Recent improvements in housing affordability across Canada may be fleeting, as the pace of new home construction—especially for ownership properties—slows considerably. As a licensed residential and commercial real estate broker, I pay close attention to these shifts: new projections suggest we’ll need between 417,000 and 469,000 new housing starts each year to bring affordability back to pre-pandemic levels by 2036. Yet, the gap between supply and demand remains largely unchanged.
In most major markets, the bulk of new construction is now focused on rental units, while starts for ownership homes have dropped off. While increased rental supply has helped balance conditions for some, this shift doesn’t fully address the needs of future homeowners.
Slower population growth has played a role in recent affordability gains, but with construction slowing even faster than demand, there’s a risk that the market could be caught short when demand inevitably rebounds. For anyone keeping an eye on long-term stability—whether you’re looking to buy, sell, or invest—protecting affordability will require sustained focus on building more ownership housing now, not later.
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