To solve Canada’s housing crisis, make renting great again
A new report from a coalition of non-profit and for-profit housing providers, developers and investors, one that calls for a mix of pro-rental incentives and pro-affordability supports. “Adding substantial new supply to address rental affordability is key to solving the housing crisis,” it says.
If admitting you have a problem is the first step towards fixing it, then Canada’s new housing minister still has some work to do.
In an interview with Bloomberg last week, Sean Fraser said: “Our goal is not to decrease the value of their home. Our goal is to build more units that are at a price that other people, who don’t currently have their needs met, can afford.”
This is a bit like saying you’re going to lose weight during a two-month vacation to Paris: a nice dream, maybe, but not realistic. It speaks to the exceptionally fine balance the Trudeau Liberals are trying to strike here, one that wants to have its policy cake and eat it, too. But when millions of Canadians are subsisting on the housing equivalent of overpriced breadcrumbs, this posture is more likely to inflame their anger than address it. …[Continue Reading]