Insurers seek investment opportunities in housing

The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA) is encouraging the federal government to think of the industry as a willing investment partner in the building of affordable housing and related infrastructure.

“As a substantial investor in the Canadian economy, the life and health insurance industry can play a key role in scaling up investments in Canada, including in the affordable housing and infrastructure areas. In 2024, Canadian life and health insurers invested $50-billion in domestic infrastructure,” they write in a submission to the Senate Standing Committee on National Finance regarding the Build Canada Homes strategy.

Build Canada Homes is a federal agency, launched in September 2025, to build affordable homes at scale. The agency is a special operating agency within Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (HICC). “HICC will be responsible for setting the investment policy, governance, and for delivering funding to grow Canada’s affordable housing stock,” the government states. “In the new year, Build Canada Homes will evolve into a standalone federal agency, reporting to the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure.” 

Among the association’s recommendations to the Senate, they suggest the agency leverage long-term financing – like that being offered by the industry – for housing projects and housing infrastructure: “There is significant opportunity for institutional investors, such as those in the life and health insurance industry, to support the federal government’s efforts to scale up investments,” they continue. “Life insurers are ideal financial partners for long-term projects.” 

Sustainable debt capacity 

The association suggests that Build Canada Homes make use of the industry’s sustainable debt capacity to finance projects. “This can be accomplished by leveraging federal land and allowing private sector consortiums to bid for the opportunity to design, build, maintain, operate and finance affordable housing on behalf of the government,” they add.

The submission also recommends governments pool multiple projects, particularly in smaller centres, to secure better financing terms and attract private investors. They note that similar mechanisms have been used in British Columbia to support the development of new homes – they say multiple housing projects should be developed concurrently to obtain better proposals from developers and would-be operators.

“Build Canada Homes and/or the Canada Infrastructure Bank could take a similar approach by working with provinces and municipalities to pool smaller affordable housing and infrastructure projects, where appropriate,” they state. “Build Canada Homes should operate in close collaboration with Canada’s institutional investment community, including life insurers. This would ensure that public funds are not used to finance infrastructure projects that could be financed by the private sector.”