Addressing Canada's Affordable Housing Crisis: An Essay

This essay critically examines the affordable housing crisis in Canada, arguing that the Federal Government must intervene to control the property market. It explores the impact of high housing costs on the Canadian economy, citing sources to highlight the debt burden on residents and the challenges in securing affordable housing. The essay discusses the roles of the federal government in promoting affordable housing and implementing rent control, analyzing their impacts on rent prices. It acknowledges opposition from private property owners while advocating for government intervention to improve affordability, especially for renters. The author uses multiple sources to support the arguments and concludes that government action is essential to address the crisis and promote affordable housing for all Canadians.

Running head: AFFORDABLE HOUSING CRISIS IN CANADA
AFFORDABLE HOUSING CRISIS IN CANADA
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1AFFORDABLE HOUSING CRISIS IN CANADA
The housing crisis faced by Canada is in its extremely severe form. The residents of the
area are yet to realize the severity of the conditions. The issues that have been arising majorly
due to the excess amount of funds that have been invested into the housing markets. The funds
that have been implemented within the housing market in Canada has been pouring in from
different spheres of the society. This in turn have been leading to the failure of the government in
the fulfilment of the issues that are related to the overall responsibility of the government at all
levels within the given organization. The Federal Government must control the property
market by building more affordable housing and introducing rent control, thus improving
affordability for renters in particular. The following essay discusses the issues that have been
highlighted due to the high amount of the costs that are incurred by the people who have been
residing within the territorial boundaries of Canada.
Impact of high housing rates on Canadian economy
The housing crisis within the Canadian provinces have has been one of the major factors
that have been affecting the Canadian nationals within the housing industry that has been active
within the given country. Kalinowski (2018) argues that the people who have been living within
the territorial boundaries of Canada are observed to be involved highly into the debt conditions
that have been existent within the given industry. The studies by Macdonald (2017) reveal that
over one-third of the total population of Canada is known to have not been in possession of
residential property. Wilkins (2017) opine that the owners of the property are observed to be on
the affluent side of the divide while the residents tend to be on the side of the common people
who tend to rent residential spaces. The article by Staff (2019), state that eight major cities
within the territorial and political boundaries of Canada have been observed to be facing an
increment in the rental prices that are faced by the people who have been on the hunt for a rented

2AFFORDABLE HOUSING CRISIS IN CANADA
residence. The residents of the area have been facing issues in gaining the ownership of the
houses or other residential areas are often observed to be facing issues in securing a residence
that is closer to their workplace. The federal government that is present within the area is often
advised to look into the issues that are related to the increase in the rents. The governmental
authorities should be advised to look into the matters that are related to the affordable housing
within the Canadian boundaries (Revington & Townsend, 2016, p. 870). The role played by the
federal government in the development as well as the management of the rent prices and the
affordable housing conditions within the country would help the citizens of the country in
attaining an affordable residence within the country.
Federal government and affordable housing: impact on rent price
The federal government systems that have been presented within the country of Canada
define the concept of affordable housing as the conditions wherein the household might be
capable of obtaining atleast thirty percent or less of the total income (Walks & Clifford, 2015, p.
1630). However, this is not that easy to achieve and hence in the practical knowledge fields, the
housing facility within the city is considered to be affordable in case the housing facilities have
been costing lower than a mere twenty four percent of the median income in the area. The
housing costs that are faced by the organization tend to be lowered down with the increase in the
distance between the job center and the area of residence. The majority of the Canadian residents
are observed to have been spending a huge amount of their remuneration on the account of the
rent that they have been paying for the households (Leviten-Reid & Lake, 2016, p. 260). The
high amounts of the rents that are to be paid by the renters within the Canadian territories tend to
lead to the conditions wherein the concerned residents of the country would need to curb down
on the costs that they would have to incur in the various other aspects of their lives. The city of

3AFFORDABLE HOUSING CRISIS IN CANADA
Burnaby for instance is found to have been undergoing a crisis in the proper development of the
affordable housing measures that are highlighted within the city. There is observed a high rate of
inflation in the matters related to the housing situations that are faced by the residents in the city
of Burnaby. The reports state that “In 1976 it took an average 25-34-year-old approximately 6
years of full-time work to save for a 20% down payment. As of 2018, it takes approximately 29
years” (Burnaby.ca, 2019, p.14). The federal government might thus need to implement the
affordable housing measures in order to deal with the alarming situations that are faced by the
concerned residents of Canada.
Federal government and rent control: impact on rent price
The activities of the rent controls that have been implemented by the governmental
bodies refer to the legal restrictions that have been implemented by the concerned governing
bodies within the country. The governmental bodies that have been known to have been setting
the maximum amount of the rents that might be implemented by the concerned landlords on the
people who have been seeking residence. The governmental restrictions on the maximum limit of
the rents that might be collected by the landlords tend to assist the development of the conditions
wherein the rent expense of the concerned tenants have been cut short to lower the amounts than
they have already been paying (Leviten-Reid, Lake & Campbell, 2016, p. 1819). The measures
of the cost reduction as implemented within the given country help in the development of the
conditions wherein the people tend to find a reduction in the amount of the rents that they need to
pay to their landlords. The control over the rent prices that are implemented by the federal
government would help in the development of the resolution of the factors that are related to the
rent issues that are faced by the present-day residents of Canada.
Opposition

4AFFORDABLE HOUSING CRISIS IN CANADA
However, the majority of the people who have been living off the rent that they collect
from the tenants tends to claim the fact that the federal government should not interfere in the
matters related to the rents that are implemented on the tenants. The owners of the private
buildings state that the majority of their income is depended on the rents that they have been
collecting from the tenants (Teixeira & Drolet, 2018, p. 23). This has led to the conditions
wherein the issues that are faced by the tenants would remain standing and thus lead to the
constant and standing differences between the landlord and the tenants who have been residing
within the given territorial boundaries. The high amounts of the rents that are to be paid by the
renters within the Canadian territories tend to lead to the conditions wherein the concerned
residents of the country would need to curb down on the costs that they would have to incur in
the various other aspects of their lives (Sylvestre et al., 2018, p. 453). The federal government
that has been active within the country should be looking into the various issues that would help
in the reduction of the rents that are to be paid by the commoners of the country. However, the
involvement of the federal government in the settling of the rent amount might lead to the
development of the lack of the proper income of the landlords. The governmental restrictions on
the maximum limit of the rents that might be collected by the landlords tend to assist the
development of the conditions wherein the rent expense of the concerned tenants have been cut
short to lower the amounts than they have already been paying (McIntyre et al., 2016, p. 352).
The measures of the cost reduction as implemented within the given country help in the
development of the conditions wherein the people tend to find a reduction in the amount of the
rents that they need to pay to their landlords. However, this might prove to be detrimental to the
overall societal and economic setup of Canada.

5AFFORDABLE HOUSING CRISIS IN CANADA
In conclusion, it might be stated that the given conditions within the Canadian boundaries
might be resolved with the help of implementation of the affordable housing facilities within the
country. The Federal Government is thus advised to control the property market by building
more affordable housing and introducing rent control, thus improving affordability for renters in
particular. The federal government that has been active within the country should be looking into
the various issues that would help in the reduction of the rents that are to be paid by the
commoners of the country. This in turn might be helpful in the development of the affordable
housing within the country thereby assisting in the development of the overall population of the
country.

6AFFORDABLE HOUSING CRISIS IN CANADA
References
Burnaby.ca. (2019). Your Voice. Your Home: Meeting the Housing Needs of
Burnaby Residents [PDF file]. Available at
https://www.burnaby.ca/Assets/city+services/planning/Your+Voice+Your+Home+Discu
ssion+Guide.pdf
Kalinowski, T. (2018, September 28). Canada's housing affordability has reached the worst level
in 28 years, and Toronto is off the charts, report says. Available at
https://www.thestar.com/business/2018/09/28/canadas-housing-affordability-has-
reached-the-worst-level-in-28-years-and-toronto-is-off-the-charts-report-says.html
Leviten-Reid, C., & Lake, A. (2016). Building affordable rental housing for seniors: Policy
insights from Canada. Journal of Housing for the Elderly, 30(3), 253-270. Available at
DOI: 10.1080/02763893.2016.1198738
Leviten-Reid, C., Lake, A., & Campbell, R. (2016). Exploring organizational form in the
affordable rental housing sector. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and
Nonprofit Organizations, 27(4), 1809-1830. Available at DOI: 10.1007/s11266-015-
9658-z
Macdonald, D. (2017). Addicted to debt: Tracking Canadas rapid accumulation of private
sector debt. Ottawa, Ontario: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Available at
https://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/National
%20Office/2017/06/Addicted_to_Debt_2017.pdf

7AFFORDABLE HOUSING CRISIS IN CANADA
McIntyre, L., Wu, X., Fleisch, V. C., & Emery, J. H. (2016). Homeowner versus non-
homeowner differences in household food insecurity in Canada. Journal of Housing and
the Built Environment, 31(2), 349-366. Available at DOI: 10.1007/s10901-015-9461-6
Revington, N., & Townsend, C. (2016). Market rental housing affordability and rapid transit
catchments: Application of a new measure in Canada. Housing Policy Debate, 26(4-5),
864-886. Available at DOI: 10.1080/10511482.2015.1096805
Staff, D. H. (2019, January 15). The average cost of rent in Canadian cities for January
(MAP). Available at https://dailyhive.com/toronto/average-cost-rent-canada-january-
2019
Sylvestre, J., Klodawsky, F., Gogosis, E., Ecker, J., Polillo, A., Czechowski, K., Agha, A.,
Shankar, S., To, M., Gadermann, A. & Palepu, A. (2018). Perceptions of housing and
shelter among people with histories of unstable housing in three cities in Canada: A
qualitative study. American journal of community psychology, 61(3-4), 445-458.
Available at DOI: 10.1002/ajcp.12243
Teixeira, C., & Drolet, J. L. (2018). Settlement and housing experiences of recent immigrants in
small-and mid-sized cities in the interior of British Columbia (Canada). Journal of
Housing and the Built Environment, 33(1), 19-43. Available at DOI: 10.1007/s10901-
017-9550-9
Walks, A., & Clifford, B. (2015). The political economy of mortgage securitization and the
neoliberalization of housing policy in Canada. Environment and Planning A: Economy
and Space, 47(8), 1624-1642. Available at DOI: 10.1068/a130226p

8AFFORDABLE HOUSING CRISIS IN CANADA
Wilkins, M. G. (2017). Social Policy Trends- Housing Affordability for Families with Low
Incomes Across Canada. The School of Public Policy Publications, 1.
doi:10.11575/sppp.v10i0.43134