7 years not enough to build the millions of homes needed to fix affordability, warns economist
Canada has no chance of building the additional millions of homes Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. projects would be needed to restore housing affordability over the next seven years, according to the chief economist of Desjardins Group.
Speaking at a panel on the current housing market crisis hosted by the Economic Club of Canada in Toronto on Sept. 12, Desjardins’ Jimmy Jean said it took “not seven years, not 10 years, not 15 years, but 30 years” to build the last 5.8 million homes in Canada.
“You’re going to compress 30 years of home building into seven years … it’s not gonna happen,” Jean told the audience.
Last year, CMHC said a total of 5.8 million homes would be needed by 2030 to restore affordability, which worked out to 3.5 million additional units on top of their projection that the housing stock would grow by 2.3 million units if building continued as usual.
The federal housing agency updated that report on Sept. 13, reducing its projection for the number of homes that will be built by 2030, but concluding the overall national supply gap would remain close to 3.5 million units, while some provinces would see their shortfalls narrow or widen.
Concern about Canada’s housing supply has been heightened by the federal government’s plan to boost immigration targets and bring in 500,000 permanent residents annually by 2025, in hope of addressing labour shortages.
You're going to compress 30 years of home building into seven years… it's not gonna happen
“So the question is, are we going to get an exponential home (supply) increase to match that?” Jean said.
The event comes a week after the Bank of Canada chose to hold its benchmark interest rate at five per cent on Sept. 6, which has granted the country’s slowing
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