The Liberal Government's Solution to the National Housing Crisis

Canada's Mortgage and Housing Corporation or CMHC, the federal government's crown corporation which is responsible for Canada's housing through its administration of the National Housing Act, has recently released its solution to Canada's ongoing housing affordability crisis.  CMHC claims that it contributes to the well-being of Canada's housing situation, ensuring that more Canadians have access to affordable housing.  As such, it recently released its Housing Design Catalogue, a collection of standardized designs that will "make homebuilding easier" for Canadians.

Let's start by looking at Canada's housing affordability according to the National Bank:

 As you can see, in Canada's major cities, the monthly mortgage payments on a median-priced dwelling (includes non-condos and condos) as a percentage of household income has reached and remains at painful levels in Toronto (78.4 percent) and Vancouver (92.3 percent).  In Canada as a whole, mortgage payments are 56.6 percent of household income, up from an average of 40.7 percent since 2000. 

According to Statista, Canada's house price-to-income ratio was the second highest in the world in 2023 as shown here:

So, let's look at the Canadian government's solution to the housing problem:

Because one of the key aspects of Canada's housing plan is to densify neighbourhoods as quoted here from the website:

"Adding more homes to our neighbourhoods is a key part of addressing Canada's housing crisis.  The catalogue makes this easier by providing plans that are focused on infill development and gentle density.".

Gentle density - it's a nice way of describing a 15 minute city, isn't it?

Since the Canadian/Liberal government is so wonderful, they have provided housing designs for each part of Canada.  Let's look at one of the suggested housing designs for the least unaffordable regional market, British Columbia, noting that the publication says absolutely nothing about the cost of constructing or purchasing one of their recommended designs:

 

Let's look at the smallest design, the Accessory Dwelling Unit 01 which comes it a massive 540 square feet:

Here is a more detailed floor plan showing that occupants will essentially living in a three tiny room home:

 

Now, let's look at the recommended housing designs for Canada's second least affordable housing markets, Ontario:

Let's look at the smallest design, the Accessory Dwelling Unit 01 which comes it an ample 634 square feet:

Here is a more detailed floor plan showing that occupants will essentially living in a rather cramped three room home:

So, if you like the thought of living in someone's backyard in a dwelling that is roughly the size of two shipping containers, these are the housing plans for you.  You can guarantee one thing though - you won't find Canada's political class living in one of these tiny homes. 

Canada's housing market is a disaster zone thanks to the Liberal government's open border policy and, under the World Economic Forum insider and now Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, I would suspect that things will not improve. Young Canadians have no hope of owning a home but, then again, perhaps it's part of the "you'll own nothing and be happy" mantra of the ruling class.