The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (SCHL) has warned that the supply of affordable housing in Canada continues to lag far behind its own targets, with the shortfall becoming more pronounced in cities such as Montreal and Ottawa. While the national picture of housing affordability has held steady, the agency’s latest data show a decline in the availability of affordable units in several major urban markets.
According to the SCHL report released on September 10, the amount of new affordable housing being built does not meet the levels required to achieve the corporation’s affordability goals. The shortfall is especially acute in Montreal, where the gap between demand and supply has widened, and in Ottawa, where similar trends are emerging. The agency noted that despite a stable national trend, local conditions in these cities are deteriorating.
The report underscores that the shortfall is not a temporary fluctuation but a persistent challenge. The SCHL’s assessment points to a need for increased construction of affordable units to close the gap. The corporation’s targets are based on a framework intended to keep housing within reach for low- and moderate‑income households, but current building rates fall short of those benchmarks.
Nationally, the overall affordability index has remained unchanged, suggesting that the broader market has not experienced the same level of strain as the highlighted cities. However, the SCHL cautioned that the stability at the national level masks growing disparities at the municipal level, where supply constraints are becoming more severe.
The agency’s findings come as policymakers and community groups continue to examine strategies to boost affordable housing production. The SCHL’s data provide a benchmark for measuring progress and highlight the urgency of addressing the supply gap in Montreal, Ottawa and other urban centres that are seeing a decline in affordable housing options.
The report serves as a reminder that meeting affordability targets will require concerted effort across federal, provincial and local levels to increase the pace of affordable housing development and to reverse the downward trends observed in key markets.