Habitat for Humanity finds most Canadians see housing system as broken

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A solid majority of Canadians are worried about housing affordability, a new report has found. Habitat for Humanity released its report, Home at What Cost? Affordability concerns continue to make housing stability fragile, finding that 64 per cent of Canadians surveyed believe the housing system is broken.

It also revealed that 44 per cent of respondents worry that one unexpected setback could threaten their ability to stay housed.

At the same time, 56 per cent of non-homeowners believe they will never own a home. That is more than double the global average (23 per cent).

As well, only 40 per cent of non-homeowning Canadian respondents indicated they believed they would eventually own a home — the lowest percentage among all nations surveyed.

Report polls 22 nations, including Canada, sampling 1,000 Canadian adults with an additional 300 low-income respondents surveyed.

The report pointed to Canada continuing to face a housing shortage with about 3.5 million more dwellings required to address affordability amid expected demand growth over the coming decade. As well, Habitat for Humanity’s report noted that about 10 per cent of households already face high housing costs.

“For many Canadians, the issue is no longer simply access to housing, but access to housing that is affordable, dependable and capable of supporting a stable future,” the report stated.

Habitat’s findings did include a few positives, including that 69 per cent of respondents were satisfied with their housing. As well, it found that 91 per cent felt secure in their right to remain where they live.