Information and Statistics

CHBA's Housing Market Index

A ground-breaking Canadian research and economics product, CHBA’s Housing Market Index (HMI) is a residential construction industry sentiments indicator for both the single-family and multi-family markets in Canada. This informative product provides a much-needed leading indicator about the current and future health of the residential construction industry in Canada. It is the only sentiments indicator for the sector in the country and has been modelled on the very successful and influential American version delivered by the National Association of Home Builders’, which is used regularly by financial analysts, the Federal Reserve, policymakers, economic analysts, and the news media. Through this new CHBA Housing Market Index, CHBA is looking to do the same for Canada. The CHBA HMI will be released on a quarterly basis, providing a regular litmus test for the residential construction industry, which is one of Canada’s largest employers and whose health is critical to the overall Canadian economy. Read the latest quarterly results.

Economic Impacts of the Housing Industry

The residential construction industry has significant economic impacts across Canada at the national, provincial and community levels and is crucial to the Canadian economy at large and in every single community, creating jobs at the local level that help our communities thrive. Each year, CHBA reports on the estimated economic impacts of residential activity for the past year based on Statistics Canada and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) data. In addition to fact sheets for each community across the country, CHBA's annual publication, Residential Construction in Canada – Economic Performance Review 2020 with 2021 Insights, provides a holistic overview of the housing market and the significant economic impacts of the residential construction industry in Canada. The report leverages published government data from a variety of sources, with more analysis, explanations, and graphs. Read more here.

CHBA's Municipal Benchmarking Study

Housing affordability continues to be a challenge in all parts of the country. A key component of affordability is the price of a home, and a major part of the price is the cost to develop and build. In Canada, municipal processes, approvals, and charges have been steadily increasing. This adds cost to building both low-rise and high-rise housing, contributes to higher prices, and ultimately erodes affordability. CHBA's Municipal Benchmarking Study examines how local development processes, approvals, and charges contribute to housing affordability and supply issues in major housing markets. It is intended to help establish standards that municipalities can and should aim to meet, and that industry and the public can and should call for, with supporting data and best practices to show the way. It is an opportunity to start a productive conversation for all, identifying best practices, ways to improve processes, and opportunities for governments and industry to work together to tackle affordability and other housing challenges. Read it here.

BuildForce Residential Summary 2021 Report

Residential Construction Labour Market Forecast

BuildForce Canada, with whom CHBA works extensively, affirmed in their 2022 Residential report that there continue to be tremendous career opportunities available for young people in Canada’s residential construction industry. The report outlines how an aging labour work force and the expected retirement of some 22% of the labour force in the coming decade, equating to approximately 128,000 workers, will continue to be a key driver of demand for workers in the sector. The strong rise in housing starts in 2021 pushed residential construction employment higher, increasing by almost 50,000 workers from 2020 levels and bringing total residential construction employment in Canada to just over 554,900 workers for the year. And while this growth is positive, if the industry is to double its output moving forward, much more labour will be required. It is also important to note that BuildForce Canada’s reports have shown for years that there is a large gap between domestic sources of new labour (i.e. first-time new entrants from the local population aged 30 and younger) and labour force needs. In recent times only about two thirds of the required labour force needs have been predicted to be available from traditional domestic sources, causing tight labour markets and worker shortfalls, pointing to the need for more workers from underrepresented groups from immigration and to the need for increased productivity. It is also important to note that the BuildForce forecast does not factor in the dramatic need for more housing supply to address Canada’s housing shortfall and affordability issues, as demonstrated by federal government’s estimates of the need of an additional 3.5 million more housing units over the coming decade; this will require doubling the number of homes built over the next 10 years, requiring significantly more labour. Increased efforts in renovation to meet the government’s emission reduction targets will also require more labour, though like increasing starts, due to the timing of these announcements, these measures fell outside of the scope of the BuildForce forecast. This all points to a sector that where more labour will be in high demand for the foreseeable future, creating strong career opportunities for those who enter the field. Read BuildForce’s full Residential Summary 2022-2031 report here.