At a glance (2 minute read)

  • A recent CMHC report estimates BC needs 3.5 million new homes by 2030 to make homes affordable, 1.2 million short of current projections
  • They offer two solutions: overhaul policies and processes to make them faster, and take an "all hands on deck" approach to increasing supply now.

Between 2003 and 2004, a typical household in BC spent 45 per cent of their income to buy a home.

As of 2021, this number has increased to 60 per cent.

Across Canada, housing affordability has declined in every province. To make market and rental housing affordable, 3.5 million affordable housing units need to be built by 2030, according to a new report by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

In Canada’s Housing Supply Shortages: Estimating what is needed to solve Canada’s housing affordability crisis by 2030 report, CMHC projects affordable market and rental housing stock will fall short by 1.2 million units, increasing by only 2.3 million units by 2030.

To restore affordability, CMHC projects Canada requires an additional 3.5 million units of affordable housing.

Not all of these new housing units need to be new construction. Co-living arrangements and redeveloping existing residential, commercial, and industrial properties also deliver affordable housing.

Creating housing supply needs to be rethought

To achieve affordability by 2030 requires a drastic transformation of the housing sector.

CMHC’s solutions include acting today to:

  • overhaul government policies and processes to make them faster and more efficient; and
  • an ”all-hands-on-deck” approach to increasing housing supply, including finding solutions to labour shortages and skilled trades and addressing the rising cost of building materials. 

British Columbia target

Setting targets for affordability with prices

Province

Average price of home 2021

Ratio of housing cost based on average price to average income 2021 (%)

Target for level of affordability in 2030 (price to income)

Target for average price of home in 2030

BC

$929,000

60

44

$679,000

Read the Housing Supply Report (download the 42-page pdf)