The economy may be acclimating to tariffs and interest rate pain has eased (for now), but Canadian housing remains sorely in crisis. Against that backdrop, Build Canada Homes (BCH) has its work cut out for it, and the agency is forging ahead with the appointments of Valesa Faria and Jeffery Coles to its executive leadership team.
While Faria will be stepping into the Senior Vice President of Partnership and Development role later this month, Coles assumed the Senior Vice President of Investments post in January.
“As the team grows, we’re focused on bringing in leaders who understand what it takes to deliver housing at scale — how decisions move from paper to projects, and from capital to construction,” the agency’s Chief Executive Officer Ana Bailão wrote in a recent LinkedIn post.
Faria’s appointment is indicative of BCH’s emphasis on execution within complex regulatory environments — an area where she has deep expertise. She joins the agency from the City of Toronto’s recently formed Development Review division, where she spent just shy of two years as Executive Director working to accelerate development application timelines.
During her time with Development Review, Faria also spearheaded a first-of-its-kind strategic plan rooted in “a human rights-based approach to housing development,” which is something that aligns with BCH’s mandate to expand deeply affordable and supportive housing through public-private partnerships.
While Faria has spent much of her career in public service, Cole has had his foot in the door of the private sector — and more specifically, private sector investment. His past experience includes close to six years in equity research with Scotiabank Global Banking and Markets, and more than seven years at Northwest Healthcare Properties REIT, most recently as Senior Vice President of Investments and Finance.
With BCH in its infancy, there’s a lot riding on how the agency invests and allocates its funds, and Cole’s role pulls from his familiarity with financing strategies and structures and how they can be used to attract partners and accelerate project delivery.
“Build Canada Homes is continuing to build out its team and ramp up capacity to deliver on its mandate to scale up affordable housing across Canada,” a spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities told STOREYS when asked if there will be more appointments in the near future. “Recruitment for mission-focused priority roles is underway through platforms including GC Jobs, and additional hires will follow as the Agency stands up the teams driving partnerships, Indigenous collaboration, investment, and project delivery.”
Notably, the federal government introduced the Build Canada Homes Act on Thursday, which establishes BCH as a Crown corporation and the Feds’ “permanent affordable housing builder.” A backgrounder indicates that BCH is intended to assume the land holdings and development experience of the Canada Lands Company — however, while the Act awaits Royal Assent, the two entities will work together closely.
