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In Canada, affordable housing refers to living spaces that are financially accessible to people with a
median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of und ...
. Canada ranks among the lowest of the most developed countries for housing affordability. Housing affordability is generally measured based on a shelter-cost-to-income ratio (STIR) of 30% by the
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC; , SCHL) is Canada's federal crown corporation responsible for administering the ''National Housing Act'', with the mandate to improve housing and living conditions in the country.McAfee, Ann. 2013 ...
(CMHC), the national housing agency of Canada. It encompasses a continuum ranging from market-based options like affordable
rental housing A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a lessee or a tenant has rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold rights to real property, a lea ...
and affordable
home ownership Owner-occupancy or home-ownership is a form of housing tenure in which a person, called the owner-occupier, owner-occupant, or home owner, owns the home in which they live. The home can be a house, such as a single-family house, an apartment, c ...
, to non-market alternatives such as government-subsidized housing (
emergency shelter An emergency shelter is a place for people to live temporarily when they cannot live in their previous residence, similar to homeless shelters. The main difference is that an emergency shelter typically specializes in people fleeing a specific ...
s,
transitional housing Transitional housing is temporary housing for certain segments of the homeless population, including working homeless people who are earning too little money to afford long-term housing. Transitional housing is set up to transition residents into ...
, and
public housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...
).


Definition

Different people, organizations and institutions have adopted different definitions of "affordability" and "affordable housing." Those invested market-based solutions may use different meanings of the phrase than those working towards non-market based solutions. For example, the City of Calgary refers to "affordable housing" in terms of need; a household is in need of affordable housing when it earns less than $60,000/year and spends over 30% of gross income on the cost of housing. The range of available housing, or housing continuum, includes non-market housing (homelessness, emergency shelters, transitional housing, supportive housing, community and social housing) and market housing (below-market rental/ownership, private rental, and home ownership). As of 2018, the market-based housing system accounted for approximately 80% of Canadian households' housing acquisitions. About two thirds of Canadian households are home owners, and one third are renters who rent market-rate and non-market units. In 2016, Canada had a total housing stock of approximately 14 million units. Social housing accounted for 3 percent of this total, or around 425,000 units. For comparison, 30 percent of the total housing stock in Germany is socialized, and in Sweden it accounted for 20 percent. In 2023, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation estimated that 3.5 million additional housing units must be constructed in the next seven years to make housing more affordable by 2030, or 500,000 additional units per year. In 2023, housing construction did not meet the 500,000 unit goal, building only 56% of the required units.


Measuring housing affordability

Measuring affordability of housing is complicated by Canada's vast physical and human geography which includes both remote northern communities and affluent urban regions. A common rule of thumb is to calculate how much of a household's income is spent on housing expenses each month. For example, if a household spends more on average on housing expenses than each month, then their housing situation may be considered unaffordable. In a 1994 background paper commissioned by the
Ontario Human Rights Commission The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) was established in the Canadian province of Ontario on March 29, 1961, to administer the Ontario Human Rights Code. The OHRC is an arm's length agency of government accountable to the legislature throug ...
, J. David Hulchanski, the North American editor of the international journal ''Housing Studies'', described how the ratio of housing cost as a percentage of income was 12% from 1900 until the early 1920s, when it was increased to 20%. This increased again to 25% in the 1960s, and by the mid-1980s it reached 30%. In Canada, the commonly-used 20% rule of thumb was adjusted to 25% in the 1950s. In the 1980s, this was replaced by a 30% rule. When the monthly carrying costs of a home exceed 30–35% of household income, then housing expenses are considered unaffordable. While the 30% rule continues to be used by the CMHC, banks, and mortgage providers, it has been challenged by Hulchanski and others. A 2011 article said that public policy analysts should monitor indicators more appropriate for contemporary Canadian contexts such as: * The proportion of units affordable to a median income rental household, * Comparisons of wage requirements needed to rent a unit, * Housing assistance demand, * The number of households in core need as a milestone measure, * The number of people using emergency homeless shelters, * The number of people filing notice of eviction, * Arrears or foreclosures, * Rental vacancy rates at market prices, * Rental vacancy units at modest-low income stock, * The number of MLS sales affordable to marginal buyers. Londerville notes that the maximum Total Debt Service ratio (the "ratio of the borrower's total debt payments, including mortgage payments and property taxes, to their gross household income") is underused in evaluating affordability.
There is an argument that the calculation should be based on take home pay rather than gross pay. It could be different for different income levels – 40% of $40,000 does not leave a lot of room for other household expenses. Young homeowners who have children in daycare can be paying a fee almost equivalent to a second mortgage payment; this is not taken into account when calculating the maximum the bank will lend because it is not defined as a debt.
The City of Calgary describes affordable housing in terms of need. A household is in need of affordable housing when it earns less than $60,000/year and spends over 30% of gross income on the cost of housing. Alternatively, mortgage lending institutions define affordability in terms of potential home buyers considering the relative cost of debt based on interest rates and average household incomes. This measure of affordability is not oriented towards renters.Accurate measurement of housing affordability is needed to decide if a family qualifies for assistance in housing or for a mortgage to purchase privately. While the 30% rule may be used for the latter, banks and lending agencies might require a much higher Qualifying Income before approving a mortgage. The
Royal Bank of Canada Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; ) is a Canadian multinational Financial institution, financial services company and the Big Five (banks), largest bank in Canada by market capitalization. The bank serves over 20 million clients and has more than ...
Housing Affordability Measure describes a qualifying income as "the minimum annual income used by lenders to measure the ability of a borrower to make mortgage payments. Typically, no more than 32% of a borrower's gross annual income should go to 'mortgage expenses'—principal, interest, property taxes and heating costs."


Shelter-cost-to-income ratio

A commonly accepted guideline for housing affordability is the shelter-cost-to-income ratio (STIR), in which a cost that does not exceed 30% of a household's
gross income For households and individuals, gross income is the sum of all wages, salaries, profits, interest payments, rents, and other forms of earnings, before any deductions or taxes. It is opposed to net income, defined as the gross income minus taxes ...
is considered to be affordable. Unresolved issues remain about the elements of affordable housing. Affordability of housing may have differing definitions to governments, mortgage providers, developers, urban planners, economists and individual householders seeking a residence. Income levels in relation to housing prices are the most frequently used variables in deciding housing affordability but other factors such as employment trends, access to (and the cost of) finance, demographic shifts, housing preferences and other housing costs besides the price of purchase impact on housing affordability. One question is what should be included in 'housing' costs. Such expenses could include taxes, insurance, utility costs, maintenance and/or furnishings and rent for owners and/or tenants. Another question is what is meant by 'income'. Does this include gross or net income; one or all adults' income; and children's income, if any. It is also unclear how sharp temporary fluctuations in income and non-cash sources of goods and services get factored into the calculation. The shelter-cost-to-income ratio (STIR) is well above 30% for the median income. Nationally, it is 48.7% for two-story homes. Major cities such as Vancouver rate worst in the world at 88.9%. Calgary is considered affordable at 36.7%. Montreal is 41.8% and Toronto is 53.4%. The RBC Indicator provides data on a quarterly basis on home ownership affordability, it measures the proportion of homes currently for sale that are affordable to a median income household. Measurements of affordability that are oriented exclusively to the ability to buy using mainly shelter-cost-to-income ratio (STIR) provide useful information for one end of the continuum of housing in Canada, home ownership in the private market at market price. The CMHC recognizes the limitations of STIR for understanding affordability. In a very low income household for example, even 15% of a household's before-tax income for housing may be unaffordable.


Housing affordability indexes in market-based housing

The
Bank of Canada The Bank of Canada (BoC; ) is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation and Canada's central bank. Chartered in 1934 under the ''Bank of Canada Act'', it is responsible for formulating Canada's monetary policy,OECD. OECD Economic Surve ...
's Housing Affordability Index (HAI), the
Royal Bank of Canada Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; ) is a Canadian multinational Financial institution, financial services company and the Big Five (banks), largest bank in Canada by market capitalization. The bank serves over 20 million clients and has more than ...
Housing Affordability Measure, and the
National Bank of Canada The National Bank of Canada () is the sixth largest commercial bank in Canada. It is headquartered in Montreal, and has branches in most Canadian provinces and 2.4 million personal clients. National Bank is the largest bank in Quebec, and the se ...
's Housing Affordability Monitor are examples of indexes used by financial institutions involved in the real estate market. The HAI is based on housing costs, which includes mortgage payments and utilities, in relation to disposable income of a representative household. The HAI represents the percentage of disposable income the average Canadian household would need to cover the mortgage and utilities of their home. By December 2023, with increases in mortgage rates and the price of houses, the Bank of Canada reported that affordability was the worst since 1982. Since the beginning of the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
in 2020, house prices saw a significant increase of over 34%. By 2023, the low supply of housing including rental units, across Canada also caused rents to soar. By 2022, with an unexpected demand coupled with a diminishing supply of residential real estate along with historically low interest ratesset during the pandemic to stabilize the economythe price of housing rose sky high in Canada. The ''BBC'' said that Canada faced some "of the worst housing affordability issues in the world." Based on
OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...
data, the "disconnect" between the average home price$817,000and household incomes is "one of the most dramatic". The price represents over "nine times household income."


Current situation


Financialization of housing

According to research by housing expert Steve Pomeroy, Canada experienced a significant decline in private rental housing between 2011 and 2016 due chiefly to the financialization of housing, with over 300,000 units disappearing from the market and fewer than 20,000 new subsidized units added. The financialization of housing refers to the use of housing by
Real Estate Investment Trusts A real estate investment trust (REIT, pronounced "reet") is a company that owns, and in most cases operates, income-producing real estate. REITs own many types of real estate, including office and apartment buildings, studios, warehouses, hospita ...
(REIT) and
private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...
as a profit-making financial instrument. Financialized landlords include large corporations such as Avenue Living and MainStreet that engage in en masse purchasing of undervalued rental apartments. These units that were previously affordable for lower income households, are upgraded as higher-end rental units. In May and June 2024, during a series of House of Commons hearings on the financialization of housing, Federal Housing Advocate,
Marie-Josée Houle Marie-Josée Houle is a housing advocate and musician who lives in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. On February 3, 2022 she was appointed as Federal Housing Advocate by Minister of Housing and Diversity Ahmed Hussen. Biography She was born in Val-d'Or, Qu ...
, said that it is widespread and increasing, has "very little oversight", and a "negative impact on housing in Canada". According to Houle, who reports to the
Canadian Human Rights Commission The Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) was established in 1977 by the Government of Canada. It is empowered under the '' Canadian Human Rights Act'' to investigate and to try to settle complaints of discrimination in employment and in the ...
, it contributes to deteriorating housing conditions and affordability of housing, displacements, and evictions. In a CBC ''
Fifth Estate The Fifth Estate is a socio-cultural reference to groupings of outlier viewpoints in contemporary society, and is most associated with bloggers, journalists publishing in non-mainstream media outlets, and online social networks. The "Fifth" Esta ...
'' episode and accompanying ''
CBC News CBC News is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC ...
'' article investigating how Canada had fallen into a "rental crisis", which could affect a third of the Canadian population, they found that one of the major factors considered was the financialization of the rental housing sector. They noted that relaxed land acquisition rules made is easier for the financialization to take place. They inquired into the roles of private entities that infuse funds into the housing market by borrowing from banks, resulting in increased housing prices while simultaneously limiting the availability of affordable housing units. The investigation explored several aspects, including the role of numerous gatekeepers who act as intermediaries within the system, as well as the deep market players functioning as gateway constructors within the housing market. These gateway constructors manipulate and uphold financial barriers, effectively serving as authorized toll masters. Among these intermediaries, many consultants and lawyers operate with a profit-oriented sales approach, furthering a system that often exploits and employs unethical practices to achieve individual financial gain, similar to
price gouging Price gouging is the practice of increasing the prices of goods, services, or commodities to a level much higher than is considered reasonable or fair by some. This commonly applies to price increases of basic necessities after natural disaste ...
. The investigation found that municipality and city systems view these practices as an advantageous revenue stream, facilitating these systemic opportunities driven by individual gain, capitalizing on the absence of regulations and market conditions. CBC while examined the issue from the point of view of renterssingle parents, large families, pensioners and others on fixed or low incomes, young people starting their careerswho felt that their voices were not being heard. In a ''Fifth Estate'' interview, Calgary-based Michael Brooks—CEO of Real Property Association of Canada (REALPAC), which lobbies the federal government on behalf of Canada's largest commercial real estate companies—said that the private sector was not "primarily in the business of providing a public good," such as affordable housing. The private sector is "self-interested in maintaining and growing their income." They "want to be seen as contributing to the solution and not being part of the problem." Their obligations are to their investors, which includes managing costs. REALPAC members, an association that was established in 1970, comprised $1 trillion in assets under management across Canada by 2022. The Brookings Institution lists
Real estate investment trust A real estate investment trust (REIT, pronounced "reet") is a company that owns, and in most cases operates, income-producing real estate. REITs own many types of real estate, including office and apartment buildings, studios, warehouses, hos ...
(REIT)s, along with large Canadian banks, and multinational corporations as the "most reliable dividend payers" and recommends that pensioners invest in these financial instruments. During the pandemic, REITs and other financial landlords "thrived" with individual REITs posting 100s of millions in profits in the first three months alone. They benefited from the historically low interest rates backed by the CMHC to buy and sell multi-family residential buildings, refinance debt, do renovations that allowed them to raise rents.


Residential land use by-laws

The role of municipalities in housing policy is significant, particularly in setting policies related to zoning, land-use, and in the prevention of homelessness. At times, financial constraints come into play as well, since their primary funding source for housing strategies is often property taxes. In response to the federal government’s 2023 $4-billion Housing Accelerator Fund, municipalities have been amending land use by-laws to allow for more flexibility in zoning in order to claim federal funding tied to zoning changes. The provincial and territorial governments provide the most funding for housing and they determine limits on municipal governments. Provinces and territories establish their own regulatory framework for housing and set their own laws which can restrict what municipalities can do. However, the federal government provides funding to provinces, territories, and occasionally directly to municipalities through bilateral agreements. A 2022 report by the
University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...
's Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance calls for more co-operation between levels of government to respond to the affordability crisis in housing. In a 2018 ''
Journal of the American Planning Association A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of personal secretive thoughts and as open book to personal therapy or used to feel connected to onesel ...
'' article, four researchers described how the changing role of government in Canada since the 1970s affected affordable housing for those with lower incomes. Public policies since the 1970s favoured more market-based solutions, and as a result the government's role in providing social services was reduced, including in the provision of affordable housing for those with lower incomes. Public policies—such as "
inclusionary zoning Inclusionary zoning (IZ) is municipal and county planning ordinances that require or provide incentives when a given percentage of units in a new housing development be affordable by people with low to moderate incomes. Such housing is known as ...
, density bonuses, and
housing trust In Ireland and the United Kingdom, housing associations are private, non-profit organisations that provide low-cost "social housing" for people in need of a home. Any budget surplus is used to maintain existing housing and to help finance new ...
s" introduced at that time in some municipalities in the United States to reduce housing affordability pressures for lower income earners—were not adopted in Canada at the same rate. The authors said that in the absence of any adequate policies to balance housing needs of those whose ability to pay is constrained with the market's natural tendency to provide housing to those who can afford to pay, led the growth of developments in central locations where amenities are rich for homebuyers whose incomes were increasingly higher than lower income earners. Research from the 2018 study showed that there is a "disconnect between evidence and public policy" in terms of urban planning based on promoting increased density and mixed-use zoning in cities like Toronto. An unintended negative consequence of these "quintessential tenets of good urban design, has been a decrease in affordable housing. The article showed that in mixed-use zones, high-income earners in sectors such as "management, business, technology, and health" experienced greater housing affordabilitythey spent a smaller percentage of their income on housing even with higher priced housing because their incomes had increased. Housing affordability worsened for those with occupations in manufacturing, trades and cultural and social services. Their incomes had either remained stagnant or decreased over time and/or housing costs had increased. While this study focused on Toronto, the findings would be similar in other major census metropolitan areas (CMAs) like Vancouver.


History


Early 20th century

Following the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
and
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
many Canadians lived in inadequate housing as fewer new homes were built, older homes needed repairs, and families lived in over-crowded dwellings. The 1935 ''
Dominion Housing Act The ''National Housing Act'' (, NHA) is the primary federal law concerning housing in Canada. More specifically, it is intended to promote the construction of new houses, the repair and modernization of existing houses, and the improvement of housi ...
'' (DHA) established the focus of federal policies on housing programs as market-oriented (as opposed to social welfare-oriented) for decades to come. For example, the DHA included no subsidized low rental housing; instead it introduced a joint government private lender mortgage loans for the 20% of Canadians who could afford to purchase real estate in the marketplace. During the post-WWII period federal housing policy included using taxation to revitalize the housing market, while also building social housing and subsidizing rental housing in the private sector. In 1946, the federal Wartime Housing Corporation was replaced with Central Mortgage and Housing Corporationnow known as
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC; , SCHL) is Canada's federal crown corporation responsible for administering the ''National Housing Act'', with the mandate to improve housing and living conditions in the country.McAfee, Ann. 2013 ...
(CMHC)a federal
Crown corporation Crown corporation () is the term used in Canada for organizations that are structured like private companies, but are directly and wholly owned by the government. Crown corporations have a long-standing presence in the country, and have a sign ...
. The CMHC administered the '' National Housing Act'' providing Canadians with grants, loans to purchase homes in the market system, and with mortgage insurance on credit financing through private lenders. In the late 1940s the federal government provided 75% of funding and subsidies, with the provinces adding 25%, towards public social and rental housing for low-income families. In the 1950s, municipalities received federal grants towards urban renewal projects which included low-rent housing developments, some of which included rent-geared-to-income (RGI) subsidies. With the introduction of the CMHC's Mortgage Loan Insurance, home ownership became more accessible. The federally-backed insurance allowed homebuyers and private mortgage providers to take a greater risk on mortgages that had a 25% down payment. From the 1950s to the 1970s, the government built "dedicated affordable rental stock and public housing". During the 1960s, Canada's economy grew at a sustained pace. In the mid-1960s, Prime Minister
Lester Pearson Lester Bowles Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) was a Canadian politician, diplomat, statesman, and scholar who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968. He also served as Leader of the Liberal Party of C ...
said that in a democratic society the goal must be for everyone to have "decent housing." In the 1970s, public housing policy obligation was based on ensuring all Canadians were adequately housed. Through amendments to the National Housing Act in 1973, 20,000 social housing units were built every year. During the Premiership of Pierre Elliot Trudeau, then-Minister of Urban Affairs
Ron Basford Stanley Ronald Basford (April 22, 1932 – January 31, 2005) was a Canadian politician and lawyer who was a long-time cabinet minister in the Liberal government of Pierre Trudeau. Based in British Columbia, he was known as "Mr. Granville Isla ...
introduced the amended ''National Housing Act'' by saying, "When we talk about people's basic needsthe requirements for survivalsociety and the government obviously have an obligation to assure that these basic needs of shelter are met." Housing strategies focused on "rehousing people into better housing and neighbourhoods." Before 1970, almost all housing policy was federal and only 5% of government programs were dedicated to low-income housing. Starting in the early 1970s, for almost two decades there were approximately 16,000 non-profit or co-op homes built or acquired every year. In the next ten years, the number of residential co-operatives dropped to about 1,500 homes a year. This began to change in the 1970s, as government role was reduced.


1980s

Under the Canadian Constitution, housing policy and programs are the responsibility of the provinces. In practice the federal government, along with the provinces and municipalities, share the responsibility. Starting in the 1980s, federal housing policies changed and more households across Canada began to experience housing affordability pressures, including those who own the residences in which they live and those who rent. Under the premiership of
Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney (March 20, 1939 – February 29, 2024) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studi ...
significant cuts to federal housing programs were initiated, effectively ending many national initiatives for affordable housing. In 1984, the federal government began cutting back on social housing. Around that time, the concept of "core housing need" was developed by the
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC; , SCHL) is Canada's federal crown corporation responsible for administering the ''National Housing Act'', with the mandate to improve housing and living conditions in the country.McAfee, Ann. 2013 ...
as a basis for evaluating those eligible for federal funding under the 1986 Global Agreements on Social Housing, an agreement between the federal and provincial/territorial governments regarding administration and cost sharing of social housing programs under the ''National Housing Act'' and the ''CMHC Act''. A household is considered to be in core housing need if it meets certain criteriaif it falls below acceptable standards of affordability, adequacy, or suitability and if the cost of housing exceeds 30% or more of its before-tax household income. There was a consistent increase in housing affordability problems starting in the early 1980s in "all regions and major cities" and for almost all social classes of Canadian households, according to a 2004 article in the ''Housing Studies'' journal. Affordability problems were "highly concentrated" in low-income households, particularly in households led by women. In the late 1980s, there was a major shift in housing policies, which included amendments to taxation that benefitted those who could afford homeownership. At the same time, the federal government withdrew from funding projects for social and affordable housing resulting in a dramatic decline in affordable housing stock. There was a "massive investment" in building houses and condominiums and a dramatic decline in purpose-built rental apartment units. Investors purchased some condos for rental units but rents were priced at the "higher end of market" and were affordable only for households with higher incomes.


1990s

During the 1990s, there was a devolution of new responsibilities, including affordable housing, from provincial governments to municipal governments without adequate revenue tools. Since the early 1990s, the responsibility of providing support for affordable housing, and a number of other social issues related to the environment,
Indigenous Peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...
(
First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...
,
Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...
, and
Métis The Métis ( , , , ) are a mixed-race Indigenous people whose historical homelands include Canada's three Prairie Provinces extending into parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the northwest United States. They ha ...
), public health and security, had been down-loaded with no increase in sources of funding. In the 1990s, although the price of houses remained "remarkably stable,"
income inequality In economics, income distribution covers how a country's total GDP is distributed amongst its population. Economic theory and economic policy have long seen income and its distribution as a central concern. Unequal distribution of income causes ...
increased and housing affordability problems became more prevalent and more severe. Throughout the decade, the federal government was focused on cutting the federal deficit, and began to transfer responsibility to supply social housing for those in needincluding low-income housingto the provinces and territories. The provinces and territories transferred some of these responsibilities to municipalities without providing corresponding financial resources. By 1991, Canadian public policy on the affordability of housing was more aligned with the concept of need than in the United Kingdom in the 1980s, for example, where the concept of affordability was more market-oriented. By 1996, the federal government revoked the Canada Assistance Plan of 1966, which made it mandatory that people whose income was inadequate to meet basic needs (including the
working poor The working poor are working people whose incomes fall below a given poverty line due to low-income jobs and low familial household income. These are people who spend at least 27 weeks in a year working or looking for employment, but remain und ...
) have access to an established appeals procedures in the provinces and territories regarding social assistance. In the same year, the federal government transferred responsibility for most existing federal housing program to the provinces. By the mid-1990s, Canada had a recognized national
homelessness Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...
crisis. Homelessness, which is at the most extreme end of the housing affordability continuum—affected a diverse population of individuals and families. With that said, however, from the mid-1990s until at least 2010, the pace of growth in the Canadian economy was the strongest and most sustained since the 1960s. Between 1993 and 2003, while federal government revenues increased 12% and the provinces and territories increased 13%, municipalities' revenues only increased by 8%. From 1993 to 2004, federal and provincial fiscal transfers to municipalities decreased from 25 cents per dollar of municipal revenue to 16 cents, representing a decrease of 37% while their responsibilities had increased resulting in a fiscal imbalance. Also in the 1990s,
real estate investment trust A real estate investment trust (REIT, pronounced "reet") is a company that owns, and in most cases operates, income-producing real estate. REITs own many types of real estate, including office and apartment buildings, studios, warehouses, hos ...
s (REITs), hedge funds, private equity firms, and publicly listed real estate firms entered the urban rental market in large North American cities, and later on nationally and in other anglophone countries like the United Kingdom, Australia, and Ireland; for the next 15 years they expanded exponentially. REITs emerged in Canada when the ''Canadian Income Tax Act'' in 1995 allowed REITs to qualify as closed-end trusts, with the first REIT established in Canada being in 1997 in Toronto. In the 15 years between 2000 and 2015, the ownership of Toronto apartments was increasingly concentrated among REITs, institutional investors, private equity funds and some large family-owned firms.


2000s

Since 2000 the cost of renting increased by more than 20%. To support affordable housing in 2001, the
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC; , SCHL) is Canada's federal crown corporation responsible for administering the ''National Housing Act'', with the mandate to improve housing and living conditions in the country.McAfee, Ann. 2013 ...
introduced Canada Mortgage Bonds, with a focus on low-cost interest rates and mortgages. The Affordable Housing Initiative (AHI), operating from 2001 to 2011, was an intergovernmental multilateral housing initiative on affordable housing in Canada. The federal government, working through the CMHC, provided funding for the supply of new affordable rental housing under the Affordable Housing Program with CA$1 billion from 2001 to 2008 (to be matched by provinces and territories). The federal government placed the AHI within the Affordable Housing Framework 2011–2014 to improve "access to affordable, sound, suitable and sustainable housing." The Framework acknowledged that a wide range of solutions was required to respond to the diversity of affordable housing program needs and priorities specific to each jurisdiction. Under the Framework, it was reiterated that the responsibility for the design and delivery of affordable housing programs lay with the provinces and territories. The provinces and territories would be given flexibility in how to invest federal funds that were to be matched by provinces and territories, if the overall intended outcome was reached. The goal was "to reduce the number of Canadians in housing need by improving access to affordable housing that is sound, suitable and sustainable" Examples of initiatives that could be undertaken under the Framework included "new construction, renovation, homeownership assistance, rent supplements, shelter allowances, and accommodations for victims of family violence." A 2003 ''TD Economic'' report recommended that government initiatives should focus on raising market incomes at the lower end, as the number of low-income households was too high. The report raised concerns about low-income households that were subject to provincial and federal claw backs and tax backs, for example, on back to work and the federal-provincial
National Child Benefit The Canada, Canadian National Child Benefit (NCB) initiative aims to help Child poverty in Canada, children living in Poverty in Canada, poverty. The program is a partnership between Politics of Canada, federal, Provinces and territories of Canada, ...
(NCB). The report said that decreasing the number of low income household would be more effective than the inefficient, expensive, publicly funded expenditure-based or tax-based incentives to increase the number of affordable rental units. The TD report concluded that municipalities need a more sustainable funding arrangement, and provinces need to play a more active role in affordable housing, becoming leaders within the Affordable Housing Framework agreement. By 2004, 1.7 million Canadians experienced housing affordability issues. , the CMHC directed those needing subsidized housing for low-income households to the municipal government. In 2011 the
Canadian Federation of Municipalities Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
called for better coordination between the three levels of government as the expanded responsibilities were either "unfunded or underfunded." All levels of government in Canada began to include housing policies and strategies that responded to the homelessness crisis although anti-poverty strategies and programs to end homelessness. Activists said that the efforts were insufficient, inefficient, or unsustainable. The number of rental units declined starting in 2005. The
2006 Canadian federal budget The Canadian federal budget for the fiscal year 2006–07, was presented to the House of Commons of Canada by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty on May 2, 2006. Among the most notable elements of the federal budget were its reduction of the Goods a ...
"provided $300 million for affordable housing in the territories." By 2007, affordability of housing was a problem for low and middle income Canadians. Canadians in the lowest quintile who were in renters households were 18 times more likely than the average household to experience affordability problems. With historically low interest rates, and readily available debt and mortgage financing in 2007, Canada's housing market was in a period of strong growth. Affordable housing was a relative measure. At the same time private affordable rental stock across Canada was low. In many cities the vacancy rate for affordable rental units was less than 1%. According to reports in 2006 and 2010, the gap between incomes of the upper quintile and lower quintile reached unprecedented extremes in the 21st century. Households in the upper quintile—particularly in large affluent urban areas—could afford to purchase houses for investment and/or residency at higher prices by taking advantage of the low interest rates. Between 1997 and 2007, 1% or 246,000 Canadians earned average incomes of $405,000 representing 32% of all growth in incomes. There were 24.6 million tax filers in Canada in 2007. The richest 1% made more than $169,000 and had an average income of $404,000. The richest 0.1% made more than $621,000 and had an average income of $1.49 million. The richest 0.01% made more than $1.85 million and had an average income of $3.83 million. Income levels in the upper quintile have increased exponentially while those in lower quintiles have remained stagnant. From 2009 through 2014, the federal government budgeted $388 million a year for the housing sector. The
2009 Canadian federal budget The Canadian federal budget for the 2009–10 fiscal year was presented to the House of Commons of Canada by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty on January 27, 2009. The federal budget included $20 billion in personal income tax cuts as well as majo ...
allocated funds for the period covering 2009–2011: renovation and energy retrofits to social housing ($1 billion); to build housing for low-income seniors ($400 million); to build social housing for persons with disabilities ($75 million); to support social housing in the North ($200 million); low-cost loans to municipalities to improve housing-related infrastructure ($2 billion) as part of Canada's Economic Action Plan.


2010s

, housing prices and construction costs rose dramatically in Canada as they did elsewhere in the world. There was a modest improvement in housing affordability across Canada in the third quarter of 2011 after two consecutive quarters of deterioration. Part of this was due to decreased costs in home ownership resulting from lower mortgage rates. By 2012, the rising inequality gap had presented a significant challenge for Canadian households who were "priced out" of rental and ownership housing markets. By that year, there was a slight deterioration in housing affordability, according to the
Royal Bank of Canada Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; ) is a Canadian multinational Financial institution, financial services company and the Big Five (banks), largest bank in Canada by market capitalization. The bank serves over 20 million clients and has more than ...
(RBC). Many parts of the country that year also reported that key workers—teachers, nurses, police officers, construction workers and others—who earned reasonably good income from their professions, were finding it increasingly difficult to afford the high cost of housing." According to a 2012 report by the
Federation of Canadian Municipalities The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM, ''Fédération canadienne des municipalités'') is an advocacy group representing over 2000 Canadian municipalities. It is an organization with no formal power but significant ability to influence ...
, one third of Canadians were renters. The construction and rehabilitation of affordable rental units did not kept pace with the number of affordable rental units lost to demolition, urban intensification projects and the more profitable conversion to condominiums. Fewer than 10% of new housing starts by 2012 were rental units. The FCA found that the shortage of available rental housing is worsening at the same time that more Canadians are being priced out of home ownership. In 2012, while Canada had a strong real estate market many Canadian households faced
housing insecurity Housing insecurity is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and affordable housing. without being entirely homeless. Housing insecurity is associated with worse health outcomes and can be alleviated by increasing the housing supply, for example l ...
. At the 2018 National Housing Conference hosted by the CMHC, concerns were raised about a stark increase in the financialization of the housing sector that had extended into the private rental market. Canadian Federation of Apartment Associations disagreed with the premise, and described conference featured speakers as "progressives." Issues included the rise of "amateur landlords," condominiums,
Airbnb Airbnb, Inc. ( , an abbreviation of its original name, "Air Bed and Breakfast") is an American company operating an online marketplace for short-and-long-term homestays, experiences and services in various countries and regions. It acts as a ...
,
short-term rental Short-term rental (STR) describes furnished self-contained apartments or houses that are rented for short periods of time. They are usually seen as an alternative to hotels. "Short stay" rentals are an offshoot of the corporate housing market, and ...
s, increased rents, and problems with evictions. Multiple-residential buildings are being purchased as housing assets to generate wealth at a time when rental units are in short supply. The 2022 federal budget, released on April 7, called for a review of tax treatment for large corporate trusts that use residential real estate as financial investment instruments. This review would examine the impact of housing as an asset class on Canadian homebuyers and renters. The budget also included $1.5 billion for
housing cooperative A housing cooperative, or housing co-op, is a legal entity which owns real estate consisting of one or more residential buildings. The entity is usually a cooperative or a corporation and constitutes a form of housing tenure. Typically hou ...
s as part of the solution to the affordable housing crisis. From the early 1990s to 2020, 25 of the biggest financial landlordsincluding REITsconsolidated about 330,000 rental suites representing 20% of Canada's "private, purpose-built stock of rental apartments." REITs had no rental units in 1996; by 2020, they owned 200,000 suites. As of 2021, REITs and other financial landlords benefit from preferential tax treatment, which Martine August described as state subsidies. August has called on the CMHC to stop providing financial landlords with "preferential mortgage lending rates", which are effectively subsidies to firms that are not providing public good. She also calls on the federal government to disallow financial landlords form accessing National Housing Strategy loans and grants since these firms "eliminate affordable housing as a business strategy."


2020s

The 2020 report on the 2018 Survey revealed that 1,644,900 Canadian households or 11.6% were in core housing need, compared to 12.7% reported in the
2016 Canadian census The 2016 Canadian census was an enumeration of Canadian residents, which counted a population of 35,151,728, a change from its 2011 population of 33,476,688. The census, conducted by Statistics Canada, was Canada's seventh quinquennial census. ...
. In 2016, the Canadian regions with the most households experiencing core housing need included
Nunavut Nunavut is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' and the Nunavut Land Claims Agr ...
at 36.5%,
Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...
at 15.5%,
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
at 15.3%, and
Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...
at 15.2%. The 2016 Census also showed that the highest rates of core housing need in metropolitan areas were
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
at 19.1% and
Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
at 17.6%. By May 2021, the price of housing increased with a "rapid acceleration," the supply of housing and mortgage rates were at historic lows and the demand increased, with economists at the
Royal Bank of Canada Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; ) is a Canadian multinational Financial institution, financial services company and the Big Five (banks), largest bank in Canada by market capitalization. The bank serves over 20 million clients and has more than ...
and the
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC; ) is a Canadian Multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered at CIBC Square in the Financial District, Toronto, Financial District of Toronto, Ont ...
raising concerns that speculators were entering the market, pricing young and lower income families out of affordable housing. With 424 housing units per 1,000 people, Canada ranks lowest of the
G7 nations The Group of Seven (G7) is an intergovernmental political and economic forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States; additionally, the European Union (EU) is a "non-enumerated member". I ...
in "average housing supply per capita" compared to France, which has 540 units per 1,000the largest housing supply per capita. Within Canada, the available housing supply inventory is the lowest on record. It reflects a chronic insufficiency of home supply. From 2016 to 2021, the population of Canada increased to about 37 million with the arrival of 1.8 million new residents who often prefer to live in the "downtowns and distant suburbs of large cities." The
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
exacerbated housing pressures including the unpredicted preference for housing type and geographic location. During the pandemic, in February 2022, it was reported that the Canadian housing market was experiencing an unexpected boom with record-breaking high prices, combined with historically low interest rates and a decreasing supply of real estate. In both 2020 and 2021 real estate sales records were broken. By the end of 2021, the MLS Home Price Index was a record 25.3% higher than 2020. During the pandemic, inter-provincial migration was also strong and continued into 2022, which also contributed to high prices. In the 2022 federal budget, "A Plan to Grow Our Economy and Make Life More Affordable", released on April 7, the federal government responded to concerns about the role of the speculative market in sky-high real estate prices. A two-year ban on "foreign buyers" was introduced. However, the ban was restricted to purchases without plans to develop housing in 2023 federal budget, on the grounds of stimulating housing construction.


Research and observations

Eighty per cent of Canadians are served by market-based housing, which includes individual home ownership and private rental housing. In the market-based housing system, individuals finance their own housing, independent of government assistance. A 2019 Royal Bank of Canada RBC Economics report on home affordability said that, in 9 of the 14 market areas they track, a majority of Canadian families are able to purchase an average home. The most affordable markets are Saint John, St. John's, Regina, Quebec City and Halifax, while the least affordable markets are Vancouver, Toronto, and Victoria.
Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...
reported that, while Canada's "
real gross domestic product Real gross domestic product (real GDP) is a macroeconomic measure of the value of economic output adjusted for price changes (i.e. inflation or deflation). This adjustment transforms the money-value measure, nominal GDP, into an index for quantit ...
(GDP) per capita increased by roughly 50% between 1980 and 2005," and the workforce increased educational attainment and work experience during this same period and median earnings among the top 20% of full-time full-year employees grew by 17.9%, among those in the bottom one-fifth of the distribution median earnings decreased by 13.3%." Full-time full-year median earnings of Canadians edged only slightly higher from $41,348 in 1980 to $41,401 in 2005. In a September 2000 ''
Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...
'' article, a
University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...
professor, whose research focusses on housing issues and homelessness, noted that "homelessness"as a terms to describe a social problemwas rarely used before the 1980s. When the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
announced in 1981 that there would be an
International Year of Shelter for the Homeless The International Year of Shelter for the Homeless (IYSH) was recognized in 1987 by the United Nations. It was first declared, in principle, in UN resolution 36/71 in 1981, and proclaimed officially in 1982 in resolution 37/221.developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a less-developed Secondary sector of the economy, industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to developed countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. ...
and made no mention of Canada or other countries with
advanced economies A developed country, or advanced country, is a sovereign state that has a high quality of life, developed economy, and advanced technological infrastructure relative to other less industrialized nations. Most commonly, the criteria for eval ...
. By 1987, academics and conferences focused on the unhoused in Canada and other the developed nations. According to Hulchanski, prior to the 1980s, "people in developed countries did not know what it was like to be unhoused." Housing was available for unmarried men in poor quality rooming houses, but they were not unhoused. In a 2014 report by the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness and
York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...
, lead author Stephen Gaetz called for direct federal funding for building affordable housing units to respond to homelessness in Canada as the fall budget showed a surplus. Gaetz said that if an extra $46 per Canadian was spent on affordable housing it would hasten the end of chronic homelessness and help many thousands of Canadians who were at risk of homelessness. The report estimated that the cost to the economy of the 235,000 Canadians estimated to experience homelessness annually was about $7 billion. The numbers of homeless people has not decreased despite "$2 billion earmarked in federal funding." Over the last 25 years, the federal government had been decreasing investment in affordable housing. By 2014, this represented a decrease of 46% since the 1980s. Since 1989, the population of Canada increased 30% but the amount per capita spent to build affordable housing stock decreased from $115 per capita in 1989 to $60 per capita in 2014. In 1982, the federal government built 20,450 affordable housing units; in 2006 only 4,393 units were built. Gaetz called attention to public policies in places such as taxation that benefitted homeowners by approximately $8.6 billion a year. The report said that the federal government was funneling money to those who are not in need while neglecting those in the greatest need. Ryerson City Building Institute's research and policy manager Graham Haines in Toronto said in 2017 that Canadian policymakers had focused almost exclusively on promoting home ownership since the late 1990s creating a pattern of building housing units, like
condos A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership regime in which a building (or group of buildings) is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual own ...
, for investors rather than the end usersthe renters. By "letting the market do what the market wants," Canada neglected the needs of its population, Haines wrote. This resulted in a decades-long decline in the supply of purpose-built rental apartments as developers preferred to build condominiums especially with favourable tax policies and incentives in place. Haines said that as millennials reach an age where they are ready to become homebuyers they may well be competing for the same condominiums as seniors who want to downsize. Haines called for public policy changes that favour the construction of appropriate rental units that are affordable for those who will be using them, recognizing that rent will be a significant part of the real estate sector in Canada. In a 2020 ''Housing Studies'' article, Megan Nethercote, a Vice Chancellor's research fellow at
RMIT University The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (abbreviated as RMIT University) is a public research university located in the city of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia., section 4(b) Established in 1887 by Francis Ormond, it is the seventh-o ...
, investigated the financialization of rental housing in the private real estate market. She expressed her concern regarding the paucity of literature on the provision of social or affordable housing provision, despite the significance of the expansion of the private rental sector on affordable housing. REITs are highly recommended as among the most reliable payers of dividends for their investors, particularly for pensioners and others who need safe investments. During the pandemic REITs thrived as they benefit from low mortgage rates and other CMHC grants and loans, and experienced significant growth in the private rental market in crisis. They convert older apartments to condos or higher rental units, and housing experts evaluate success of their business model is based on eliminating affordable rental housing. In its 2016 second quarter report
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC; , SCHL) is Canada's federal crown corporation responsible for administering the ''National Housing Act'', with the mandate to improve housing and living conditions in the country.McAfee, Ann. 2013 ...
warned housing prices are overvalued in 9 Canadian markets, with
Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
at high risk. Strong evidence of "problematic conditions" also continue to exist in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
,
Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...
,
Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...
and Regina, while in
Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
"problematic conditions" are weak. By Q3 2021, 37.1% of disposable income was needed to pay for housing costs, which represents an increase of 5.2 points in 2021, the highest ratio since 2008. In 2008, the average home prices were much lower than in 2021 and the interest rates were 5 points higher than the Bank of Canada's 2021 rate, which was near zero.


Affordable housing for Indigenous communities

Housing is said to be one of a number of
social determinants of health The social determinants of health (SDOH) are the economic and social conditions that influence individual and group differences in health status. They are the health promoting factors found in one's living and working conditions (such as the dist ...
(SDH), along with poverty, employment, income, education, social support networks, physical environments, early child development, gender and social capital, that prevent
Indigenous peoples in Canada Indigenous peoples in Canada (also known as Aboriginals) are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples within the boundaries of Canada. They comprise the First Nations in Canada, First Nations, Inuit, and Métis#Métis people in ...
(
First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...
,
Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...
, and
Métis The Métis ( , , , ) are a mixed-race Indigenous people whose historical homelands include Canada's three Prairie Provinces extending into parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the northwest United States. They ha ...
) from achieving
health equity Health equity arises from access to the social determinants of health, specifically from wealth, power and prestige. Individuals who have consistently been deprived of these three determinants are significantly disadvantaged from health inequiti ...
with other Canadians. According to a 2015
meta-analysis Meta-analysis is a method of synthesis of quantitative data from multiple independent studies addressing a common research question. An important part of this method involves computing a combined effect size across all of the studies. As such, th ...
by a team of
University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...
and
Memorial University Memorial University of Newfoundland, or MUN (), is a Public university, public research university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook ...
researchers, sources in their systematic review indicated that
Indigenous peoples in Alberta First Nations in Alberta are a group of people who live in the Canadian province of Alberta. The First Nations are peoples (or nations) recognized as Indigenous peoples in Canada, excluding the Inuit and the Métis. According to the 2011 Census, ...
were more likely to have a "limited affordability for dwellings" and to "live in dwellings with inappropriate housing conditions and private spaces." As of 2016, First Nations, Inuit, and Metis households lived in "inadequate and insufficient" housing; this was recognized as a critical problem across Canada. Prior to the 1950s,
Inuit people Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest ...
lived semi-nomadic lives, moving from hunting camps to fishing camps. In the 1950s, federal government agencies promised Inuit quality housing to convince them to move into permanent
hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined f ...
across what was then part of the
Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...
. During the Qikiqtani Truth Commission undertaken by the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, Inuit testified repeatedly that the promises of quality housing were not kept. The government did not consult with Inuit in regards to "appropriate and affordable housing." The first federal rent-to-own housing program began in 1959 as The Eskimo Housing Loan Program, which offered low-cost 16' x 16' Rigid Frame poorly-constructed buildings with no reflection of Inuit lifestyle, that were quickly called "matchbox" houses. The payment plan was for 7 to 10 years at $15 monthly. Even at this price these houses were unaffordable as most "Inuit subsisted on hunting and seasonal employment." With the collapse of the Loan Program in 1965, new complex rental systems administered by housing councils were introduced. As of 2021, in
Nunavut Nunavut is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' and the Nunavut Land Claims Agr ...
there were 5,600 public housing units with rents geared to income managed by the Nunavut Housing Corporation (NHC) with more than 20,000 tenants. This is one facet of the way in which Nunavut has been addressing housing issues. Nunavut's housing challenges are complex and are dealt with using "multi-faceted approaches." This includes "trauma-informed policies and programs" which are necessary to respond to "
intergenerational trauma Intergenerationality is interaction between members of different generations.Klimczuk, Andrzej, ''Intergenerationality, Intergenerational Justice, Intergenerational Policies'', n:S. Thompson (ed.), ''Encyclopedia of Diversity and Social Justice'', ...
from forced relocation and residential schools" which impact "socio-economic conditions in Nunavut." In a 2021 podcast, Mumilaaq Qaqqaq, a former MP for Nunavut, described the three-week tour to Nunavut hamlets to report on the housing crisis first hand. She reported on multi-generational families living in over-crowded, drafty, mould-ridden houses that had not been repaired or renovated in years. Following in-depth media reports critical on the lack of action on the part of the federal government, a comprehensive study of Indigenous housing in Canada was commissioned resulting in the 1992 report, ''A Time for Action: Aboriginal and Northern Housing''. The report said that about 50% of 70,000 houses on reserve houses were "unfit" as residences and called for the "immediate construction of 21,700 new homes." The report said that 6,700 homes needed to be replaced, while about 44,500 houses "required substantial repairs." The cost at that time was estimated at $2.1 billion. Following 18 months of talks on improving access to housing, employment, health services, and education, the Government of Canada, First Ministers of the Provinces, Territorial Leaders, and the leaders of five national Aboriginal organizations signed a series of agreements in 2005, known as the
Kelowna Accord The Kelowna Accord is a series of agreements between the Government of Canada, First Ministers of the Provinces, Territorial Leaders, and the leaders of five national Aboriginal organizations in Canada. The accord sought to improve the educati ...
with a five-year $5-billion plan to "improve the lives of First Nations, Métis and Inuit." It would have included $1.6 billion for housing. Housing on reserves is considered a federal responsibility due to treaty rights. In the first budget during the
Premiership of Stephen Harper The premiership of Stephen Harper began on February 6, 2006, when the first Cabinet headed by Stephen Harper was sworn in by Governor General Michaelle Jean. Harper was invited to form the 28th Canadian Ministry and become Prime Minister of ...
, who did not endorse the Accord made with the Whigs, the 2006 budget allocated only $150 million to finance housing, education, clean water, and other services for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit. The Harper government, instead, introduced a "market-based solution" to the housing crisis on reserves in 2008the First Nations Market Housing Fundto help individual First Nations households purchase homes on reserves with a goal of "25,000 privately owned dwellings by 2018". This action marked an effort to further emphasize the privatization of indigenous housing that had been initiated in the mid-1980s. Its aim was to lessen the federal government's role and responsibilities in housing matters for indigenous communities. In 2008, the federal government allocated a one-time investment of $300 million without consulting the First Nations about the introduction of a new housing concept. From 2008 to 2015 the fund grew to $344 million through non-housing investments. Administrative costs, stipends, and travel expenses total about $3.6 million per year, and over eight years, only 99 homes were built, indicating that the market-based solution was a failure.
Pierre Poilievre Pierre Marcel Poilievre (born June 3, 1979) is a Canadian politician who has been the Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Conservative Party since 2022. He was the Member of Parliament (Canad ...
was the minister responsible for the CMHC at that time, the agency that managed the Fund.
Bernard Valcourt Bernard Valcourt (born February 18, 1952) is a Canadian politician and lawyer, who served as Member of Parliament for the electoral district of Madawaska—Restigouche, New Brunswick until he was defeated in the 2015 federal election. Early ...
, then Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, was also involved.


Home ownership in Canada

In 1981 the rate of home ownership in Canada was 62.4%, after dropping to an all-time low of 60% in 1999, it increased to 63.9% in 2000; to 68.4% in 2006, and 68.55% in 2021. Since the 1990s, there was a rapid increase in the price of residential real estate since the 1990s, so the increase in home ownership, also resulted in an increase in mortgage debt. According to a 2012 Bank of Canada (BOC) report, the BOC's affordability measure (AFF), which was based on the "ratio of monthly mortgage payments to disposable income (DI)", was "consistently favourable by historical standards" starting in the late 1990s. According to
Mark Carney Mark Joseph Carney (born March 16, 1965) is a Canadian politician and economist who has served as the 24th and current Prime Minister of Canada, prime minister of Canada since 2025. He has served as Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, lead ...
—the Governor of the
Bank of Canada The Bank of Canada (BoC; ) is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation and Canada's central bank. Chartered in 1934 under the ''Bank of Canada Act'', it is responsible for formulating Canada's monetary policy,OECD. OECD Economic Surve ...
from 2008 to 2013—the demand for housing in Canada was consistent with housing supply. Carney warned in 2011, that even though measures of housing affordability in Canada were favorable in most cases—with some housing markets already severely unaffordable even at current rate—interest rates were at a record low. He raised concerns that Canadian household debt was high and therefore vulnerable to increases in mortgage interest rates which could cause housing affordability fall to "its worst level in 16 years." Affordability in the real estate market was increased partly because of labour market conditions that supported increased income and the low interest rates. The banking sector benefitted from the "strong credit growth" and higher loads of indebtedness that these homebuyers incurred from 2001 to 2011. However, concerns were raised about the very high household indebtedness which had reached c. 150% of debt-to-income ratio by 2012. As of early 2020, about a third of all homes in Ontario and British Columbia were owned by investors also known as multiple-residential property owners. In Nova Scotia and New Brunswick investors own 40% of all residential housing units. Concerns have been raised that while the investors group provide a significant portion of rental housing supply but may also be responsible for the rapid escalation of residential properties. Scrutiny of this buyers group increased during the COVID-19 pandemic as the housing supplies reached crucial lows. The CHSP April 2022 data revealed that in urban areas, the median income of renters was $25,000 compared to FTHBs whose median income was twice as much, $50,000, in larger census metropolitan areas (CMAs) across Canada. About one third of Canadians rent their homes. Ontario and British Columbia have a higher rate of residential property rentals. During the COVID-19 pandemic, housing suppliesparticularly affordable housingdropped to historical lows. The average price of a home in Canada increased 17.1% to $779,000 in Q4 2021 compared to Q4 2020, according to a Royal LePage survey. A 13 January 2022
Bank of Canada The Bank of Canada (BoC; ) is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation and Canada's central bank. Chartered in 1934 under the ''Bank of Canada Act'', it is responsible for formulating Canada's monetary policy,OECD. OECD Economic Surve ...
report examined three types of buyers in Canada, first-time home buyers (FTHBs), repeat homebuyers, and investors or multiple residential property owners. The CHSP April 2022 data revealed that in urban areas, the median income of renters was $25,000 compared to FTHBs whose median income was twice as much, $50,000, in larger census metropolitan areas (CMAs) across Canada. Nineteen per cent of the down payment towards purchase of the first home was gifted by a family member. Residential property owners are described as "repeat buyers" when they buy a new home while selling their old one; multiple residential property owners are described as "investors" if they purchase a new residence, potentially for rental income, while keeping their old one. Investors or multiple residential property owners, who may be individuals or entities, own properties as an investment including rental income, as a recreational property which may be as a source of rental income. The report describes investors as older, higher-income, and more indebted. According to the Bank of Canada report based on mortgage data, since 2014, FTHBs have been the largest group of homebuyers in Canada, representing about 50% of all mortgaged home purchases; repeat homebuyers represented 31%, and investors represented 19% since 2014. During the pandemic, FTHBs represented 47% in June 2021, compared to 53% in 2015. The Bank of Canada reported a "rapid increase" in mortgage home purchases by all three groups, but the most pronounced increase was in the investors group. According to Statistics Canada's Canadian Housing Statistics Program (CHSP) data for 2019 and 2020 on home ownership reported on 12 April 2022, which compared first-time home buyers (FTHBs) and multiple residential property owners, the latter own about a third of all residential properties in Canada. Of these the top 10% wealthiest represent 25% of residential housing value. While investors provide a significant part of the rental housing supply, they may also exacerbate the "so-called boom-bust cycles in housing markets" causing economic instability.


Affordability problem

In Canada's market based housing system, in 2010 the federal government intervened only when affordability of housing was stressed to the point home ownership became inaccessible even to individuals with full-time employment. The United Nations
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) is a United Nations treaty body entrusted with overseeing the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). It is composed of 18 expe ...
issued a highly critical and detailed report on Canada's social policies in its 1998 review of Canada's compliance with these rights particularly about disastrous levels of homelessness. It concluded "that while Canada has a long history of housing successes, the housing cuts starting in the late 1980s have effectively prevented Canada from meeting its international housing obligations." Similar concerns were raised in their 2016 follow up report, which called for respect for the right to adequate housing. The Committee raised concerns about the housing crisis and the lack of a national housing strategy and funding, inadequate housing subsidies, the shortage of housing supply, and evictions and called for action on a number of issues. This included increase resources for housing at the federal and provincial levels, increase the supply of social and affordable units "substantially"; protect renters from evictions specifically in accordance with international laws regarding homelessness. The committee recommended that the federal government adopt a national strategy on homelessness. Until 2012, Canadian policymakers and researchers did not have a common understanding of homelessness or a working definition. The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness (COH)then called the Canadian Homelessness Research Network (CHRN)a Canadian non-profit, non-partisan research institute that measures
homelessness in Canada Homelessness in Canada was not a social problem until the 1980s. The Canadian government housing policies and programs in place throughout the 1970s were based on a concept of shelter as a basic need or requirement for survival and of the obligati ...
in order to better address homelessness, developed a definition of homelessness which categorizes people who are homeless as "unsheltered", "emergency sheltered", "provisionally accommodated" and "at risk of homelessness." The European Typology of Homelessness and Housing Exclusion (ETHOS) definition also uses similar categories. Lacking a consistent definition, Canadian public policy had focussed only on "absolute homelessness". The mayors of Canada's largest cities, declared the lack of affordable housing a national housing disaster in 1998. The federal government responded by announcing cost-shared conditional federal-provincial initiatives to construct affordable housing, worth $1 billion. However, during this period of tax cutting and debt reduction initiatives, the devolution of federal responsibilities to the provinces, without an accompanying transfer of funds, made it impossible for the provinces to contribute their share for affordable housing projects. Provinces were focused on reducing government size and increasing provincial tax cuts. All mortgages provided by federally regulated institutions where the down payment is 25% or less, are required under the federal Bank Act, to carry mortgage insurance, according to a 2005 ''Canadian Business'' journal article. In 2004, this represented 45% of all home buyers, or 500,000 Canadian households at a total cost of $1.6 billion for mortgage insurance which was paid to the CMHC, the Crown corporation that provides mortgage insurance. Based on the CMHC's 2004 annual report, mortgage insurance premiums collected totaled $1.1 billion while $51 million in claims were paid out, which represents less than 5% payout. From 1994 through 2004, CMHC paid out at approximately 45% which is much lower than most other kinds of insurance. The 2005 ''Canadian Business'' article cautioned that the CMHC's mortgage insurance program was the most "lucrative line of insurance in Canada." CMHC's government-backed mortgage insurance purchased at a flat, upfront fee for mortgage insurance through Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation is obligatory for home buyers with down of less than 20% of the home's value." There are concerns about aggressive marketing that began in the mid-1990s making secured personal lines of credit (PLCs) (often secured by housing assets) much more widely available. By 2011 secured PLCs represented 50% of consumer debt. This places many households in a vulnerable exposed situation if housing prices drop, mortgage rates rise, or their income decreases. Concerns over high Canadian
household debt Household debt is the combined debt of all people in a household, including consumer debt and mortgage loans. A significant rise in the level of this debt coincides historically with many severe economic crises and was a cause of the U.S. and s ...
levels led to changes to mortgage regulations announced June 2012 by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. The federal government lowered the maximum amortization period for a government-insured mortgage from 30 to 25 years. The upper limit Canadian homeowners could borrow against their home equity was lowered from 85% to 80%. in 2012, Londerville of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute called for 40-year amortizations in "certain markets and for certain age groups, perhaps with limits on the house price" for example in the case of young households in the high-priced Toronto real estate market who "may need a 40-year amortization period on their first home to make it affordable." The CMHC turns a large profit from this mortgage insurance collected mainly from first time buyers and those unable because of lower incomes to pay more than 20% down payment. Between 2001 and 2010 this mortgage insurance amounted to a $14 billion contribution towards reducing the Canadian federal debt. Londerville of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute notes IMF concerns about some CMHC practices and the unnecessary burden placed on home owners at the lower end of income scale. This erodes affordability. In 2006,
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC; , SCHL) is Canada's federal crown corporation responsible for administering the ''National Housing Act'', with the mandate to improve housing and living conditions in the country.McAfee, Ann. 2013 ...
(CMHC) deemed that 20% of Canadian households (1.7 million households) fall within the core housing need. These households could not find adequate and suitable housing without spending 30% or more of their pre-tax income. CMHC found that a disturbing 656,000 households (7%) spent at least half of their before-tax income on shelter in 1996, up from 422,000 households, or 5%, in 1991. While accounting for only 35% of all households, almost 70% of those in core need were renters. in 2006, 5.5% of Canadians, 1.7 million people of a total population of 31 million were under-housed or non-housed. The federal government's CMHC stated in 2021 that $2,225 per month constitutes "affordable" housing in
Greater Montreal Greater Montreal (, ) is the most populous metropolitan area in Quebec and the second most populous in Canada after Greater Toronto. In 2015, Statistics Canada identified Montreal's Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) as with a population of 4,02 ...
. This led to condemnation from both
New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...
and
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
MPs. CMHC said that its principal goal was to stimulate new housing construction, not keep prices low. A
Conference Board of Canada The Conference Board of Canada is an independent, non-profit applied-research organization based in Canada. It aims to help Canada's leaders make informed, evidence-based decisions using non-partisan and non-ideological analysis. The organiza ...
2010 report entitled "Building From the Ground Up: Enhancing Affordable Housing in Canada" argued that the shortage of affordable housing was "having a detrimental effect on Canadians' health, which, in turn, reduces their productivity, limits our national competitiveness, and indirectly drives up the cost of health care and welfare." Stress, asthma, and diabetes are connected to inadequate housing.


Core housing need

In 1986, CMHC entered into Global and Operating Agreements under the '' National Housing Act'' and the CMHC Act, with the provinces and territories regarding administration and cost sharing of social housing programs. The core housing need concept was developed and adopted as an eligibility criterion to target households who were in need and as a basis to allocate federal funds through CMHC to participating provinces and territories. A household is considered to be in core housing need by CMHC if it meets certain criteriaif it falls below acceptable standards of affordability, adequacy, or suitability and if the cost of housing exceeds 30% or more of its before-tax household income. Households are considered to have a housing affordability problem by CMHC if they have to spend 30% or more of total before-tax household income on shelter expenses. Shelter expenses include "rent and any payments for electricity, fuel, water and other municipal services" for renters and "mortgage payments (principal and interest), property taxes, and any condominium fees, along with payments for electricity, fuel, water and other municipal services" for home owners. Data on core housing need is collected by Statistics Canada through the Canadian Housing Survey. In 2006, about 5.1% of Canadian households were considered to be in severe housing need, spending 50% or more on shelter. In 2011, about 1.5 million Canadian households or 12.5% of Canadian households were in core housing need, and various levels of governance in Canada were exploring policy solutions to assist challenges faced by the low-income renter and homeowner overburdened with shelter costs. In 2016, about 1.7 million Canadian households or 12.7% of Canadian households were in core housing need. The percentage was slightly higher in urban areas, with about 13.6% of all Canadian households living in urban areas—1.6 million urban households—were in core housing need. In 2016, the regions with the highest percentage of households in core housing need, were Nunavut with 36.5%, Northwest Territories at 15.5%, Ontario at 15.3%, and Yukon at 15.2%. In 2016, the highest rates of core housing need in metropolitan areas included Toronto at 19.1%, Vancouver at 17.6%, Belleville at 15.4%, and Peterborough at 15.1%. The 2020 report on the 2018 Survey revealed that 1,644,900 Canadian households or 11.6% were in core housing need. Only 6.5% of homeowners experienced core housing needs compared to renter households, where 23% were likely to live in core housing need. Twenty one per cent of renters did not live in core housing need. Core housing need does not measure progress against some measurable indicator.


Public policy


National Housing Strategy

In November 2017, the federal government expanded its role in housing with the introduction of the National Housing Strategy (NHS) (NHS), with a human rights-based approach to housing. The NHS's goal was "to ensure everyone in Canada has access to housing that meets their needs and that they can afford". Prior to the NHS's launch, housing initiatives were introduced and funded by the federal, provincial, territorial and municipal governments, along with civil society organizations (including the charitable sector). In 2016, the federal
Minister of Families, Children and Social Development The minister of families, children and social development () is a minister of the Crown in the Cabinet of Canada. The associated department is Employment and Social Development Canada. On March 14, 2025 the position was abolished, its responsib ...
said that strategies for a national affordable-housing strategy were being considered. Through this first NHS, the Government of Canada promised to spend $40 billion over the next decade on housing, funding that would go to build 100,000 new affordable units, repair 300,000 affordable units, and to cut homelessness by 50%. Before 2017, Canada was the only G8 nation that lacked a national housing strategy. In November 2017, Canada's 20172027 housing plan, One major outcome of the four-month-long Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)-led consultation processwhich included representatives responsible for housing at the federal, provincial, and territorial levelwas a call for a National Housing Strategy that would "help vulnerable groups obtain secure, affordable housing". In April 2019, the ''National Housing Strategy Act'' was passed in Parliament as part of the ''2019 Budget Implementation Act'', setting out the Government of Canada's housing policy. Based on a human rights-based approach to housing, the federal policy "recognize(s) that the right to adequate housing is a fundamental human right affirmed in
international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...
." It also commits Canada to further the progressive realization of the
right to adequate housing The right to housing (occasionally right to shelter) is the economic, social and cultural right to adequate housing and shelter. It is recognized in some national constitutions and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International ...
. This right is recognized in the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) is a multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (GA) on 16 December 1966 through GA. Resolution 2200A (XXI), and came into force on 3 January 197 ...
(ICESCR). By 2022, the first NHS introduced in 2017, was valued at more than $75 billion over ten years, funding programs through loans and grants such as the Community Housing Initiative, Reaching Home, Canada Housing Benefit, First-time home buyer programs, the Rental Construction Financing Initiative (RCFI), the National Housing Co-Investment Fund (NHCI), and the Rapid Housing Initiative (RHI). The second National Housing Strategy (NHS) was launched in April 2024 with a budget of over CDN$82 billion. This included the 2024 Housing Accelerator Fund. The government's investment in social housing is seen as a critical step to address the pressing needs of low-income households and to reduce homelessness in Canada. However, lack of affordable housing is becoming an increasingly serious problem in many urban areas of the country, and government's policy like NHS that was supposed to increase affordable non-market housing is used as a tool for funding corporate developers to build market rental housing with low-interest loans without any obligations to ensure housing rights of the largely affected population through rental control measures, annually building affordable housing units through a percentage of their profit from using the low-interest loans or converting a certain percentage of their market housing units in a development to non-market housing units. As an unintended consequence in the process of providing affordable housing, NHS ended up supporting private developers for building market rental housing and turning Canadian homes into financial assets by generously providing low-interest loans. In 2023, the Canadian government's spending on housing was small, and only accounted 0.1% to 0.2% of the country's GDP. It is also projected to decrease as a proportion of GDP in the future. Critics have also observed that despite its establishment many years ago, there has been no comprehensive strategy or a significant implementation plan for the creation of dedicated non-market housing. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) is one of the main federal organizations responsible for administering the various programs and initiatives of NHS. It was supposed to efficiently administer
seed funding Seed money, also known as seed funding or seed capital, is a form of securities offering in which an investor puts capital in a startup company in exchange for an equity stake or convertible note stake in the company. The term ''seed'' suggests ...
, co-investment fund, the innovation fund, the federal lands initiative, and rental construction financing, as well as expanding the mortgage loan insurance to include market properties and flexibilities for affordable housing. On November 21, the 2023 Fall Economic Statement announced the renaming of the National Housing Co-Investment Fund (NHCF). The program is now known as the Affordable Housing Fund. It includes an additional $1 billion in funding over 3 years, starting in 2025-26, to build more affordable housing.


Affordable Housing Fund

On November 21, the 2023, the federal program formerly known as the National Housing Co-investment Fund (NHCF) was renamed the Affordable Housing Fund. The Fund offers low-cost CMHC loans for developers engaged in affordable housing projects. There was an increase in funding for affordable housing in the spring federal budget and in the fall of 2021, which included an additional $2.7 billion for the NHCF. The NHCF budget allocated $250 million to target housing for domestic violence survivors. As of 2021, the national
non-profit association A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
advocacy group, the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association, said that while more federal funding for community housing is the right step, the CMHC loan approval process is too slow.


Housing Accelerator Fund

The federal government’s $4-billion Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF), launched in May 2023, is part of Canada's second National Housing Strategy (NHS). The HAF offers an additional $5 billion in infrastructure grants for provinces and territories, to encourage municipalities to implement pro-housing policies, with a main focus on the "missing-middle" homes such as duplexes, triplexes, and small apartment buildings. The targeted pro-housing policies focus primarily on the "missing-middle" homes such as duplexes, triplexes, and small apartment buildings. Launched in May 2023, the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) is a $4 billion initiative from the Government of Canada that will run until 2026-27.


Build Canada Homes

The Build Canada Homes (BCH) entity is a proposal by Canadian Prime Minister
Mark Carney Mark Joseph Carney (born March 16, 1965) is a Canadian politician and economist who has served as the 24th and current Prime Minister of Canada, prime minister of Canada since 2025. He has served as Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, lead ...
to address Canada's housing crisis in 2025. The proposal includes details about its operation and objectives. Key details about BCH: *Objective: Build affordable housing on a large scale, including on public lands. *Funding: Provide over $25 billion in financing for affordable home builders. *Operation: Act as a developer, plan and manage affordable housing projects, and partner with private builders for the construction phase. The BCH proposal was presented in the context of the Canadian election campaign, with the goal of doubling the housing construction rate to 500,000 units per year. However, some critics argue that government intervention in the housing market could have unintended consequences, such as increasing housing costs in nearby areas.


Affordability by province


Alberta

According to the
City of Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...
, as of 2016, the majority of households in Calgary, 78%, were able to meet their housing needs in the marketplace. A small percentage of the households who have inadequate income to acquire housing the market, 3%, are supported by the government. This leaves about 19% of households who are in need of affordable housing, as defined by the city. Approximately 21% of Alberta's population spends more than 30% of their income on housing. According to the 2016 census,
Fort McMurray Fort McMurray ( ) is an urban service area in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Alberta, Canada. It is located in northeast Alberta, in the middle of the Athabasca oil sands, surrounded by boreal forest. It has played a significa ...
, which is the urban centre of the municipality of
Wood Buffalo, Alberta The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (abbreviated RMWB) is a specialized municipality in northeast Alberta, Canada. It is the largest regional municipality in Canada by area (105650.88km2 , this number includes Wood Buffalo Nation Park o ...
with a population of 66,000, which is dominated by the oil sands industry, had the highest median household income in Canada of $193,511 before tax in 2015. Seven of the ten highest-income Canadian cities in 2015 were in Alberta. Fort McMurray's median income was 106% higher than Alberta's median income of $103,720, which in turn was higher than Canada's median annual household income of $90, 390. In spite of the high cost of housing and living in FMWB, only 12% of FMWB households spent over 30% of their income on housing in 2015. As of 2022, there were 84,000 households in Calgary that had an annual income of less than $60,000 and spent more than 30% on housing, representing about 20% of Calgary's households. This meets the definition of a household in need of affordable housing. Seventy-five per cent of Calgary households did not have sufficient income to purchase a single-family home. Calgary had the highest market rental rates in Canada. In order to rent a two-bedroom apartment a household would need to have an income of $53,000. Approximately 42,000 households were spending over 50% of the annual income on housing, putting them at risk of homelessness. Over 3,200 people in Calgary were homeless in 2022. Most urban centres in Canada have more non-market housing than Calgary, where only 3.6% of all housing in Calgary is non-market. The Calgary Housing Company manages Calgary-owned affordable housing units, which in 2022 consisted of more than over 10,000 units with over 25,000 tenants. This includes near market housing where rents are lower than market rates and subsidized housing such as rent supplements for tenants that rent from private landlords. In 2011, the president of the Calgary Region's
Canadian Home Builders' Association The Canadian Home Builders' Association (CHBA) is a not-for-profit organization representing residential construction and related industry firms in Canada. It was founded in 1943, following closely the adoption of the National Building Code of Can ...
, Carol Oxtoby, explained the increase in luxury homes construction and sales in Calgary. with its oil and gas and high-tech industries, young entrepreneurs and head offices, Calgary has some of the highest income earners and highest personal wealth in Canada per capita. In 2011 "448 homes in Calgary were resold for more than $1 million." A 2010 study by M. Lio on "The Impact of Higher Energy Efficiency Standards on Housing Affordability in Alberta" funded by NAIMA Canada and the
Consumers Council of Canada The Consumers Council of Canada is a non-profit, volunteer-based consumer organization, promoting consumer rights and responsibilities in Canada. Founded in 1994, the organization is based in Toronto. The Consumers Council of Canada was a mem ...
, investigated the impact of total selling price of the house, cost of land, cost of labour, and the cost of materials on housing affordability for the cities of Calgary and Edmonton in 2010. The results showed that the rising cost of labour and materials were attributable to the total selling price of the house, but that the rate of increase in these two attributes was outweighed by the significant rise in land value. The trend in the cost of land for both cities by 2010 showed a strong impact on the new housing price index. The study concluded that—compared to the cost of labour and materials, the main reason for the increase in house prices was primarily due to land costs. Since at least 2010, Calgary has had the "highest median after-tax income of all the major CMAs in Canada. Calgary also has the "highest concentration of millionaires" and the "highest proportion of individuals with after-tax income of $100,000. Because RBC Economics and other mortgage and loan providers, measures affordability based on the percentage of medium income that a household requires to pay for ownership costs, housing in Calgary is considered to be the most affordable in Canada. According to a 2017 report by economist Ron Kneebone, based an analysis of the cost of rent and the rates of social assistance over a ten-year period, Calgary is the "least-affordable city in Canada...if you're poor." By 2024, financialized landlords were upgrading and retrofitting their older buildings and rental units using government subsidies intended to reduce carbon emissions. In cities like Calgary, this has resulted in landlords increasing rent in their units above what their current low income households can manage.


Ontario

The non-profit Housing Services Corporation delivers programs for the affordable housing sector in Ontario. It was created under the Housing Services Act, 2011 to replace the Social Housing Services Corporation (SHSC) which was operational from 2002 until 2012. The SHSC was created in 2002 following the devolution of responsibility for over 270,000 social housing units from the province to the municipalities to "provide Ontario housing providers and service managers with bulk purchasing, insurance, investment and information services that add significant value to their operations." Over 20% of home owners residing in Ontario had housing affordability issues as of 2006. A 2010 survey by the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association revealed that the number of households on affordable housing waiting lists was at an "all-time high of 141,635". Through partnerships with the government, private investors became interested again in investing in multi-family rental housing in the 1990s. CAPREIT was established in 1997 becoming Canada's first REIT. As more REITs were created, more multi-family rental housing were owned by these institutions. By 2015, CAPREIT was Toronto's biggest landlord with about 11, 000 rental units. In the fifteen years between 2000 and 2015, the ownership of Toronto apartments was increasingly concentrated among REITs, institutional investors, private equity funds and some large family-owned firms. On 29 January 2020, a motion to declare a housing and homeless emergency in Ottawa was passed unanimously by Ottawa City Council, becoming the first Canadian city to declare such an emergency. Faced with an urgent need for more affordable housing, new housing subsidies, and more assistance to those who are chronically homeless, to people who need supportive housing for a number of reasonsincluding those with disabilities or serious injuriesthe city called on all levels of government to respond. The municipality provides 56% of funding for programs related to housing and homelessness, and the federal and provincial governments provide the remainder. The price of the average home in most cities and towns in Canada increased by double digits. In Toronto, the increase was 15% breaching the "$1 million mark for the first time" in February 2021. According to Reuters, by October 2022, the shortage of construction workers in Canada was a major factor in responding to housing shortage challenges, particularly in Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec. According to a June 2022 CMHC report, the labour shortage could contribute to making housing less affordable. The CMHC report said that in order to make housing affordable in Canada by 2030, millions of new homes had to be built. The "More Homes Built Faster Act", which was introduced in November 2022 in response to Ontario's housing supply problems, raised concerns as it would make sweeping changes to a number of statutes.


British Columbia

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
had the least affordable housing market in Canada by 1980; the average home cost 5.7 times the average family income. O' Toole calculated that given the high interest rates in 1980, "an average family would have to devote more than 70 percent of its income to pay off a mortgage on an average home in 30 years." According to a report in ''
The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...
'', a factor contributing to Vancouver's high property prices may be Canadian laws which enable foreigners to buy Canadian property—possibly for purposes of
tax evasion Tax evasion or tax fraud is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to red ...
or
money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...
—while shielding their identities from tax authorities, a practice which is known as
snow washing Snow washing refers to hiding illegitimate financial transactions often for purposes of tax evasion in Canada. The term is an amalgam of the words ''snow'' referring to Canada having cold snowy winters and ''washing'' referring to money launderi ...
. The governor of the
Bank of Canada The Bank of Canada (BoC; ) is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation and Canada's central bank. Chartered in 1934 under the ''Bank of Canada Act'', it is responsible for formulating Canada's monetary policy,OECD. OECD Economic Surve ...
noted that affordability of housing has been eroded as wealthy Asian
investor An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future Return on capital, return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital the investor usually purchases some species of pr ...
s seeking diversification and
hard asset In financial accounting, an asset is any resource owned or controlled by a business or an economic entity. It is anything (tangible or intangible) that can be used to produce positive economic value. Assets represent value of ownership that can b ...
s purchase housing in Vancouver. Consequently, " e average selling price of a home in Vancouver is now nearly 11 times the average Vancouver family's household income, a multiple similar to those seen in
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
and
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
—cities that have also become part of a more
globalized Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...
real estate market Real estate business is the profession of buying, leasing, managing, or selling real estate (commercial, industrial, residential, or mixed-use premises)."Real estate": Oxford English Dictionary online: Retrieved September 18, 2011 Marketing and ...
." There has been a move toward the integration of affordable
social housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...
with market housing and other uses, such as the 2006–2010 redevelopment of the Woodward's building site in Vancouver. Woodward, a heritage site, was re-invented and has reinvigorated
Gastown Gastown is the original settlement that became the core of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and a national historic site and a neighbourhood in the northwest section of the Downtown Eastside, adjacent to Downtown Vancouver. Its ...
in
Downtown Eastside The Downtown Eastside (DTES) is a list of neighbourhoods in Vancouver, neighbourhood in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. One of the city's oldest neighbourhoods, the DTES is the site of a complex set of social issues, including disproportio ...
, one of Vancouver's oldest and "most challenged" yet "resilient" communities. The project has also been said to contribute to Vancouver being an inclusive city.
Randal O'Toole Randal O'Toole (born 1952) is an American public policy analyst. The majority of O'Toole's work has focused on public lands, land-use regulation, and transportation, particularly light rail. He frequently criticizes proposals for passenger rail s ...
of the
Fraser Institute The Fraser Institute is a Canadian Conservatism in Canada, conservative public policy think tank registered as a Charitable organization, charity. It is headquartered in Vancouver, with additional offices in Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal. It has ...
in his report entitled "Unliveable Strategies: The Greater Vancouver Regional District and the Liveable Region Strategic Plan" (2011) argued that the GVRD
urban planner An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning. An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, tow ...
s focused too much on housing affordability as a lack of affordable housing for
low-income Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse
families who would need some form of housing
subsidy A subsidy, subvention or government incentive is a type of government expenditure for individuals and households, as well as businesses with the aim of stabilizing the economy. It ensures that individuals and households are viable by having acc ...
. He noted that GVRD reports failed to mention that there was also a lack of affordable housing for people with middle incomes. O'Toole said that the GVRD's land use planners "left the region with the least affordable housing and some of the worst traffic congestion in Canada". He concluded that Greater Vancouver Regional District planners' "Livable Region Strategic Plan" (1996) were too narrow in their focus on "avoiding
urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city". Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted ...
and minimizing automobile driving." He also argued that the protection of green spaces, farm lands, from development limited growth and was the cause of the escalation of prices. Vancouver was the most stressed area in the province in terms of affordability of housing in Canada. In 2012, Vancouver was ranked by
Demographia Wendell Cox is an American urban policy analyst and proponent of the Automotive city, use of the private car over rail projects. He is the principal and sole owner of Wendell Cox Consultancy/Demographia, based in the St. Louis metropolitan region ...
as the second-most unaffordable in the world, rated as even more severely unaffordable in 2012 than in 2011. The city has adopted various strategies to reduce housing costs, including
cooperative housing A housing cooperative, or housing co-op, is a legal entity which owns real estate consisting of one or more residential buildings. The entity is usually a cooperative or a corporation and constitutes a form of housing tenure. Typically hou ...
, legalized
secondary suite A secondary suite (also known as an accessory dwelling unit (ADU), in-law apartment, granny flat, granny annex or garden suite) is a self-contained apartment, cottage, or small residential unit that is located on a property that has a separate ...
s, increased density and
smart growth Smart growth is an urban planning and transportation theory that concentrates growth in compact walkable urban centers to avoid sprawl. It also advocates compact, transit-oriented, walkable, bicycle-friendly land use, including neighborhood ...
. As of April 2010, the average two-level home in Vancouver sold for a record high of $987,500, compared with the Canadian average of $365,141. In June 2016,
Generation Squeeze Generation Squeeze (also known as GenSqueeze) is a Canadian, non-partisan, non-profit organization that advocates on behalf of young adults. The organization claims to have modeled itself after CARP, an organization that advocates for Canadians 4 ...
, a non-profit organization that advocates on behalf of young adults, labeled the situation in the province a crisis and commenced a "Code Red" campaign. In 2016, the
BC government The Executive Council of British Columbia (the Cabinet) is the Cabinet of the Canadian province of British Columbia. Almost always composed of members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, the Cabinet is similar in structure and ro ...
announced a $516 million investment in 68 new affordable housing projects to build 2,900 units across the province, targeting renters with incomes that were low to moderate. This included 68 projects with 1441 units in
Lower mainland The Lower Mainland is a geographic and cultural region of the mainland coast of British Columbia that generally comprises the regional districts of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Home to approximately 3.05million people as of the 2021 ...
and
Fraser Valley The Fraser Valley is a geographical region in southwestern British Columbia, Canada and northwestern Washington State. It starts just west of Hope in a narrow valley encompassing the Fraser River and ends at the Pacific Ocean stretching from th ...
, 774 units on
Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...
and the
Gulf Islands The Gulf Islands is a group of islands in the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the British Columbia Coast, mainland coast of British Columbia. Etymology The name "Gulf Islands" comes from "Gulf of Georgia", the original term used by Geor ...
, 256 units in
Thompson Thompson may refer to: People * Thompson (surname) * Thompson Lantion, Filipino retired police general * Thompson M. Scoon (1888–1953), New York politician Places Australia * Thompson Beach, South Australia, a locality Bulgaria * Thom ...
-
Okanagan The Okanagan ( ), also called the Okanagan Valley and sometimes the Okanagan Country, is a region in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. It is part of ...
, and the rest to
Coast A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...
,
Kootenays The Kootenays or Kootenay ( ) is a region of southeastern British Columbia. It takes its name from the Kootenay River, which in turn was named for the Kutenai First Nations people. Boundaries The Kootenays are more or less defined by the Koote ...
,
Cariboo The Cariboo is an intermontane region of British Columbia, Canada, centered on a plateau stretching from Fraser Canyon to the Cariboo Mountains. The name is a reference to the Caribou (North America), caribou that were once abundant in the reg ...
, and North/Northeast.


Nunavut

The capital of
Nunavut Nunavut is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' and the Nunavut Land Claims Agr ...
faces an extreme affordability challenge mainly due to the supply side. In 2010
Iqaluit Iqaluit is the capital of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. It is the territory's largest community and its only city, and the northernmost city in Canada. It was known as Frobisher Bay from 1942 to 1987, after the large bay on the coast on ...
had the most expensive rental market in Canada: a two-bedroom apartment cost $2,365 a month in Iqaluit compared to $1,195 in Vancouver. In 2018, over 10,000 Nunavut residents were without housing of their own, translating to a deficit of 3,500 housing units.


See also

* Affordability of housing in the United Kingdom *
Affordable Housing and Groceries Act, Bill C-56 The ''Affordable Housing and Groceries Act'', Bill C-56 () is a proposed legislation tabled in the House of Commons of Canada on 21 September 2023. The legislation has two parts. The first will temporarily remove the goods and services tax (GST) ...
* Affordable housing by country *
Beneficial ownership In domestic and international commercial law, a beneficial owner is a natural person or persons who ultimately owns or controls an interest in a legal entity or arrangement, such as a company, a trust, or a foundation. Legal owners (i.e. the own ...
*
Bill 28 (British Columbia) Bill 28, the ''Miscellaneous Statutes (Housing Priority Initiatives) Amendment Act'', 2016, is a British Columbian law that came into force on August 2, 2016. The law was introduced after calls urging the British Columbia provincial government to i ...
*
Million Programme The Million Programme () was a large public housing program implemented in Sweden between 1965 and 1974 by the governing Swedish Social Democratic Party to ensure the availability of affordable, high-quality housing to all Swedish citizens. Th ...
*
Public housing in Canada Public housing policies in Canada includes rent controls, as well as subsidized interest rates and grants. Early public housing policy in Canada consisted of public-private lending schemes which focused on expanding home ownership among the middle ...
*
Snow washing Snow washing refers to hiding illegitimate financial transactions often for purposes of tax evasion in Canada. The term is an amalgam of the words ''snow'' referring to Canada having cold snowy winters and ''washing'' referring to money launderi ...
*
Housing crisis in Quebec Quebec's housing crisis (French: ''crise du logement, pénurie du logement,'' or ''crise du marché immobilier'') is a speculative bubble that has severely affected the prices, quality and availability of real estate for people in Quebec and Canada ...


References


Citations


Sources

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Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
Housing in Canada Real estate in Canada