The homeownership rate in Canada has been declining since 2011, with only 66.5% of Canadian households owning their homes in 2021. The growth in renter households (+21.5%) is more than double the growth in owner households (+8.4%).
The housing crisis in Canada is a pressing issue that requires the collaboration of all levels of government. As of mid-2023, Canada’s population has reached 40 million, and there are almost 16 million households in Canada, with an average of 2.5 people living in each home. For every increase of one million people, 400,000 homes need to be built. In 2022, only 200,000 homes were built, resulting in a shortage of 200,000 homes. By 2030, Canada needs to build 6 million homes, but if we continue building at the current pace, we will only build 1.4 million homes by 2030.
In 1972, the population of Canada was 22 million, and 250,000 homes were built. However, in 2022, our population was almost 40 million, but only 200,000 homes were built. Although our population has almost doubled since 1972, we are building fewer homes.
We need to develop a robust plan to address the housing crisis in Canada, including:
Developing smaller towns around big metropolitan cities, building low-rise buildings in smaller towns, and providing facilities for seniors so that they can enjoy life in smaller towns and the countryside instead of mega-cities.
Building of smaller units as Canadian family size is small, developing a mechanism of profit control for building companies on new housing units, introducing limits on flipping of houses, and working with local and provincial governments to make the process of getting building permits easy for people who want to build their own homes.
Additionally, the municipal governments need to support families if they want to build their own homes and provide incentives to companies that provide building materials.