Canadians want to see holistic plan for market-rate housing in federal Spring Economic Update
APRIL 24, 2026 – OTTAWA, ON – Research conducted by Abacus Data on behalf of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) highlights the urgent need for a more comprehensive federal housing strategy that includes stronger support for market-rate housing.
Despite continued strong demand for homeownership, confidence is eroding. Abacus Data polling shows that seven in ten non-homeowners want to own a home, including nearly nine in ten younger Canadians, yet a majority across key age and income groups now feel that homeownership is uncertain or out of reach.
At the same time, nearly eight in ten Canadians believe the housing system is not working as it should, and only 21% say meaningful progress has been made on affordability since the last federal election. Just one in four Canadians believe the federal government has a formalized plan to address market-rate housing.
“Canadians still aspire to homeownership, but confidence is slipping, especially among middle-income households,” said Kevin Lee, CEO of CHBA. “If the federal government truly wants to address the housing crisis, it must implement policies that support market-rate housing and improve access to homeownership. Without that, the system will continue to fall short.”
The findings are particularly relevant as the federal government prepares to table its Spring Economic Update. CHBA is urging the government to seize this opportunity to rebalance its housing approach after Budget 2025, which to date has been focused heavily on subsidized housing through Build Canada Homes (BCH). But 86% of Canadians say the housing crisis is affecting middle-income Canadians as much as lower-income households.
While CHBA supports investment in non-market housing, the scale of BCH is understandably limited. The program’s initial target of 4,000 units represents less than one percent of the estimated 480,000 homes needed annually to restore affordability. Even longer-term projections of up to 45,000 units across the BCH portfolio remain a fraction of the estimated 4.8 million homes needed over the next decade to help restore housing affordability to 2019 levels.
Meanwhile, the type of homes being built has shifted significantly. In 2021, 70% of housing starts were for ownership; in 2025, that figure dropped to roughly 50%, with the remainder focused on rental and government-supported housing. CHBA’s Q1 2026 Housing Market Index (HMI) results illustrate how the shift is contributing to declining homeownership opportunities, job losses in the sector, and resultant increased pressure across the entire housing continuum.
“An inability to access homeownership reduces overall housing production and places additional pressure on rental and social housing. A comprehensive approach that supports the full housing continuum is desperately needed, otherwise affordability challenges will persist,” said Lee.
Canadians are signaling support for practical solutions. New polling from Abacus Data shows strong backing for the recently announced federal-Ontario move to remove the full HST on new homes up to $1 million and provide support for municipalities to reduce development charges. When looking beyond Ontario, 69% of Canadians support sales tax relief nationally, while 64% are also in favour of support for reducing development charges, which can add tens of thousands of dollars to the cost of a new home.
CHBA continues to call on the federal government to introduce a more balanced housing strategy – one that builds on positive measures for market-rate housing introduced in Budget 2023, 2024 and Canada’s Housing Plan (2024), some of which never came to fruition. Key measures include:
- Expanding GST relief to all home buyers in all provinces.
- Supporting more municipalities in reducing local development taxes.
- Fixing the mortgage stress test to better reflect current market conditions and near-record-low arrears rates – a low-cost measure to help well-qualified Canadians access homeownership.
- Invest in housing supportive infrastructure.
- Remove municipal barriers and red tape delaying or stopping more supply.
- Avoid adding more costs through codes and regulations.
- Supporting housing affordability and supply through renovation measures.
- Address labour shortages by growing the domestic workforce, updating the immigration system, and supporting increased productivity.
- Continue investing in social and rental housing as well as market-rate housing supply for ownership.
“With the right policies, housing affordability can improve, but it will require leadership and a proper plan – one that recognizes the critical role of market-rate housing in restoring balance across the entire housing system. The Spring Economic Update, and then the updating of the National Housing Strategy, are key upcoming opportunities to do that,” said Lee.
Canada’s housing affordability challenges cannot be solved by focusing on just the non-market part of the system. Canada’s last National Housing Strategy focused almost exclusively on non-market social and subsidized housing – as the time comes to update the strategy, it is critical that the full continuum be addressed, with permanent policy measures to do so.
More detailed CHBA recommendations to the federal government on how to address market-rate housing challenges in the Spring Economic Update are available at affordability.ca.
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About the Canadian Home Builders’ Association
The Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) is the voice of the residential construction industry in Canada, representing some 8,500 member firms across the country. Our membership spans new home builders, renovators, developers, trade contractors, building material manufacturers and suppliers, lenders, and other professionals in the housing sector.