Canada needs 3.5 million more homes: CMHC
By Adam Freill
Construction ResidentialLatest CMHC report on housing supply shortages suggests that 3.5 million housing units are needed by 2030 to restore affordability.
(Source: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation)
The figures released this week in Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s update to its Supply Gaps Estimate (SGE) report from June 2022 are daunting. The new estimate shows the overall national supply gap remains at approximately 3.5 million more housing units by 2030, over and above what is already projected to be built by that time.
The report looks to estimate how much additional housing supply is required to restore affordability to 2004 levels by 2030. According to CMHC, changing economic and demographic projections have caused supply gaps to change across provinces.
Among the highlights of the report are that the projected housing gap is now lower in Ontario but higher in other provinces like Alberta, Quebec and British Columbia.
“This latest report reinforces the need for urgent action to increase housing supply to make housing affordable for everyone in Canada and continues our work on improving the understanding of what drives housing demand and supply,” stated Aled ab Iorwerth, deputy chief economist for CMHC.
In future reports and updates, CMHC will seek greater detail on the impact of population mobility across regions and provinces, the number of rental units needed to reach affordability, and how the lack of housing supply impacts different income quintiles. Results from this work is expected to be available early next year.
The SGE report can be downloaded via this link. [https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/professionals/housing-markets-data-and-research/housing-research/research-reports/accelerate-supply/housing-shortages-canada-updating-how-much-we-need-by-2030]
