The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has warned that significant structural changes are necessary to meet the federal government's ambitious goal of an additional 3.9 million new housing starts by 2031. Blacklock's Reporter says this statement came shortly after Housing Minister Sean Fraser's assertion that he would "be the person" to solve the housing crisis.“With the current resources, we should be building between 130,000 and 225,000 more homes each year,” wrote Mathieu Laberge, CMHC senior vice-president, in a Housing Observer commentary. “This equates to an annual pace of more than 400,000 starts per year. Reaching this full potential will require structural changes that go far beyond the short term.”In 2023, housing starts totaled just 240,267. “Several analysts have questioned the country’s capacity to build 3.9 million new homes by 2031,” noted Laberge.Laberge pointed out that while labour shortages remain a barrier, approximately 650,000 workers were building homes in Canada in 2023. “This is the most we’ve ever seen. Yet construction activity didn’t keep pace with the growth in dedicated resources,” he explained.He emphasized the need for a significant dialogue among employers, trade unions, and employees in the residential construction industry to scale up housing starts in exchange for greater regulatory flexibility. “A significant dialogue needs to occur on what employers, trade unions and employees in the residential construction industry are ready to contribute in terms of scaling up housing starts and getting Canada to its full potential,” wrote Laberge.Fraser, testifying on May 9 at the Commons human resources committee, expressed his commitment to meeting the target of an additional 3.9 million homes by 2031. “I am not asking anyone to believe promises,” he said. “I am going to be the first to say I know we need to do more, but then I am going to be the person who actually goes and does it. I don’t think there has been enough done on housing and we need to do more.”A 2022 CMHC report highlighted the necessity of the unprecedented target. “To restore affordability we need 3.5 million additional housing units beyond current projections,” wrote analysts.Bob Dugan, CMHC chief economist, testified last September 26 at the Senate national finance committee that the “affordability” target should not be taken literally. “It doesn’t take care of that part of the market that is most in need, the lower income folks,” he said. “The 3.5 million would still leave us in a position where we still have affordability challenges for certain target populations that are lower income, that are not as well served by the market.”
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has warned that significant structural changes are necessary to meet the federal government's ambitious goal of an additional 3.9 million new housing starts by 2031. Blacklock's Reporter says this statement came shortly after Housing Minister Sean Fraser's assertion that he would "be the person" to solve the housing crisis.“With the current resources, we should be building between 130,000 and 225,000 more homes each year,” wrote Mathieu Laberge, CMHC senior vice-president, in a Housing Observer commentary. “This equates to an annual pace of more than 400,000 starts per year. Reaching this full potential will require structural changes that go far beyond the short term.”In 2023, housing starts totaled just 240,267. “Several analysts have questioned the country’s capacity to build 3.9 million new homes by 2031,” noted Laberge.Laberge pointed out that while labour shortages remain a barrier, approximately 650,000 workers were building homes in Canada in 2023. “This is the most we’ve ever seen. Yet construction activity didn’t keep pace with the growth in dedicated resources,” he explained.He emphasized the need for a significant dialogue among employers, trade unions, and employees in the residential construction industry to scale up housing starts in exchange for greater regulatory flexibility. “A significant dialogue needs to occur on what employers, trade unions and employees in the residential construction industry are ready to contribute in terms of scaling up housing starts and getting Canada to its full potential,” wrote Laberge.Fraser, testifying on May 9 at the Commons human resources committee, expressed his commitment to meeting the target of an additional 3.9 million homes by 2031. “I am not asking anyone to believe promises,” he said. “I am going to be the first to say I know we need to do more, but then I am going to be the person who actually goes and does it. I don’t think there has been enough done on housing and we need to do more.”A 2022 CMHC report highlighted the necessity of the unprecedented target. “To restore affordability we need 3.5 million additional housing units beyond current projections,” wrote analysts.Bob Dugan, CMHC chief economist, testified last September 26 at the Senate national finance committee that the “affordability” target should not be taken literally. “It doesn’t take care of that part of the market that is most in need, the lower income folks,” he said. “The 3.5 million would still leave us in a position where we still have affordability challenges for certain target populations that are lower income, that are not as well served by the market.”
