Prabmeet Sarkaria said the new agreement, announced late Monday, will allow construction on the Toronto-area highway to begin much earlier.

The goal is creating a supply of 3.87 million new homes — adding two million net new homes to the 1.87 million the country was already on track to build — by 2031.

Bidding are Ledcor Construction Limited, M. Sullivan & Son Limited, Pomerleau Inc. and Quinte Care Partners.

The report finds the housing sector will have to grow its workforce to just under 1.04 million workers to build the proposed 3.5 million new units.

Prefabricated housing offers a host of benefits over traditional onsite construction, such as lower costs and time savings, as the clock is running out to solve Canada's housing crisis.