Canadian Design and Construction Report staff writer
The Parliamentary Budget Office says it expects 2.5 million homes will be added to Canada’s housing stock by 2035, far short of the 3.2 million it says are needed to eliminate excess demand and return the vacancy rate to its long-term historical average.
In a report released on Aug. 26, the PBO projects that 227,000 net new units will be completed annually over 2025 to 2035, with completions remaining elevated at 256,000 units in each of the next three years before returning to historical averages as lower immigration dampens demand for housing.
The report says an additional 65,000 homes would need to be built per year or a total of 290,000 annually over the next decade to close the housing gap, which would be equivalent to outperforming the record high of 276,000 units completed in 2024 for eleven consecutive years.
The report does not account for commitments from all levels of government to increase housing completions, including the federal government’s vow in the spring election campaign to double starts.
While home building at the national level have risen above historical averages over the past four years totalling more than one million units and remains strong in many regions, Ontario is in a prolonged residential construction slump largely due to a deep decline in the Toronto area condominium market.
A report by RBC blames high development and construction costs for the drop in multi-unit starts that threatens to derail the province’s promise to build 1.6 million homes by 2031.
