Housing stock grew faster than population in Vancouver and Toronto

By
Millicent Wong
-
0
256
financial contribution

  1. property

Adds a new dimension to the nationwide debate on housing affordability

Published on June 14, 2023 • Last update 3 days ago • 3 minutes reading time

A housing development in Bradford West Gwillimbury, Ontario. A housing development in Bradford West Gwillimbury, Ontario. Photo by COLE BURSTON/AFP via Getty Images files

The housing stock in Canada’s two largest cities grew faster than the population between 2019 and 2021, according to new data from Statistics Canada, fueling the nationwide debate over housing affordability.

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The report, released June 13, shows that the Toronto and Vancouver census metropolitan areas (CMAs) experienced moderate population growth amid notable housing stock expansion during the period.

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The data showed that Toronto saw a 1.3 percent increase in population, while Vancouver saw a 2.1 percent increase. At the same time, the housing stock in Toronto grew by 3.5 percent (equivalent to 61,320 units) and in Vancouver by 3.6 percent (28,085 new units).

Condominiums in particular contributed to this growth. Toronto added more than 38,000 new condos, surpassing net additions of both townhomes (+12,825) and single-family homes (+8,425). Vancouver also reflected this trend, with 19,970 new condos, 6,245 new townhouses and a net decline of 3,680 single-family homes.

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A lack of supply has been identified as one of the main causes of rising housing costs, which has left many people unable to live in Canada’s largest cities. Last year, a report by the CMHC found that the country would need more than 3.5 million additional new housing units by 2030 to restore affordability.

While both cities saw overall growth in their housing stock, examining multi-unit properties – a key component of the rental supply – revealed different trends. According to the Canadian Housing Statistics Program (CHSP), Toronto saw a relatively modest net addition of 55 multi-unit properties between 2019 and 2021. In contrast, Vancouver saw a significant net increase of 6,020 such properties.

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“An earlier CHSP press release indicated that in some urban markets, such as Toronto, densification has resulted in a large number of large residential structures (such as rental buildings and high-rise buildings),” CHSP said in the report. “In others, like Vancouver, more concentrated forms of density have emerged, such as single-family, semi-detached, or triple-family homes. Therefore, the modest number of such new properties in Toronto is not proportional to the number of apartments added to the stock.”

Vancouver’s efforts to promote multifamily housing, such as single-family homes and annexes, aimed to increase housing density and provide additional rental units. These initiatives have had some success and contributed to the general housing supply.

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Toronto’s February 2022 rule change designed to make it easier to build backyard homes could be a sign of a similar expansion in the city.

The effectiveness of this approach in Toronto depends on several factors including local regulations, zoning guidelines, infrastructure capacity, community acceptance and overall demand for such housing opportunities.

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Jean-Philippe Deschamps-Laporte, head of the Canadian Housing Statistics Program, pointed out a potential blind spot in the report.

“Toronto has added a fair amount of new single-family homes, while Vancouver has seen a decline,” Deschamps-Laporte said. “That means those single-family homes could be converted into multi-family homes, which includes single-family homes, second homes, mortgage loans and all these types of secondary rental markets.” Once you add those units into one, they become something else. They could also have been demolished, they could have been replaced with a condominium. It’s difficult for us to follow each individual house and find out what they make of it.”

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