Craig Lord
Vancouver’s former mayor Gregor Robertson was elected to the House of Commons in April, before he was sworn in after he was sworn in when a reporter asked him if he thought house prices needed to fall.
“No, I think we need to provide more supply and ensure market stability. This is an important part of our economy,” he said.
Robertson added that Canada lacks affordable housing and advocates for Ottawa’s efforts to build a lower-priced housing supply.
Mike Moffatt, founding director of the Missing Intermediate Institute, had a different answer when asked whether it would make the average Canadian more affordable without the decline in market value.
He said: “The short answer is no.
Last month, how long does it take for Moffatt to recover to its affordability in 2005 when the average housing price stabilizes, while wages are growing by 3% each year.
He said it would take 18 years to restore more affordable housing income ratios throughout Canada, while in Ontario and British Columbia it would take about 25 years.
Moffat said wages and housing prices have become so separate from each other that relying on wage growth to catch up with housing costs is not “realistic”.
While Moffat said he welcomes policies that encourage more housing for Canada’s vulnerable and those homeless, efforts to build more housing units below the market will not solve the “middle-class housing crisis.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney was asked the same question a few days after Robertson imposed the trade-offs. Rather than provide a positive answer, he asserted that he hopes “a more affordable house price for Canadians.”
He cited the promise of the Free Election Movement to put GST in a new home and provided municipalities with a motivation to cut development allegations in half.
Liberals want to reduce the cost of housing construction with the goal of doubling the pace of housing to start. The government hopes to expand the use of prefabricated parts and other technological advances to simplify the use of housing development.
Carney said this increased supply would “make home prices much lower than before.”
Moffat said he agreed that reducing the cost of building a home would help make the home more affordable.
In fact, if the cost of a building does not drop, if the price of a home stagnates or drops, the development will immediately make the builder’s profitable, causing the housing to start drying up.
“I think that should be the main focus of all three government orders… figuring out how we can reduce the cost of building a house to create affordability and lower prices,” he said.
Concordia University economist Moshe Lander agrees with Moffatt that house prices must fall if the government wants to see broad affordability in the next generation restore broad affordability in the market.
But he also questioned that the federal government should first be an arbitrator of housing affordability, because many political decisions are out of control.
Raising regulatory barriers to increase supply measures is largely a problem for provincial and municipal governments and encourages more students to develop industry skills.
“So, for the federal government, ‘we’re going to try to inspire that,’ I think they’re going to miss out on any traces of what they’re trying to do because, in fact, it’s not their problem at the end of the day.”
Rand said he also understands why all striped politicians are reluctant to lower their house prices.
Any clear government effort to reduce lower house prices will be seen as an attack on homeowners’ equity – an asset used to fund pensions or other long-term savings as they pay off their mortgage.
“Homeowners won’t accept it,” Rand said. “And you risk alienating a very large and influential voting group.”
At the local level, he said, politicians tend to seek support from homeowners because unlike renters, they tend to stay on a cycling or region.
Rand said most efforts to win tenant votes are often “beat” at best and worst “backfire.” He said that policies on the Equation Demand Side – helping Canadians become homeowners – tend to put pressure on house prices at the same time.
Rand said parts of the road to affordable housing must be far from the narrative that Canadians have fed for generations — the home ownership is a lofty goal of desire, while the renter is a “second-class citizen.”
“I don’t think we know society that’s what it looks like,” he said.
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Affordability Canada Home Price House Price Housing Affordability Mark Carney Missing Central Institute Real Estate Market
Last modified: May 24, 2025
