In the Greater Toronto Area alone, nearly 41,000 jobs and $10-billion in investment are at risk because of weakening home sales.Richard Buchan/The Canadian Press

Brad Carr is the chief executive of Mattamy Homes Canada.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has an ambitious agenda, supported by the provincial premiers, to get Canada building more homes. This is good. The matter requires urgent, national attention to help more Canadians afford their own homes while building our economy.

We have to be conscious of how our country is falling short right now compared with what the country was once able to do. Canadians have been talking about this a lot lately in terms of nation-building projects. Where’s our generation’s Canadian Pacific Railway or St. Lawrence Seaway?

The answer: A townhome might not have a lot in common with a multibillion-dollar infrastructure project, but it does if it’s one of tens of thousands. This is the kind of ambition the country needs. But we’re not going to get to where we need to be unless all governments help by providing faster approvals and cutting government-building costs.

It’s going to take a nation-building effort to unwind decades of stasis.

© The Globe and Mail