00:00:00:00
[Audio: Upbeat music plays.]
[Visual: Clips scroll past: new residential homes with "For Sale" signs in the yards, vehicles crossing a city intersection at night, two condominium buildings stretching towards a blue sky, and a high-rise building under construction at sunset.]
[Visual: Slide with text that reads, "Ask an expert."]
00:00:06:00
[Speaker: Joelle Hamilton, Communications & Marketing, CMHC]
We've all heard it. Housing affordability has hit rock bottom. But what does that actually mean?
[Visual: Joelle sits behind a desk in front of a blue background. She has medium-length dark brown hair and wears a silver necklace with a gray cardigan. A mug, a mouse, a keyboard and a tablet sit on the desktop.]
[Visual: A box that reads, "Joelle Hamilton, Communications & Marketing, CMHC" appears briefly.]
And more importantly, what does it mean for you? The answer depends on where you live and whether you're renting or trying to buy.
[Visual: Couples shake hands with real estate agents inside a sunroom and outside a house. Data points shift on complex bar graphs.]
That's why we launched the Housing Affordability Composite Index.
[Visual: Joelle sits behind the desk.]
It sounds technical, but stick with us. We're going to break it down.
[Visual: Slide with text that reads, "Why a new index?"]
[Audio: Lo-fi music plays.]
[Visual: Mathieu Laberge sits in a bright office. He has light-brown hair and wears glasses, along with a black suit, a light-blue shirt and a dark paisley tie.]
00:00:34:00
[Speaker: Mathieu Laberge, Chief Economist, CMHC]
There are already affordability indices out there, but most of them only tell part of the story.
[Visual: A box that reads, "Mathieu Laberge, Chief Economist, CMHC" appears briefly.]
Many focus entirely on price, and price matters, of course, but affordability is about more than just a sticker price.
[Visual: Slide with text that reads, "Affordability isn't just about price. It's shaped by: Income needed to pay rent or a mortgage, Supply and demand pressures, Income left over after essentials," next to a money icon.]
It's also shaped by the income needed to pay rent or a mortgage, supply and demand pressures, and how much money households have left over after essentials.
[Visual: Mathieu sits in the office.]
Another important piece that many indices miss: the rental market.
[Visual: Slide with text that reads, "What is CMHC's Housing Affordability Composite Index?"]
[Audio: Jazz music plays.]
[Visual: Joelle sits behind the desk.]
00:01:10:00
[Speaker: Joelle Hamilton, Communications & Marketing, CMHC]
By looking at both the rental and buying markets, we get a more complete view of affordability. We also break it down by region, because national headlines can hide what's happening on the ground.
[Visual: The downtown skylines of Vancouver, British Columbia, and Toronto, Ontario, scroll past.]
We often hear about housing pressures in Vancouver and Toronto, and those markets absolutely matter.
[Visual: Joelle sits at the desk.]
But if we focus only on those two cities, we miss what's happening elsewhere in the country. When you break it down by market and region, the picture can look very different. Let's start with home buying.
[Visual: Slide with text that reads, "Most affordability indexes miss part of the story. Many focus only on: Prices, Homebuying. CMHC'S Housing Affordability Composite Index looks at both renting and owning," next to a magnifying glass icon with a dollar sign at the centre.]
[Visual: Slide with text that reads, "What does the index tell us about homebuying affordability?"]
[Audio: Upbeat music plays.]
00:01:58:00
[Speaker: Mathieu Laberge, Chief Economist, CMHC]
Home buying affordability recently fell to its lowest point since the 1990s.
[Visual: A line graph titled "Homebuying/Homeownership Affordability Index" appears. Numbers on the Y-axis range from 10 to -20 at intervals of 5, and dates range from 1991 to 2025 in two-year intervals along the X-axis.]
In the early 2000s and again in 2015, affordability declines were largely driven by Vancouver and Toronto.
[Visual: Two translucent gray bars briefly appear on the graph. The first, labelled "2001 to 2007," has an affordability range descending from 9 to 0. The second, labelled "2015 to 2020," has an affordability range descending from -1 to -4.]
But in 2020 and in 2023, pressures spread more broadly.
[Visual: A translucent gray bar appears on the graph. The label reads "2020 to 2023" and the affordability range descends from -4 to -18.]
[Visual: A juxtaposition of clips of "Ottawa" and "Montréal" landmarks on the shores of the Rideau Canal and the Saint Lawrence River respectively.]
Ottawa and Montréal, for example, saw rising competition amongst homebuyers, in part due to the pandemic and remote work reshaping where people chose to live.
[Visual: Mathieu sits in the office.]
And if we only looked at the most recent years, we might miss something important. The erosion in affordability didn't happen overnight. It began in the early 2000s and built gradually over time.
[Visual: Slide with text that reads, "Is there hope for the buying market?"]
[Visual: Joelle sits at the desk.]
00:02:47:00
[Speaker: Joelle Hamilton, Communications & Marketing, CMHC]
Despite those sharp dips, it did look like things were starting to improve. So, is there good news?
[Visual: Mathieu sits in the office.]
00:02:55:00
[Speaker: Mathieu Laberge, Chief Economist, CMHC]
There are reasons for cautious optimism.
[Visual: Clips of landmarks in Ottawa and Toronto, as well as the skylines of Vancouver and Halifax, appear side-by-side. Then, clips of downtown Montréal, Calgary and Edmonton appear side-by-side. ]
Since 2023, we've seen slight improvements in some regions, particularly in Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver and Halifax. In Montréal, Calgary and Edmonton, affordability appears to be stabilizing.
[Visual: Mathieu sits in the office.]
That doesn't mean challenges are gone, but it does suggest momentum may be shifting in some markets.
[Visual: Slide with text that reads, "What does the index tell us about the rental market?"]
[Audio: Upbeat music plays.]
[Visual: Joelle sits behind the desk.]
00:03:24:00
[Speaker: Joelle Hamilton, Communications & Marketing, CMHC]
If you've looked at other affordability indexes, you may have noticed something missing. Most of them don't include the rental market. And that's a major gap. Let's talk about it.
[Visual: Mathieu sits in the office.]
00:03:35:00
[Speaker: Mathieu Laberge, Chief Economist, CMHC]
Rental affordability pressures rose quickly in recent years.
[Visual: A line graph titled "Rental affordability index" appears. Numbers on the Y-axis range from 4 to -6 at intervals of 1, and years range from 2006 to 2025 at intervals of 1 on the X-axis.]
In 2022 and 2023, rising inflation and strong population growth drove much of that pressure.
[Visual: A translucent gray bar appears on the graph. The label reads "2022 to 2023" and the affordability range descends from -1 to -5.5.]
But in 2025, we started to see early signs of stabilization at the national level.
[A translucent gray bar appears on the graph. The label reads "2025" and the data point indicates -4.]
[Visual: Mathieu sits in the office.]
Again, not solved, but potentially shifting.
[Visual: Slide with text that reads, "Why is looking at the rental market so important?"]
00:04:02:00
[Speaker: Joelle Hamilton, Communications & Marketing, CMHC]
One in three Canadian households rent.
[Visual: Slide with text that reads, "1 in 3 Canadian households are renters. Source: Statistics Canada," with an icon of three people: two are purple and one is black.]
So if we ignore renting, we're ignoring a significant share of the population.
[Visual: Joelle sits at the desk.]
But it's not just about representation. It's about how renting and buying influence each other.
[Visual: Slide with text that reads, "How do buyers and renters impact each other?"]
[Visual: Mathieu sits in the office.]
00:04:22:00
[Speaker: Mathieu Laberge, Chief Economist, CMHC]
If we only look at one side of the market, we miss how interconnected the rental and ownership markets are. Take Toronto and Vancouver.
[Visual: A price tag icon appears above text that reads, "Surplus of condos in TO an YVR." An arrow leads to a condos icon above text that reads, "Unsold condos become rentals." An arrow leads to a sofa and open moving box icon above text that reads, "More rentals." An arrow leads to a money bag icon above text that reads, "Vacancy rates up and rents down."]
There are currently many condo units available in those two markets. When condos don't sell, they often become a rental unit. And that increases rental supply. What does that mean? More option for renters, higher vacancy rates, slower rent growth than we might otherwise see.
[Visual: Mathieu sits in the office.]
That's a clear example of how the ownership market directly affects the rental market.
[Visual: Slide with text that reads, "Why does the index matter?"]
[Audio: Pensive music plays.]
[Visual: Joelle sits behind the desk.]
00:05:03:00
[Speaker: Joelle Hamilton, Communications & Marketing, CMHC]
So why does CMHC's Housing Affordability Composite Index matter?
[Visual: Clips scroll past: on a desk, a miniature house sits next to stacks of coins in front of a man in a suit writing on a document, a person calculating on top of a notebook next to two credit cards, two men in suits shaking hands, and a young family in pyjamas looking out a bright window.]
Because affordability isn't just about today's price tag. It's about financial stability. It's about opportunity. It's about whether households can build a future.
[Visual: Joelle sits behind the desk.]
By looking at both renting and buying, and by breaking it down by region, we get a clearer understanding of where pressures are strongest. And that helps us identify what kind of housing solutions are needed. Because better data leads to better decisions.
[Visual: Slide with text that reads, "Subscribe on YouTube."]
[Visual: The CMHC logo appears above the Canada wordmark.]
Done!
Link copied
Share via Email
