There are real supply constraints
To put things into perspective, between 1975 and 2015 immigration in Canada averaged about 180,000 per year, he said. Now, the average is closer to 600,000 per year.
“All of these newcomers need someplace to live,” Morassutti said. “That's obviously the central problem.”
The CMHC has a target to build 3.5 million new homes in Canada by 2030, but he said the industry is nowhere near that number.
“The scale of the problem, which has been many years in the making, is massive and the inconvenient truth is that we are not going to hit those targets. We will likely not get anywhere close to those targets.”
It’s a well-documented concern among the development community that it takes most municipalities too long to approve and permit the development of a housing development.
“Even if we had approvals across the country to build thousands of units, we cannot physically build them because we don't have enough trades (workers),” Morassutti said. The result is a continued, and likely worsening affordability crisis.