Affordable housing in Canada
[9] The definitions of 'affordability' and 'affordable housing in Canada' are varied depending on whether the term is used by banks and mortgage providers, real estate agencies in regards to market-based issues, consumers who may or may not be left out to the market, and advocacy organizations supporting the under-housed and unhoused populations.
[10] Nonetheless, governments, financial institutions (banks, mortgage providers), housing sectors (real estate agencies), consumers, and advocacy organizations use different definitions of affordability.
[11] Measuring affordability of housing is complicated by Canada's vast physical and human geography which includes remote northern communities and affluent urban regions.
[11] Mortgage lending institutions define affordability in terms of potential home buyers consider the relative cost of debt based on interest rates and average household incomes.
[26] By 2022, with an unexpected demand coupled with a diminishing supply of residential real estate along with historically low interest rates—set during the pandemic to stabilize the economy—the price of housing rose sky high in Canada.
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.
[34][35][36] CBC while examined the issue from the point of view of renters—single parents, large families, pensioners and others on fixed or low incomes, young people starting their careers—who felt that their voices were not being heard.
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.
[42][40] In a 2018 Journal of the American Planning Association article, four researchers described how the changing role of government in Canada since the 1970s affected affordable housing for those with lower incomes.
[43] 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.
[43] 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.
[46]: 19 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.
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.
[56] 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 (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis), public health and security, had been down-loaded with no increase in sources of funding.
"[65] 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.
[12][72] 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.
[75][e] 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.
[77]: 6 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.
[83] 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.
[94] 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.
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.
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.
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.
[131] 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).
[41] 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.
[146] According to the 2016 census, Fort McMurray, which is the urban centre of the municipality of Wood Buffalo, Alberta 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.
[152] 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.
[158] 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.
[171] In June 2016, Generation Squeeze, 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.
[172][173][174] In 2016, the BC government 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.
