Pierre Poilievre Seeks ‘Urgent’ Ethics Committee Probe Of B.C. ‘Condo Bailout’

Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre has called on Canada’s parliamentary ethics committee to investigate a housing program announced earlier this month by the federal government and the British Columbia government to purchase more than 2,000 unsold condominium units and convert them into affordable housing.

Describing the initiative as a “condo bailout,” Poilievre, in a letter addressed to the chair of the House ethics committee, Conservative MP John Brassard, requested an urgent meeting to examine the program.

Under the plan, the federal government is expected to contribute 10 percent of the estimated $1.45 billion cost of converting the condominium units into affordable housing, while the British Columbia government will cover the remaining amount.

In the letter dated Friday, Poilievre argued that taxpayers would be forced to pay for more than 2,200 vacant condominium units that British Columbians either could not afford or did not want at their current prices. He said the program would prevent housing prices from adjusting downward, protecting developers instead of making homes more affordable for buyers.

The federal and British Columbia governments announced the plan on June 19, with the Prime Minister’s Office describing it as one of the fastest and most efficient ways to increase housing supply.

According to a government news release, both levels of government intend to use innovative financing tools to convert the unsold condominium units into affordable housing in priority growth areas.

The initiative, known as the Canada–British Columbia Partnership on Condo Conversion, forms part of a 10-year infrastructure development plan under which the federal government will invest more than $5 billion in British Columbia.

Poilievre further accused Prime Minister Mark Carney of favouring well-connected insiders, corporate lobbyists, and political allies at the expense of taxpayers. He called on the ethics committee to urgently investigate the housing program, arguing that forcing homebuyers to compete with their own tax dollars to maintain high property prices benefits developers rather than ordinary Canadians.

Speaking at a news conference in Ottawa on Thursday, Prime Minister Carney said the proposal originated from the British Columbia government and insisted that no developer had personally requested the program from him.

He acknowledged that both he and the federal government had not done a good job of explaining the initiative to Canadians.

Carney and federal Housing Minister Gregor Robertson said additional details about the condo conversion program would be made public in the coming months.