The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) highlights a significant housing gap in Canada, estimating a need for 1.3 million additional homes by 2030 to balance supply and demand. This equates to approximately 181,000 homes annually. Combined with the baseline projection of 1.8 million new homes, this would create a total of 3.1 million new homes by 2030. Despite an average of 188,000 new homes constructed yearly since 2015, the pace falls short of meeting demand.
This would help return Canada’s record low rental housing vacancy rate of 5.1% to its long-term average of 6.9%. However, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) suggests a need for 3.5 million homes by 2030 to restore affordability. From 2000 to 2023, Canada added 4.5 million homes, but still lacks sufficient supply, exacerbated by construction costs, labour shortages, and immigration.
Recent federal initiatives, including a $600 million plan for prefabricated housing and a $6 billion housing infrastructure fund, aim to address the crisis. Housing Minister Sean Fraser emphasizes the urgency of accelerating home construction, particularly amid population growth and increased immigration, echoing concerns raised by the Bank of Canada.
