Cities are facing new pressures, with Canada’s population growing faster than any other G7 country, reaching record growth of more than one million people last year.
This highly uneven pattern of urban growth holds across all major metropolitan areas. For example, more than half of all homes added in existing neighbourhoods in the Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Hamilton and Montreal metropolitan areas occurred in the fastest-growing 5% of census tracts. Further, rapidly falling rental vacancy rates in communities Canada-wide suggest strong demand for homes in all parts of the country.
However, there’s reason for hope. The uneven pattern of housing growth also means there’s tremendous opportunity to open up more neighbourhoods to homebuilding, helping enable the millions of additional homes required to adequately house a growing Canada. Indeed, several Canadian cities are implementing policies to make it easier to add housing units in more neighbourhoods. Edmonton is overhauling its zoning bylaws to allow more housing options including duplexes, secondary suites and small apartments in current low-density residential areas. Toronto City Council recently adopted a plan to allow up to four units per lot citywide without the need to rezone. Current or upcoming provincial policies in B.C. and Ontario signal similar changes.
Moves like these might eventually enable desirable but slow-growing neighbourhoods to shoulder a greater share of much-needed homebuilding. They’re not silver bullets, however, and their effects will only be felt over the longer term as individual lots are gradually converted into denser housing types.
In short, governments across Canada have a long way to go if they want the housing stock to keep up with growing need. In the meantime, a small handful of urban neighbourhoods will likely continue to shoulder a disproportionate share of homebuilding.Share this article in your social network
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