New homes: Partnerships paving way for affordable housing to be built

The Korean Church rental project will create a resilient, low-impact community. Photo by WINDMILL DEVELOPMENT GROUP

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Under a new federal-municipal housing partnership, the City of Ottawa will see up to 3,000 new mixed-income affordable homes.

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Delivering on that commitment, Prime Minister Mark Carney recently announced that Build Canada Homes – a federal agency that launched in September 2025 to help grow the supply of mixed-income housing in Canada – has approved eight affordable housing projects (see sidebar) that will deliver more than 1,100 new rental homes in Ottawa.

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“This partnership shows how we can move faster when governments work together,” says Gregor Robertson, minister of housing and infrastructure and minister responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada. “By unlocking public land and backing shovel-ready projects, we’re helping deliver thousands of homes in Ottawa – with affordability and long-term community needs front and centre.”

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Nesting Ground President Graeme Hussey. Photo by SUPPLIED

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Federal lands

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The partnership includes up to $400 million in federal and municipal contributions. Build Canada Homes will contribute surplus federal lands to develop 2,000 homes, which will include a mix of market, affordable and deeply affordable homes. As part of the agreement, the city will receive $150 million of funding to support shovel-ready projects on the City’s Affordable Housing Pipeline.

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The city’s contribution consists of waiving fees and charges to make building less expensive, and a tailored approval and permitting process to make the overall process faster. The City’s contribution also includes property tax exemptions for the affordable homes built on surplus federal lands. Its contribution is valued at $200 to $245 million. 

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The eight projects approved by Build Canada Homes are led by a range of partners, including non-profit housing providers and community organizations. Nesting Ground, a Canadian non-profit real estate developer that delivers sustainable, mixed-income affordable housing at scale through partnerships with governments, community housing providers and private capital, is leading the Parkway House and Korean Church projects.

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Led by Graeme Hussey, a nationally recognized affordable housing expert, Nesting Ground combines non-profit sector relationships with proven, institutional-grade development expertise through its partnership with Windmill Developments.

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The Parkway House project will replace and incorporate a space for Parkway House, a non-profit care facility for people with disabilities. Photo by WINDMILL DEVELOPMENT GROUP

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Parkway House project

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The Parkway House project is in Lincoln Fields, a section of the Brittania Village neighbourhood, one of the city’s most demographically diverse communities. The three-building condo and rental project will replace and incorporate a space for Parkway House, a non-profit care facility for people with disabilities requiring around-the-clock care.

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The project will be built in two phases, the first of which includes two buildings. “Doing it in phases allows us to keep the Parkway House organization on site and operational while we build the first phase. Once the first phase is built, they can move into it, and we can demolish their existing one-storey building and build the third building in the second phase,” Hussey says. Residents will benefit from the project’s proximity to the future Lincoln Fields LRT Station and nearby trails and cycling paths.