Housing Affordability in Review.

• Date: 01 September 2021
• Author: Feng, Judy

With November being housing month, it seems like the right time to reflect on the current housing affordability situation.

In November 2018, we featured an article covering the housing affordability experience in British Columbia and Ontario, with a focus on Vancouver and Toronto. Both provinces had just implemented property taxation changes and rent control measures. The article concluded that housing affordability was not an issue confined to Vancouver and Toronto, or even British Columbia or Ontario alone. Housing affordability was identified as a top policy priority across most of Canada, especially among younger demographics. With November being housing month, it seems like the right time to reflect on the current housing affordability situation. How has the law developed in those two provinces? What might the future bring for housing affordability policy and legislation in Canada?

Home prices and rent: moving on up

The sobering reality is that housing affordability is still a problem in Vancouver and Toronto. If anything, it's gotten even more expensive to buy or rent a home. The Canadian Real Estate Association's MLS Home Price Index Tool gives us average benchmark prices. In September 2018, the...