Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation says housing stocks would need to increase by 22.5 million units, by 2030, to achieve housing affordability for everyone living in Canada.

The CMHC issued a report on Canada’s Housing Supply Shortage and how to restore affordability in the next eight years.

Aled ab Iorwerth, Deputy Chief Economist, CMHC says, “Canada’s approach to housing supply needs to be rethought and done differently. There must be a drastic transformation of the housing sector, including government policies and processes, and an ‘all-hands-on-deck’ approach to increasing the supply of housing to meet demand.”

Around 2003 and 2004, an household on average income would have had to devote close to 40 per cent of their disposable income to buy an average house in Ontario and close to 45 per cent of their disposable income to buy an average house in British Columbia. As of last year that number sits at 60 per cent.

CMHC says that if the current rates of new construction continue, it projects the housing stock will reach close to 19 million housing units by 2030 but this is not enough to restore housing affordability. And using the four largest provinces as a base, the estimate is that restoring affordability levels in Alberta, B.C., Ontario and Quebec, means cutting housing costs by between a quarter and two-fifths.