Calculating core housing need

We use median rents, estimated monthly carrying costs and survey data to calculate core housing need.

We figure about the cost of an acceptable alternative by:

Using the median rent of rental units with the number of bedrooms the household requires. This happens where market rents can be estimated.
When we can’t estimate market rents, we use the cost of acceptable local housing. We calculate this by using the estimated monthly carrying cost of a newly constructed home with the number of bedrooms the household requires.

Private non-farm, non-band, non-reserve households with incomes greater than zero and shelter-cost-to-income ratios (STIRs) less than 100% are assessed for core housing need.

For measuring affordability, we do not include the following:

STIRs of 100% or more
STIRs for households with incomes of zero or less
STIRs of households living in non-band housing on reserves

The following households are not assessed for core housing need:

Farms: farm households can’t be separated from the related costs to other farm structures and buildings.
Band: shelter costs are not collected for households whose housing costs are paid through band housing arrangements.
Reserve households: communal land tenure in most on-reserve communities may be less clear than off-reserve.

Estimates of the number of households in core housing need come from surveys. These surveys include: