The president of Canada’s largest construction industry group is voicing support for parts of the Liberal Party’s latest housing strategy — but drawing a firm line against federal involvement in home construction.

Dave Wilkes, president and CEO of the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD), said in a Friday interview with CTV Your Morning that the Liberal plan includes “much-needed relief” in the form of reduced development charges, which he called a critical cost barrier to building. However, he warned that Prime Minister Mark Carney’s proposal to create a public housing developer is an unnecessary overreach.

“We don’t think a public builder is necessary,” Wilkes said. “The shortage that we’ve experienced is not because of lack of people and ability to build housing; we think it’s because of some of the constraints that are in place to get that housing brought to market.”

The controversial proposal is part of the Liberals’ “Build Canada Homes” program — a campaign pledge to act as a direct developer of affordable housing and help finance private builders, with a goal of doubling the annual construction rate to 500,000 homes over the next 10 years. The plan includes the use of federal lands and assets like Canada Post properties and surplus military bases.

While acknowledging the housing supply crisis gripping many Canadian cities, Wilkes said the federal government should be focused on enabling private-sector solutions rather than replacing them.

“We share the commitment that the federal government has to get more housing built,” he said. “The private sector should be partnering with the federal government, and other levels of government, to get housing built. That is the focus.”

Wilkes stressed that instead of creating a public agency, the federal role should be to ease barriers to construction. That includes streamlining approvals, offering federal land, and removing unnecessary costs that delay or disincentivize building.

He praised the Liberals’ plan to reduce development charges on multi-unit housing, calling it a “step in the right direction.” These fees, levied by municipalities to fund services like sewers and roads, often add tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars to the cost of a new unit.

“The major challenge that our industry is finding in delivering new homes for Canadians is the cost to build,” Wilkes said. “We welcome that focus on reducing what are called ‘development charges,’ or taxes that are put on new homes.”

Other Liberal housing measures include eliminating GST on first-time home purchases under $1 million, offering new tax incentives, and introducing pre-approved building designs to speed up permits.

But Wilkes says many of these incentives are too narrow to meaningfully change the market.

“First-time homebuyers make up a very small portion of new home buyers,” he noted, adding that GST exemptions should be broadened to all buyers and not be limited by price caps that don’t reflect real-world home values in major cities.

“When we look at the (Greater Toronto Area), the average selling price is about $1.5 million, so it really doesn’t apply in those areas, where costs are higher than that million dollars,” he said.

Similarly, he argues that development charge reductions should apply across the board, not just to multi-unit buildings, and that such breaks should be made permanent to provide long-term certainty for builders.

Beyond the financial and regulatory aspects of homebuilding, Wilkes called for a broader shift in attitudes and decision-making around housing approvals and land use.

“We’re beginning to see that, where people are looking to understand that we need to speed through approvals,” he said. “We need to get product to the market.”

The debate comes amid growing pressure on governments at all levels to address Canada’s severe housing shortage, which has been exacerbated by population growth, rising costs, and restrictive zoning. Carney and the Liberals have made housing a cornerstone of their campaign, framing the crisis as one that requires bold and immediate intervention.

But Wilkes’ comments reflect the concerns of many in the building industry who argue that government needs to act as a partner — not a competitor — in solving the crisis.

Originally reported by Charlie Buckley in CTV News.