CHRA Recommendations on Restoring Housing Affordability and Ending the Canadian Housing Crisis

Sep 21, 2026

CHRA outlines how Canada’s housing crisis intensified after federal divestment from non-market community housing beginning in 1993, shifting responsibility to provinces and territories with insufficient fiscal capacity. It describes subsequent declines in new affordable rental construction and argues current federal re-engagement has not closed the historical gap. CHRA links housing supply expansion to measurable productivity gains and recommends long-term, stable financing to develop, preserve, and expand non-market community housing, including program maintenance and reforms for flexibility.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages5

Reading Time13 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Background

Policy shift in 1993

Decline and partial re-engagement

Economic rationale and housing supply target

Productivity link

Required increase in community housing share

Recommendations

Stable financing and funding

Introduction The Canadian Housing and Renewal Association (CHRA) was established in 1968 as a national membership-based non-profit organization dedicated to supporting and strengthening the social and non-profit housing sector. Our mission is to lead and provoke system-wide action toward the right to housing for all by serving as the national voice of the community housing sector and by creating the conditions for community housing providers to achieve their goals. Adequate housing provides a stable foundation from which people and communities can prosper; we advocate for improved housing policies and programs that keep housing affordable, expand housing capacity, and work to end homelessness. We support a sustainable housing profession and work to connect the broader sector, as well as our members, who collectively house and serve many hundreds of thousands of people living in or seeking affordable housing. Background The roots of Canada’s current housing crisis begin in 1993 when the federal government madea significant shift in Canada’s housing policy by ceasing to directly support and finance the development of non-market community housing. This decision downloaded the responsibility for providing affordable housing to the provinces and territories, who did not have the same fiscal capacity and could not maintain a sustainable level of investment. According to Steve Pomeroy’s testimony to the Committee, had the federal government maintained the same level of investments they made between 1990 and 1994, there would be an additional 330,000 units of non-market community housing in Canada today. The negative impacts of this divestment were compounded by a significant decrease in the construction of private purpose-built rentals as further legislative and policy changes at the federal and provincial levels reduced incentives for the development of new rental housing. For a whole generation, we virtually stopped building new affordable rental housing, and current generations are now paying the price. Starting around 2005, successive federal governments began to re-engage in affordable rental housing, largely in the form of cost-shared federal-provincial programs such as the Affordable Housing Initiative (AHI), later renamed Investing in Affordable Housing (IAH) . While these investments had some strengths such as allowing for the acquisition and rehabilitation of existing rental housing, they still fell short of closing the historical gaps. The National Housing Strategy, announced in 2017, was the first major commitment the federal government made in re-engaging in affordable housing. A commitment that was further solidified by the recent announcement of Canada’s Housing Plan. The problem today, however, remains as pressing as ever. The re-entry of the federal government into housing is important but recent commitments have been insufficient to close the historical gap. Thirty years ago, community housing made up 6-7% of the overall housing supply; today, it accounts for approximately 3.5% .1 1 Deloitte Canada. Impact of Community Housing on Productivity. Canadian Housing and Renewal Association & Housing Partnership Canada. LINK. 1 CHRA has produced evidence that increasing the supply of non-market community housing leads to real gains in per capita GDP. If we can sustain 7% of the housing supply as community housing, we will see a permanent improvement in productivity of 5.7%-9.3%,2 or $67-$136 billion in improved economic efficiency, and a payback period in less than 2 years – improving the standard of living for everyone in Canada without adding to inflation. It is not a coincidence that our productivity is dropping as our housing crisis is worsening, nor is it a coincidence that productivity is declining as the share of non-market community housing is also dropping. This means that to restore affordability and end the current housing crisis we need to more than double the percentage share of the h

FAQs

What did CHRA identify as the major trigger of Canada’s housing crisis?

CHRA traces the roots to 1993, when the federal government stopped directly supporting and financing the development of non-market community housing, downloading responsibility to provinces and territories.

How does CHRA connect community housing supply to economic outcomes?

CHRA states its evidence shows increasing the supply of non-market community housing leads to real per-capita GDP gains, with projected productivity improvements and economic efficiency benefits.

What is CHRA’s main funding recommendation to restore affordability?

CHRA recommends stable financing and funding for the development and preservation of affordable housing, emphasizing predictable investment so projects remain viable and the sector can build capacity.

Sep 21, 2026

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