Methodology for Social and Affordable Housing Survey — Rental Structures

Definitions and methodology of the survey.

CMHC started collecting characteristics about Social and Affordable Housing Structures as part of the Housing Needs Data Initiative under the National Housing Strategy. This is done through the survey of Social and Affordable Housing — Rental Structures. The goal of this survey is to develop data and indicators to understand progress toward improved housing outcomes.

The first survey was a census. The target population was all structures in all provinces and territories with at least 1 rental unit subsidized by a public entity. This could be a public entity like the federal government, provincial government or municipal government. It can be by a private entity like non-profits, co-ops or faith-based organizations.

Data collection for the first cycle of the survey took place over the course of 1 year starting in November 2018. Data was collected at a structure/project level and included information such as:

number of units
dwelling type
number of units by bedroom type
targeted clientele
unoccupied units
rents
services offered

Respondents included providers of social and affordable housing including different levels of government, non-profit organizations, cooperatives and private companies.

Four approaches including online were used in the first cycle of the survey to maximize response rates:

CMHC web portal
emails
telephone interviews
site visits

The main methodology used for data collection remained phone calls to pre-identified contacts, usually property managers or owners. Respondents were encouraged to provide CMHC’s survey team with administrative data through rent rolls or preformatted Microsoft® Excel® templates.

In most provinces, the survey is a census of all social and affordable rental housing structures. Québec is the exception, where only cooperatives, non-profits and some para-municipal administered buildings were included (structures managed by the Société d’habitation du Québec were excluded). We will continue to expand the coverage of this survey in future cycles.

Definitions

Owner or ownership type:

This refers to the organization type which has title ownership to the structure and related property. Ownership type could be various levels of government, non-profit or charitable entities, private organizations or individuals and housing co-operatives.

Management type or management body:

This refers to the organization type which is responsible for day-to-day property and financial management functions of the structure. Management type could be various levels of government, non-profit or charitable entities, private organizations or individuals and housing co-operatives.

Rent:

The rent refers to the amount tenants pay for their unit. No adjustments are made for the inclusion or exclusion of amenities and services such as heat, hydro, parking and hot water.

Rent mechanism:

Rents charged for units in Social and Affordable Rental Housing structures are determined in many different ways. They could be set:

to cover the costs of operating the building
as a proportion of a household’s income
as a proportion of the market rent
as a proportion of the market rent in a given area

Unoccupied:

A unit is considered unoccupied if, at the time of the survey, it is physically unoccupied. These units could be unoccupied for any number of reasons:

administrative delays as tenants changeover
they are under repair or renovation
they are actually physically unoccupied and available for occupancy

Vacancy:

A unit is considered vacant if, at the time of the survey, it is physically unoccupied and available for immediate rental.

Accessibility features:

Accessible design is the development of products and environments that meet a range of the population’s needs. Accessible design products address the needs of people with mobility or cognitive disabilities as well as the general population. Respondents are asked to indicate all accessibility features of their building’s units and common areas.

Building condition and repair type:

Respondents are asked when the last time a Building Condition Assessment (BCA) or a Facility Condition Index (FCI) was undertaken by a certified professional. Respondents are then asked, based on their most recent estimate, what the overall condition of their building is. They are also asked what major repairs and/or replacements are needed in the next 5 years.

Data reliability measures

CMHC does not publish a statistic if its reliability is too low or if the publication of a statistic would violate confidentiality rules. The ability to publish an estimate is generally determined by its statistical reliability. As indicated earlier, CMHC currently uses the coefficient of variation.

A letter code representing the statistical reliability for each estimate is provided to indicate the data reliability. The coefficient of variation of an estimate is defined as both the:

ratio of the standard error of the estimate to the estimate itself
coefficient of variation generally expressed as a percentage

For example, let the average rent for 1-bedroom apartments in a given census metropolitan area be x̄ and its standard error be σx̄. Then the coefficient of variation—or CV—is given by CV = σx̄ / x̄.

Reliability codes for proportions

CMHC uses the coefficient of variation, sampling fraction and universe size to determine the ability to publish proportions. The following letter codes are used to indicate the level of reliability of proportions:

a — Excellent
b — Very good
c — Good
d — Poor (Use with caution)
e — Very Poor (Use with extreme caution)
** Data Suppressed
N/A: Data not available, meaning that there aren’t any existing units in the universe for this category