It will take more than 22 million homes – including 3.5 million new units – by 2030 to achieve affordability for all Canadians, estimates the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
It’s necessary rethinking Canada’s approach to deal with the housing shortage, can we read in the last report of the federal body published Thursday morning.
” It requires a radical transformation of the housing sector, including government policies and processes, as well as a concerted approach to increasing housing supply to meet demand. “
Two-thirds of the 3.5 million missing homes are in Ontario and British Columbia, where the housing markets are the least affordable, finds the CMHC.
The last time housing was affordable was in 2003 and 2004say the experts.
At that time, a household with an average income had to spend nearly 40% of their disposable income to buy an average home in Ontario. In British Columbia, you had to spend 45% of your income to buy the same type of housing.
In 2021, Canadian households were expected to spend 60% of their disposable income on housing, according to data from Statistics Canada and MLS cited in the report of the CMHC.
The majority of additional housing required in Ontario
According to the federal agency, Ontario will need 1.85 million homes by 2030.
Quebec and British Columbia follow with respective needs of 620,000 and 570,000 housing units to reach the level ofaffordability.
The CMHC explains that in Quebec, the housing market used to be affordable, but that things have changed over the past 20 years.
This is due, among other things, to greater demand than supply, particularly in some of the country’s major urban areas. While it is true that in other provinces housing is affordable for a household with an average disposable income, the same is not true for low-income households.
Increase supply on the rental market
CMHC believes in creating housing opportunities for all Canadians across the country. This also requires an increase in supply on the rental market and the housing market for owner-occupiers.
” Households therefore do not have to exceed their budget in an attempt to find a place to live in a context of limited supply and high prices. “
Other approaches are recommended, such as cohabitation and the redevelopment of residential, industrial and commercial buildings into collective housing.
Source: Radio-Canada