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Lack of Federal Housing Policy Focus on Homeownership a Major Concern for Canadians

February 5, 2026 – Ottawa, ON – New public opinion research conducted by Abacus Data for the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) shows widespread dissatisfaction with federal efforts to improve homeownership affordability, with fewer than one in five Canadians satisfied with current federal action.

Canadians still have a strong desire for homeownership. According to the polling, 88% of those under 45 would like to own a home one day. But homeownership rates have been falling severely since 2011 due to a lack of affordability, and today only 29% of non-homeowners are confident they will ever be able to purchase a home.

“Homeownership is not just financially important – the data proves that it is still very emotionally central to Canadians, who see the housing crisis as a systemic failure affecting the middle class as much as low-income households,” said David Coletto, CEO of Abacus Data.

Canadians point to Ottawa as responsible for fixing the housing crisis: 65% say the federal government is most responsible for the housing affordability crisis, and 66% say it’s most responsible for solving the problem, but only 17% think they’re doing enough to address affordability for homeownership.

While the federal government has acknowledged the need to nearly double housing starts – for both ownership and rental – to address chronic supply shortages, housing starts for ownership have been declining. In 2021, 69% of housing starts were for ownership; in 2025, that dropped to only 49%. At the same time, the residential construction industry is laying off thousands of workers as homeownership affordability continues to deteriorate. These layoffs put Canada at risk for a permanent loss of construction capacity as workers move to other industries, which will further hurt housing starts in the future.

Canadians are looking for more actions from the federal government to address homeownership affordability, which they say is the top housing issue that should be receiving more focus. Only 21% of Canadian s believe the federal government has made at least some progress on this issue, and 62% believe current federal plans will have little to no impact on affordability for homeownership.

Over the past year, the federal government has promoted Build Canada Homes as its answer to Canada’s housing affordability challenges, but the initiative focuses on social housing built principally on public lands, representing only about 1% of the new housing construction needed. Building more subsidized housing (referred to as “affordable housing”) through Build Canada Homes is important, but it does not address the need for market-rate housing, especially for homeownership. Canadians are clear that it won’t be enough. Once informed about the initiative’s scope, 78% of Canadians say the federal government must do much more beyond Build Canada Homes to address market housing affordability.

“Canadians recognize that much more policy action is required on homeownership, which is a cornerstone of the Canadian middle-class that is slipping away. But it doesn’t have to be that way,” said CHBA CEO Kevin Lee. “What’s more, we have a major housing supply crisis that is a big cause of the affordability challenge, and CMHC says that to double housing starts, 75 percent of those starts will have to be homes for ownership. We can’t get there without major policy change from the federal government to bring back the dream of homeownership, and the other levels of government have a big part to play, too.”

It is worth noting that even the GST relief for first-time buyers that was promised nearly a year ago took much too long to pass through the House of Commons and has yet to pass through the Senate in Bill C-4, which has exacerbated the situation. Instead of encouraging first-time buyers to buy, it has kept them on the sidelines waiting for the relief to make their purchase, slowing housing starts even further.

“It is imperative that that Bill C-4 be passed immediately by the Senate to get first-time buyers back into the market. And from there, the GST needs to be expanded to all buyers, along with other policy change, if we are to begin the move towards doubling starts,” said Lee.

In addition to passing Bill C-4 as soon as possible, there are quickly actionable measures the federal government can take to immediately improve housing affordability and supply. They are:

  • Reduce the GST on new homes: Broaden the GST relief to all buyers of new homes and extend it to renovations that add new housing units, such as secondary suites and accessory dwelling units. (58% of Canadians support this measure after hearing the full details, and only 16% oppose).
  • Help municipalities reduce development taxes on new homes: Use all levers available to encourage municipalities to reduce skyrocketing development charges that are ultimately paid for by buyers of new homes. (62% of Canadians say the development charges system needs moderate to major change).
  • Ease overly tightened mortgage rules: Fix the stress test by eliminating it on uninsured mortgages and making it dynamic on insured mortgages, allowing well-qualified buyers who can afford a home back into the market.

“There are real solutions to Canada’s housing crisis, and Canadians need smart federal policies that focus on both homeownership and social housing. Housing is complex, but CHBA has clear, evidence-based recommendations to address many of the factors contributing to today’s affordability crisis, including excessive taxes, restrictive mortgage rules, inefficient municipal processes, costly building code changes, and more. The federal government has a leading role to play, and Canadians expect them to step up,” said Lee.

Read CHBA’s recommendations for the federal government here.

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MEDIA INQUIRIES
Journalists wishing to interview Kevin Lee, Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association are encouraged to submit their request by email to media@chba.ca.

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.