Reflecting on CMHC’s 2024 Progress and Challenges

Housing in the spotlight

Don Iveson, Chair of CMHC’s Board of Directors, reflected on housing's continued importance as a critical topic nationwide over the past year. "Housing continued to capture headlines every day," he noted, as policymakers, developers and communities worked together for solutions to housing challenges.

Delivering results for Canadians  

Coleen Volk, CMHC’s President and CEO outlined the pressing issues Canadians faced in 2024, including rising rents, higher mortgage renewal rates and ongoing challenges for vulnerable populations. Despite these challenges, we delivered results across our 3 core activities:

1. Delivering commercial solutions
   We tailored our commercial solutions to the increasing demands of 2024. The MLI Select product, which incentivizes developers to build affordable rental housing, continued to see strong uptake. Additionally, CMHC’s securitization programs provided crucial liquidity to mortgage lenders, ensuring Canadians could access financing even during uncertain conditions.
   
   
2. Delivering government programs and priorities*
   New and existing programs helped tackle the housing crisis. Significant commitments were made across programs like the Apartment Construction Loan Program, which supported over 56,000 new rental housing units. The Affordable Housing Fund helped create nearly 42,000 affordable units and repair more than 168,000 community housing units.
   
   Under the Housing Accelerator Fund, agreements were signed with 215 municipalities by the end of 2024, supporting over 114,000 additional fast-tracked housing units. The Co-op Housing Development Program was introduced to strengthen co-operative housing efforts.
   *Results are multi-year commitments. Data as of December 31, 2024.
   
   
3. Building for the future
   We maintained our leadership in providing timely, unbiased research. Volk highlighted the importance of these efforts in driving informed decisions, saying, "We dug deeper into understanding Canada’s supply challenges on a local level."
   
   

Impact by the numbers

Michel Tremblay, CMHC’s CFO and Senior Vice-President of Corporate Services, outlined the economic conditions that shaped 2024. Rapid population growth, higher interest rates and shifting housing activity defined the year. Despite these challenges, we delivered positive results:

• More than 500,000 homes were created, repaired or supported, up from 2023.
• Nearly 300,000 of these homes targeted markets with critical rental housing shortages, exceeding targets and adding 40,000 more units than in the previous year.
• Close to 50% of supported homes were climate-compatible, surpassing 2023 results and doubling original goals.

CMHC also provided reliable funding to financial institutions through securitization products, ensuring Canadians had continued access to mortgage financing. We guaranteed $165 billion in mortgage-backed securities and $60 billion in Canada Mortgage Bonds, reflecting continued strong demand.

Building toward a Canada where everyone has a home 

In addition to outlining our activities and achievements, our 2024 Annual Report also makes an important call to action. It urges all sectors to continue innovating and working together to improve access to affordable housing for all Canadians.

By strengthening partnerships with industry participants, developers, lenders and non-profits, we’re advancing solutions that address housing affordability, supply and diverse needs.

Interested in more insights from our leadership team?

Tune in to the pre-recorded session of our 2025 Annual Public Meeting and watch as our leadership team shares highlights from our 2024 Annual Report. Discover how our programs and products are making a positive impact for Canadians.

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