Metro Vancouver had 6,149 finished homes and condos sitting unsold in May 2026, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. The federal and provincial governments now want to turn some of them into affordable housing.
The idea is one piece of a 10-year agreement. The Carney government says it will spend more than $5 billion across British Columbia on housing, transit and related infrastructure through the Build Communities Strong Fund. More than 2,200 vacant condo units in the province are to be converted. The Prime Minister’s Office, in its June 18 announcement, called the approach “one of the fastest and most efficient ways to increase housing supply.”
Not everyone agrees. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called it a “bailout” for developers who built in a hotter market and now hold unsold inventory.
By the numbers
Condo apartments make up most of the unsold stock, and their number is up 76 per cent from a year earlier, CMHC said. Richmond leads the list, followed by the Tri-Cities (Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody) and Central Park/Metrotown.
CMHC economist Michael Mak told Canada’s National Observer that more supply arrived all at once. Projects begun in the early 2020s are being finished, and in Metro Vancouver the biggest year for condo completions in the past 35 years was 2025. Demand has also softened, he said. Mortgage rates limit what buyers can afford, and economic uncertainty and elevated unemployment may be leading some to wait. Higher rental vacancies, slower rent growth and new rental supply have made condos less appealing to investors who buy to rent out.
Mak said CMHC expects new home construction to fall in the coming years, since weak new-home sales and presale demand make it harder for condo projects to go ahead.
What the experts say
Thomas Davidoff, director of UBC’s Centre for Urban Economics and Real Estate, said many developers bought land and planned projects around the 2022 market, when interest rates were low, immigration was high and rents and prices were expected to keep climbing. Then borrowing costs rose and population growth slowed. “People take chances in business,” he said. “They have to be open to taking losses when those bets go wrong.”
He sees a bigger danger in lenders than in builders. If developers cannot repay loans, banks are affected, and that can make future construction harder to finance. “If banks are short of capital, we’re in big trouble,” Davidoff said.
He also questioned the cost. New condos are among the priciest housing to subsidize, and deep discounts would help few households. Governments should decide who the homes are for, he said, because renting a condo below market to a teacher or firefighter is a different thing from helping someone who sleeps in a car. “You don’t do redistribution to people in need by getting them brand new condo units,” he said.
Tsur Somerville, a real estate economist at UBC’s Sauder School of Business, said the plan works only if governments buy at a discount, from developers, lenders or receivers, and below what new affordable housing would cost to build. Paying list price for units nobody can sell “looks very lousy,” he said. Letting prices fall has its own cost, though. “If things don’t sell, nothing moves,” Somerville said. “Prices crash and then nobody starts building anything for 10 years.”
Tony Gioventu, executive director of the Condominium Home Owners Association of BC, pointed to ongoing costs. A government or non-profit owner would still pay strata fees, insurance, property taxes, repairs and any special levies. “It can enable more housing, but not affordable housing,” he said. Mixed developments with social housing beside market condos already exist in BC and can work, he added, if providers know the building’s rules and shared costs before buying. “In concept, it’s a great idea,” Gioventu said. “The details of how this looks just need to be worked out.”
Sources
- Empty condos may get second life as affordable housing in BC – Prince Albert Daily Herald
- Empty Condos May Get Second Life As Affordable Housing In BC
