��������

OTTAWA – New public opinion research conducted by Abacus Data for the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) shows fewer than one in five Canadians are satisfied with current federal action on housing affordability.

According to the polling, 88 per cent of those under 45 would like to own a home one day. But homeownership rates have been falling severely since 2011 due to a lack of affordability.

A release notes today only 29 per cent of non-homeowners are confident they will ever be able to purchase a home.

Canadians point to Ottawa as responsible for fixing the housing crisis: 65 per cent say the federal government is most responsible for the housing affordability crisis, and 66 per cent say it’s most responsible for solving the problem.

However, only 17 per cent think they’re doing enough to address affordability for homeownership.

“While the federal government has acknowledged the need to nearly double housing starts – for both ownership and rental – to address chronic supply shortages, housing starts for ownership have been declining,” the CHBA states.

In 2021, 69 per cent of housing starts were for ownership; in 2025, that dropped to only 49 per cent. The residential construction industry is also laying off thousands of workers as a result of the current conditions.

While the federal government has promoted Build Canada Homes as its answer to Canada’s housing affordability challenges, the initiative focuses on social housing built principally on public lands, representing only about one per cent of the new housing construction needed, the CHBA explains.

“Building more subsidized housing (referred to as ‘affordable housing’) through Build Canada Homes is important, but it does not address the need for market-rate housing, especially for homeownership,” it says.

“It is worth noting that even the GST relief for first-time buyers that was promised nearly a year ago took much too long to pass through the House of Commons and has yet to pass through the Senate in Bill C-4, which has exacerbated the situation.”

The CHBA has some action items it would like to see the federal government take to improve the situation quickly:

• Reduce the GST on new homes: Broaden the GST relief to all buyers of new homes and extend it to renovations that add new housing units, such as secondary suites and accessory dwelling units. (Fifty-eight per cent of Canadians support this measure after hearing the full details, and only 16 per cent oppose).
• Help municipalities reduce development taxes on new homes: Encourage municipalities to reduce “skyrocketing development charges.” (Sixty-two per cent of Canadians say the development charges system needs moderate to major change).
• Ease overly tightened mortgage rules: Fix the stress test by eliminating it on uninsured mortgages and making it dynamic on insured mortgages, allowing well-qualified buyers who can afford a home back into the market.

Read CHBA’s recommendations for the federal government