Richard Maddox

While housing costs ease slightly nationally, they remain near historic highs in Ottawa, Montréal and Halifax

For years, we’ve heard that housing affordability in Canada has hit rock bottom. Despite some recent improvements, the new CMHC Housing Affordability Composite Index, launched today, shows it remains a major challenge. But this blanket statement overlooks how much housing affordability has eroded in Ottawa, Montréal and Halifax in recent years.

It’s clear the crisis is no longer limited to Toronto and Vancouver.

Housing affordability is shaped by several factors, not only how much housing is costing. It also includes having enough income to pay rent or a mortgage. It depends on supply and demand factors that determine how easy or hard it is to find a housing unit at a given price. In addition, it considers discretionary income that can be used to make space for a greater housing budget.

While many housing affordability indexes exist in Canada, most are based on a single indicator, resulting in an incomplete picture of the issue. Many also focus only on homeownership affordability, overlooking the rental housing market segment. This approach misses a key component of housing in Canada and the potential interactions between the rental and homeownership market segments.

https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/observer/2026/beyond-toronto-vancouver-affordability-challenges-spread-across-canadian-cities