Viewpoint: Housing supply and housing affordability in Canada

Abstract Since 2000, housing markets across Canada have experienced growth rates in prices that far exceed corresponding rates of household income growth. However, rents have grown at similar rates to household incomes. In the 2015–24 period, immigration has been a central booster of housing demand and population growth, compensating for declining birth rates. Annual per capita housing unit new construction rates have grown slightly, to about 0.0075 across all types of markets for 1991–2024, even as Canada's population boomed in 2023–24, with the composition shifting markedly from single‐family homes to multifamily structures. Purpose‐built rental construction has recently risen from very low levels. To understand these patterns, we consider local regulatory environments and infrastructure provision, rental housing supports, sources of housing demand growth, and Canada's macroprudential regulatory institutions and environment.