Description of Organization
REALPAC (Real Property Association of Canada) is a national industry association representing leading organizations in Canada’s commercial real estate sector. Its members include developers, property owners, investors, asset managers, pension funds, and other organizations involved in building, managing, and investing in real estate. REALPAC supports the industry through research, advocacy, professional education, and opportunities for collaboration on issues affecting real estate and the built environment.
Problem area
Canada has fallen behind in providing affordable and deeply affordable housing for those most in need. While the OECD average for social housing is 5 %, Canada’s share is under 2 %. The National Housing Strategy and the Human Right to Housing set aspirational, if not utopian, goals, yet these initiatives have not moved the affordability needle in most major Canadian markets.
What can we learn from other jurisdictions? It is unclear whether the government should build, or finance not‑for‑profit housing when private‑sector rental margins are likely only 5–6 %. Which private‑market solutions aimed at renters could be applied in Canada to support renters in greatest need wherever rental units exist?
Examples from the US include:
- Rent vouchers
- The low‑income housing tax credit (both used in the United States)
How would these mechanisms work in Canada, and could the net cost to the government per rental unit be lower than current government programs (largely funding the building, not the person)? And be more flexible?
Main objectives
- Examine international approaches to affordable and deeply affordable rental housing, with a focus on market-based mechanisms such as rent vouchers and low-income housing tax credits.
- Assess how these models could be adapted to the Canadian context, including potential policy, regulatory, and funding considerations.
- Compare renter-focused subsidies with existing supply-side housing programs that primarily fund the construction or acquisition of affordable housing.
- Evaluate the relative cost, flexibility, and effectiveness of different approaches, including the potential net cost to government per household or rental unit supported.
- Consider how private-market rental housing could play a greater role in meeting the needs of low- and moderate-income renters.
- Identify the advantages, limitations, and risks associated with different policy mechanisms, including impacts on affordability, housing supply, tenant choice, and market behaviour.
- Develop recommendations for promising approaches that could complement existing Canadian affordable housing programs and better target assistance to renters in greatest need.
Scope of work
- Conduct a literature and policy review of affordable housing programs in Canada and comparable international jurisdictions.
- Complete an environmental scan of renter-focused housing mechanisms, including rent vouchers and low-income housing tax credits.
- Review current Canadian federal and provincial housing programs to understand how affordability supports are presently funded and delivered.
- Compare different approaches based on cost, flexibility, targeting, scalability, and potential impact on renters.
- Assess how selected international models could be adapted to the Canadian policy and housing-market context.
- Identify key implementation considerations, risks, and potential unintended consequences.
- Develop policy options and recommendations for approaches that could complement or improve existing affordable housing programs.
Deliverables
- Report
- Presentation
Frequency
- To be determined upon discussion with the project team.
Skills and training required
- Comparative policy research
- Quantitative data analysis
- Literature and environmental scanning
- Report writing and presentation skills
Resources required
- Federal, provincial, and municipal housing policy and program documents
- Housing market, rental, affordability, and demographic data
- International housing program documentation and case studies
- Basic financial modelling, data analysis, and visualization software
NDA or a commercialization agreement for this project?
Yes