Build Canada Homes, the nascent federal agency created to increase affordable housing across the country, has added to its executive leadership team with two new appointments.
The government agency appointed Valesa Faria as senior vice president of partnership and development, Build Canada said in a LinkedIn post. Jeffery Coles took over as vice president of investments.
The government launched Build Canada Homes in mid-September to accelerate the construction of new affordable housing across the country, including with Indigenous communities.
Faria has a mandate to advance projects with Indigenous groups, non-profit and private developers as well as to provide oversight on how capital is allocated, Build Canada said. Coles will lead the organization’s investment strategy and capital deployment and oversee how capital is spent across projects.
Faria is a veteran of the residential sector with more than two decades of experience in housing policy, development review, affordable housing delivery and public-sector transformation. Prior to joining Build Canada Homes, Faria spent eight years working for the city of Toronto, most recently as executive director of development review, where she led a team of more than 400.
Prior to that, she spent just under five years as director of the city’s housing secretariat. Faria also spent 12 years working for Toronto Community Housing, holding several key positions.
Coles also is a housing industry veteran. Before venturing out on his own as a freelance real estate consultant in early 2024, he spent just over seven years at Northwest Healthcare Properties REIT, where he held several executive-level positions in the company’s investments and finance division. He also had a nearly six-year stint at Scotiabank Global Banking and Markets and also worked as a mortgage officer for Trez Capital Corp.
Build Canada signed an agreement last week with the Government of Nunavut to deliver 750 affordable homes, and last month signed a memorandum of understanding with Quebec’s government to fund affordable housing, simplify and accelerate approval processes and improve coordination between all levels of government and community partners.