As the federal government readies a new agency to accelerate home construction, newly released internal documents reveal just how severe Canada’s housing crisis has become — and how much ground Ottawa has to make up.
Briefing materials prepared for Housing Minister Gregor Robertson in May acknowledge that rising housing costs are hurting the economy and pushing both vulnerable populations and middle-class Canadians into crisis. The documents state that many lower-income households cannot meet their basic housing needs due to a lack of affordable options, while middle-class buyers are staying in rental units longer, squeezing supply and driving rents higher.
The documents also reveal that residential construction costs have surged by 58 per cent since 2020 and warn they could climb further due to U.S. tariffs. Ottawa’s own projections expect home prices to rise faster through 2025 before cooling over the next two years, while housing starts are forecast to slow but remain above the 10-year average.
Perhaps most troubling is the data on homelessness: average nightly shelter use jumped 43 per cent between 2020 and 2023, with longer stays pointing to barriers in helping people exit homelessness. Canada’s stock of non-market housing sits at just 4 per cent of total supply, well below the OECD average of 7 per cent — a shortfall the documents admit has hit newcomers and vulnerable Canadians hardest.
Robertson has publicly acknowledged that the federal government has been a “laggard” in building affordable housing since the 1990s and said the priority must be dramatically ramping up supply rather than pushing prices down. Prime Minister Mark Carney has promised a major housing announcement and the launch of the Build Canada Homes agency, aimed at streamlining approvals and encouraging builders to adopt new technologies.
The crisis has become a major political flashpoint, with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre blaming the Liberals for a slowdown in housing starts and calling for tighter immigration levels, which he argues are straining supply and fuelling youth unemployment.