agency operates, according to a news release. The agency currently manages over 11,700 residential housing units across Canada.
Key locations for development include Valcartier, Que., Petawawa, Ont., and Edmonton, Alta., with over 1,000 new units each. Meanwhile, 900 units are expected in Kingston, Ont., 500 in Gagetown, N.B., and 280 in Ottawa.
The plan builds on the accelerated progress of the first phase, according to the release, which is in the process of delivering over 800 new units in nine locations.
Mr. McGuinty said the government realizes it needs to deliver housing faster and more efficiently, which is why Defence Construction Canada is engaging the industry “unusually early” about upcoming opportunities.
It also issued an advanced procurement notice for potential projects valued at about $3.74-billion, the news release said.
“Phase two will also accelerate delivery by constructing high-density, mid-rise apartment buildings using existing design work where possible, and co-ordinating closely with Build Canada Homes and other partners to be more efficient,” Mr. McGuinty said.
Mr. McGuinty said the delivery of the units would be sequential and that shovels are already in the ground. He also cited an example where the department acquired a building with over two dozen units that was in receivership in Esquimalt, B.C., in about five weeks.
When asked about timelines for all of the 7,500 housing units, Mr. McGuinty said it would take “several years” to get them built, but that procurement is going quickly.
Conservative defence critic James Bezan said in a social-media post that the Liberals have “ignored” the housing crisis faced by military members for 10 years.
“Conservatives support getting homes built for our troops, however we remain skeptical that the Liberals will actually deliver based on their track record,” he said.
Last year, Auditor-General Karen Hogan found that the department needed an additional 5,200 to 7,200 housing units for its members.
She also found that as of March, 2025, 66 per cent of CAF members who were waiting for a unit were single individuals. However, only 22 per cent of the military housing agency’s portfolio were one- or two-bedroom units, indicating there was not enough housing suited to single people.
Mr. McGuinty said that the housing plan will help the government attract and retain more people to the Forces.
He said that applications to join have gone up 13 per cent in the past eight months, something he partly attributes to the wave of nationalism that has recently swept the country.
“I think they want to make sure that Canada remains a secure and sovereign country,” he said, adding that new recruits are interested in the opportunities that the Forces provide.
Recruitment was also the subject of one of Ms. Hogan’s audits. Between 2022 and 2025, it found that only 54 per cent of people followed through on applications to join the Forces, but the military didn’t know why many of them ultimately walked away.
Ms. Hogan’s report also said that while the recruitment target time was between 100 and 150 days, the median number of days it took for an applicant to be recruited during that three-year period was between 245 and 271.
Mr. McGuinty said a review of the full application process will continue. The government has also made a number of changes to allow more Canadians to apply.
With a report from Stephanie Levitz