Modernizing Housing Data: Closing the gap

Canada’s housing crisis needs solutions, and better data is key to understanding the challenges and creating effective solutions.

The Modernizing Housing Data Initiative improves how housing data is collected and shared. It provides clearer insights to address housing challenges and gives governments, policymakers, housing providers and Canadians tools to make informed decisions about housing needs.

Key projects of the Modernizing Housing Data Initiative

The Modernizing Housing Data Initiative includes 4 key projects:

• Integrating databases to estimate residential housing stock at the municipal level (Statistics Canada).
• Using occupancy permit data to track completed housing units (Statistics Canada).
• Expanding CMHC’s Starts and Completions Survey and analyzing municipal development charges and fees (CMHC).
• Modeling data to assess federal housing policies and track progress.

New and upcoming data series

For CMHC, our efforts to support the Modernizing Housing Data Initiative have resulted in the release of several new data series focused on new residential housing. These new series offer valuable insights into Canada’s housing supply and stock:

Upcoming data series

In addition to what has already been released, the following new data series are currently in development and will be released soon:

• Building permit to housing start duration
• Apartment housing starts by bedroom count 
• Starts and completions for co-living and communal dwelling units
• Municipal development fees and charges data tables and analysis

The importance of better housing data

Canada’s housing supply faces challenges, and data gaps make it difficult to fully understand the problem. Without detailed, timely data, it’s challenging to measure progress toward housing goals, develop evidence-based policies and programs or address affordability issues for renters and homeowners.

Better data means better solutions — and the Modernizing Housing Data Initiative is closing these gaps.

How the Modernizing Housing Data Initiative helps

The Initiative improves housing data accuracy and availability. It helps:

• Design and measure evidence-based policies and programs.
• Track and report on federal initiatives like Build Canada Homes.
• Offer clearer insights into housing challenges at the local level.

This initiative will help the federal government prioritize increasing housing supply and improving affordability.

Partnerships behind the Initiative

Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada, CMHC and Statistics Canada are working together on the Modernizing Housing Data Initiative. Each partner brings specialized knowledge to support evidence-based housing policies and programs.