Government Relations Activities with New Government In the seven weeks since the federal election that saw the re-election of the Liberal government, CHBA has been actively meeting with key housing policymakers. Despite ministerial offices still getting staffed up and learning their files, CHBA has ensured that key issues have been brought to the attention of the government. This includes meetings with the President and CEO of CMHC Coleen Volk, the Deputy Minister at Housing, Infrastructure and Communities (the top public service advisor to the the new Housing Minister Gregor Robertson), and ministerial and departmental staff at both Finance Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency, to name a few. Items of conversation have included the GST Rebate ,the stress test, federal action on development charges, support for labour in residential construction,  approaches to the creation of the new Build Canada Homes agency and more. While the House of Commons recessed for the summer last week, and the Senate will recess this week, CHBA will continue its robust advocacy throughout the summer by meeting with politicians and government officials on issues of importance to the home construction sector. 

CHBA National Awards for Housing Excellence Award Winners     

Winners of the 2025 CHBA National Awards for Housing Excellence, Canada’s premiere competition for new homes, home renovations, community development, and residential marketing, were presented at the Glitter & Groove Awards Bash on May 15 in Victoria, BC.  It was another record-breaking year, with over 1000 entries from small and large businesses from across Canada submitted into 48 categories. Nearly 300 volunteer industry experts evaluated entries based on project descriptions, images, and other supporting information such as floor plans included in the submission packages. The big winners this year include Jayman BUILT (Calgary), who took home the Design Excellence Award for the fourth year in a row, Vicky’s Homes (Edmonton), who won the Renovation Excellence Award, and Devron Developments (North York, ON), winners of the Marketing Excellence Award along with project contributors II BY IV DESIGN and Gladstone Media. The press release and a link to all the finalists’ projects can be found here. The 2026 competition will open in the fall, with details to come at chba.ca/housingawards.

Left to right: Melissa Jonker (GDHBA); Mike Collins-Williams (WEHBA), Jared Zaifman (EO of London HBA); Vince Lapico (Windsor Essex HBA); Claudia Simmonds (CHBA NB); Rose Choy (CHBA Central Interior)

Association Leadership Award Winners

Every year, volunteer members, HBAs and their staff work tirelessly to build strong communities, strengthen the industry and give back to cities, towns and neighbourhoods across Canada. The CHBA Association Leadership Awards honour the leaders within our Association – both individuals and our local and provincial homebuilders’ associations. This year’s honours were given out on May 15 during CHBA’s Home Building Week in Canada in Victoria, BC. Read more about the recipients here, and see previous years’ winners, on this page.

• Member of the Year: Gary Sharp
• Rooftopper Membership Recruitment Champion: Vince Lapico (Windsor Essex HBA)
• EO of the Year (Small HBA): Melissa Jonker (Greater Dufferin HBA)
• EO of the Year (Large HBA): Mike Collins-Williams (West End HBA)
• Community Service Award: London HBA
• Small HBA of the Year: CHBA New Brunswick
• Large HBA of the Year: CHBA Central Interior

Cabinet Ministers Named  

Prime Minister Mark Carney has appointed his Cabinet with an overall focus on building a stronger economy, reducing the cost of living, and keeping communities safe. The issues pertaining to the home construction sector touch upon several federal government departments, and CHBA regularly engages with those departments and officials. Highlighted here are some of the key ministers and officials. Former Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson has been named as the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure. In addition to engaging at the political level, CHBA is in regular dialogue with with both the Deputy Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, the top official in the department, and his departmental staff, who are providing strategic advice and guidance to Minister Robertson, to convey recommendations for the many challenges facing the home construction sector. François-Philippe Champagne is the new Finance Minister, whose department is also responsible for many policies and legislation impacting industry, including the GST rebate and the stress test on insured mortgages. CHBA has a long-standing relationship with Minister Champagne, and CHBA CEO Kevin Lee was appointed to the federal government’s Expert Panel on an industrial strategy for home building by Champagne, when he was Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry. CHBA continues its engagement with these and other key departments on the many issues impacting the sector.

Potentially More Stringent FINTRAC Regulations 

Members who sell residential dwellings have long been obligated to operate a customer identification and record keeping compliance program defined by the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA). Although not law yet, Bill C-2—tabled on June 3rd—proposes all obligated entities to formally register their compliance program with FINTRAC. This is currently not required for real estate developer entities. Additionally, the Bill proposes to sharply raise the limits—in some cases, tenfold—of the criminal fines that can be imposed. Given events over the past two years, FINTRAC’s capacity for enforcement has grown. CHBA continues to remind members that sell their own homes of their obligation to maintain an Anti-Money Laundering (AML) program and will update members on any future changes to FINTRAC reporting requirements that may come from Bill C-2.