13.6% of Urban Households Were in Core Housing Need in 2016

June 22, 2018

Based on data from Statistics Canada’s 2016 Canadian Income Survey, 1.6 million urban households, or 13.6% of all Canadian households living in urban areas, were in core housing need in 2016. This proportion was similar to that in 2015.

In 2016, Ontario was the province with the highest proportion of urban households in core housing need. Ontario, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia were the provinces whose proportions of urban households in core housing need were higher than the national average in 2016. New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Quebec were the provinces with the lowest proportions of urban households in core housing need in 2016. About half of urban households in core housing need, that is, 769,000 households, were living in Ontario in 2016.

Percentage of Urban Households in Core Housing Need, Canada and Provinces, 2016
Region	Percent of Urban Households in Core Housing Need
Urban Canada	13.6
Ontario	16.8
British Columbia	15.9
Nova Scotia	13.8
Manitoba	12.7
Saskatchewan	12.2
Alberta	11.7
Newfoundland and Labrador	11.3
Quebec	8.9
Prince Edward Island	8.6
New Brunswick	7.0

Percentage of Urban Households in Core Housing Need, Canada and Provinces, 2016

Region

Percent of Urban Households in Core Housing Need

Urban Canada

13.6

Ontario

16.8

British Columbia

15.9

Nova Scotia

13.8

Manitoba

12.7

Saskatchewan

12.2

Alberta

11.7

Newfoundland and Labrador

11.3

Quebec

8.9

Prince Edward Island

8.6

New Brunswick

7.0

Source: CMHC (Canadian Income Survey-based housing indicators and data)

About 1.4 million households, or 14.0% of all households in Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) were in core housing need in 2016. Toronto and St. Catharines-Niagara were the two CMAs that recorded the highest percentage of households in core housing need in 2016; Trois-Rivières and Moncton were the lowest.

Percentage of Households in Core Housing Need, Selected Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs), 2016
Census Metropolitan Area	Percent of Households in Core Housing Need
Toronto	20.7
St. Catharines-Niagara	17.9
Vancouver	17.3
Kingston	17.2
London	16.1
Greater Sudbury	15.4
Halifax	15.3
Saskatoon	14.7
Abbotsford-Mission	14.6
Hamilton	13.7
Oshawa	13.6
Winnipeg	13.0
Guelph	12.9
Calgary	12.7
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo	12.7
St. John’s	12.5
Victoria	11.3
Edmonton	11.0
Regina	10.6
Thunder Bay	10.3
Windsor	10.2
Ottawa-Gatineau	9.8
Montréal	9.8
Sherbrooke	9.2
Barrie	8.9
Brantford	8.9
Québec	8.6
Moncton	7.9
Trois-Rivières	6.3

Percentage of Households in Core Housing Need, Selected Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs), 2016

Census Metropolitan Area

Percent of Households in Core Housing Need

Toronto

20.7

St. Catharines-Niagara

17.9

Vancouver

17.3

Kingston

17.2

London

16.1

Greater Sudbury

15.4

Halifax

15.3

Saskatoon

14.7

Abbotsford-Mission

14.6

Hamilton

13.7

Oshawa

13.6

Winnipeg

13.0

Guelph

12.9

Calgary

12.7

Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo

12.7

St. John’s

12.5

Victoria

11.3

Edmonton

11.0

Regina

10.6

Thunder Bay

10.3

Windsor

10.2

Ottawa-Gatineau

9.8

Montréal

9.8

Sherbrooke

9.2

Barrie

8.9

Brantford

8.9

Québec

8.6

Moncton

7.9

Trois-Rivières

6.3

Source: CMHC (Canadian Income Survey-based housing indicators and data)

Some 206,000 households or 11.6% of Canadian households living in the 101 Census Agglomerations (CAs) assessed were in core housing need in 2016. British Columbia CAs had the highest average incidence of households in core housing need across the regions, while Quebec CAs had the lowest.

Definition of Core Housing Need

A household is said to be in core housing need if its housing falls below at least one of the adequacy, affordability or suitability, standards and it would have to spend 30% or more of its total before-tax income to pay the median rent of alternative local housing that is acceptable (meets all three housing standards). Housing standards are defined as follow:

Adequate housing is reported by their residents as not requiring any major repairs.
Affordable housing costs less than 30% of total before-tax household income.
Suitable housing has enough bedrooms for the size and makeup of resident households according to National Occupancy Standard (NOS) requirements.

Households assessed for core housing need includes only private, non-farm, non-band, non-reserve households with incomes greater than zero and STIRs less than 100%. Urban areas include Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations.