The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) stated achieving the federal target of tripling annual housing starts to the highest levels in Canadian history will be "difficult to attain.".According to Blacklock’s Reporter, one MP considered adding 3.5 million new homes by 2030 a fantasy..“The three-and-a-half million is an enormous undertaking,” Bob Dugan, chief economist of CMHC, testified at the Commons Finance committee. .CMHC set the target in a June 23, 2022 report Canada’s Housing Supply Shortages: Estimating What is Needed to Solve Canada’s Housing Affordability Crisis by 2030..“I think it is a very ambitious goal,” said Dugan. .“It is going to be difficult to attain. I don’t see how we will attain it with the current environment.”.“We have high interest rates, high material costs, the unemployment rate has come up a bit, but it’s only 5.5%,” said Dugan. .“It’s very low. There is not a lot of labour.”.“We need to come up with very innovative ways to build using existing capital and labour in order to get this job done,” said Dugan. .“Because this is innovation that hasn’t happened yet, it is hard to point to a solution. But it is going to be difficult. Hopefully we can do it.”.Conservative MP Adam Chambers (Simcoe North, ON) raised concerns about the target, considering it to be unrealistically high..“Most people aren’t willing to admit that to close the supply gap is almost fantasyland,” said Chambers..On average, nationwide housing starts currently stand at 244,000 per year..Constructing an additional 3,500,000 homes alongside the current construction rates over the next seven years would require a total of 744,000 housing starts per year..“Has anything changed that would in your mind give any Canadians confidence we would bridge that 3.5 million home gap?” asked Conservative MP Philip Lawrence (Northumberland-Peterborough, ON). .“The three-and-a-half million is an enormous undertaking,” replied Dugan..Canada has never constructed 744,000 homes in a single year. .Historical data from the CMHC revealed that it took 22 years to build 3.5 million homes during the postwar construction boom. .The highest number of annual housing starts reached 273,200 in 1976..“To restore affordability, we need 3.5 million additional housing units beyond current projections,” said the 2022 CMHC report. .“The size of the number should make all of us who form part of the housing market system realize we have a large task in front of us.”.Dugan informed the Senate National Finance committee that even if the 3.5 million target was reached, it would still fall short of meeting the demand..“It doesn’t take care of that part of the market that is most in need, the lower-income folks,” said Dugan..“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) stated achieving the federal target of tripling annual housing starts to the highest levels in Canadian history will be "difficult to attain.".According to Blacklock’s Reporter, one MP considered adding 3.5 million new homes by 2030 a fantasy..“The three-and-a-half million is an enormous undertaking,” Bob Dugan, chief economist of CMHC, testified at the Commons Finance committee. .CMHC set the target in a June 23, 2022 report Canada’s Housing Supply Shortages: Estimating What is Needed to Solve Canada’s Housing Affordability Crisis by 2030..“I think it is a very ambitious goal,” said Dugan. .“It is going to be difficult to attain. I don’t see how we will attain it with the current environment.”.“We have high interest rates, high material costs, the unemployment rate has come up a bit, but it’s only 5.5%,” said Dugan. .“It’s very low. There is not a lot of labour.”.“We need to come up with very innovative ways to build using existing capital and labour in order to get this job done,” said Dugan. .“Because this is innovation that hasn’t happened yet, it is hard to point to a solution. But it is going to be difficult. Hopefully we can do it.”.Conservative MP Adam Chambers (Simcoe North, ON) raised concerns about the target, considering it to be unrealistically high..“Most people aren’t willing to admit that to close the supply gap is almost fantasyland,” said Chambers..On average, nationwide housing starts currently stand at 244,000 per year..Constructing an additional 3,500,000 homes alongside the current construction rates over the next seven years would require a total of 744,000 housing starts per year..“Has anything changed that would in your mind give any Canadians confidence we would bridge that 3.5 million home gap?” asked Conservative MP Philip Lawrence (Northumberland-Peterborough, ON). .“The three-and-a-half million is an enormous undertaking,” replied Dugan..Canada has never constructed 744,000 homes in a single year. .Historical data from the CMHC revealed that it took 22 years to build 3.5 million homes during the postwar construction boom. .The highest number of annual housing starts reached 273,200 in 1976..“To restore affordability, we need 3.5 million additional housing units beyond current projections,” said the 2022 CMHC report. .“The size of the number should make all of us who form part of the housing market system realize we have a large task in front of us.”.Dugan informed the Senate National Finance committee that even if the 3.5 million target was reached, it would still fall short of meeting the demand..“It doesn’t take care of that part of the market that is most in need, the lower-income folks,” said Dugan..“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.”
