How We Build Differently
The Real Canadian Housing Crisis Is In How We Build. The C.D. Howe Institute’s latest report offers a blueprint for breaking free… if we are willing to build differently.
Far too little attention is paid to the mechanics of how homes are actually built. While we debate affordability, interest rates, and migration, the real constraint on supply lies in the production system itself. What impedes us is a model of construction that has remained essentially unchanged while the demands placed upon it have intensified.
Before a Single Shovel Hits the Ground
It takes nearly 250 days to secure a general construction permit in Canada — 34th out of 35 OECD countries, slower than every peer except Slovakia and roughly triple the US timeline. Until those approvals shrink, any talk of boosting supply is running a marathon in concrete boots.
Ambition Without Capability
According to the report, restoring 2019-level affordability would require between 430,000 and 480,000 new homes per year. In 2023, Canada built just over half that number. The gap is profound, and what makes this deficit even more stark is the rapid growth of the population. CMHC’s own data confirms that housing starts are not keeping up with demographic pressure.
The Tools Exist. The System Rejects Them
Elsewhere in the world, governments and industry leaders have responded to these challenges with urgency and imagination. Sweden builds nearly all of its homes off-site, relying on factory-assembled components and standardized systems. In Canada, innovation remains on the margins.
Full Read:
- https://storeys.com/canada-housing-crisis-build-construction/