By Canadian Press

Carney touts housing credentials of Vancouver ex-mayor Robertson as he joins cabinet

May 13, 2025 | 12:50 PM

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney says Gregor Robertson brings “the type of experience” needed to help tackle Canada’s housing crisis after a decade as the mayor of Vancouver – a period that coincided with sharp increases in the city’s home prices.

The new housing and infrastructure minister – who co-founded the Happy Planet organic juice company before moving into politics in 2005 – is among 24 new faces in Carney’s Liberal cabinet unveiled Tuesday.

Carney says Robertson was on the team that developed his government’s housing policy, which will look at how Ottawa can help get municipal costs down and “regulation out of the way” so more houses can be built.

Robertson was mayor of Vancouver from 2008 to 2018, after previously serving as a member of the B.C. legislature for the provincial New Democrats.

He returns to politics after winning Vancouver Fraserview–South Burnaby for the Liberals with 52 per cent of the vote

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Federal Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre says Robertson’s record on housing is that prices ballooned during his tenure as mayor, giving the city the most expensive housing prices in North America.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation data show that during Robertson’s time as mayor of the City of Vancouver, the average price of single-family and semi-detached homes rose 179 per cent across the broader Metro Vancouver area.

Housing was a key platform point for Carney during the election, including a promise to double the rate of residential construction over the next decade to reach 500,000 homes per year.

“We’re going to have to change how we build. And a lot of that expertise, not exclusively, but a lot of it has actually been developed in British Columbia,” Carney said.

“Minister Robertson is very familiar with it. We’re going to incorporate that, but in a pan-Canadian strategy to really drive this.”

Robertson also becomes minister responsible for Pacific economic development.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 13, 2025.

The Canadian Press