As the federal government launches a new drive to address Canada's housing crisis with Build Canada Homes, a new report released on October 28 by the National Housing Council (NHC) offers a comprehensive framework to assess the effectiveness of federal housing policy. 

The report entitled Measuring What Matters: Proposing an Outcomes Framework for Federal Housing Policy, tackles a central question: how will Canadians know if housing policies are working? 

Analysing the current health of Canada's housing system, the report finds that: 

• Affordability is declining: Home ownership is affordable in fewer than 20% of Canadian markets, and asking rents are unaffordable for most renters. 
• Housing transitions are stalling: Canadians face increasing barriers to moving through the housing system, from renting an apartment, to moving into ownership and from a first-owned home to a family-sized unit. 
• Equity gaps persist: Lower-income households, women, Indigenous people, racialized communities, and other equity-denied groups experience worse housing outcomes. 
• Supply challenges are growing: Rising costs of materials, land, labour, and municipal fees, along with approval delays and labour shortages, are driving a cost-of-delivery crisis. 
• Policy misalignment remains: Success is often measured by inputs and outputs - such as dollars spent and units built - rather than improvements in housing outcomes. 

Grounded in the National Housing Strategy Act and the principles of the right to adequate housing, the report states that outcomes for people are what matter most when assessing if housing policies are working.  

"What we're proposing is a fundamental re-orientation of housing policy away from outputs (like the amount of money invested and the number of units built) to outcomes - are housing conditions for Canadians measurably improved by the government's housing policies," said Tim Richter, Chair of the National Housing Council.  

The report proposes a framework for measuring housing outcomes based on the seven elements of adequate housing: affordability, habitability, security of tenure, access to services, location, accessibility, and cultural adequacy; as well as the degree to which Canadians can transition through the housing system. 

The report argues that a rights-based approach to evaluating housing policy would help us focus on what truly matters: outcomes for people. Are homes becoming more or less affordable across the system? Are key transitions more accessible? Are those on the lowest incomes catching up or falling further behind? The report states that by focussing on these questions, policy would be empowered to follow evidence. The right measurement framework would allow policy makers to ask the right questions, uncover the real issues, and allows to craft effective solutions. According to the NHC, had the right outcomes indicators been tracked over the past decades, corrective action could have been taken much sooner to mitigate the current housing crisis. 

Recommendations: 

• Refocus measurement on outcomes: Track progress using a rights-based framework centred on the seven elements of adequate housing and the affordability and accessibility of key transitions through the housing system. 
• Adopt a Team Canada approach to tackle the cost-of-delivery crisis: Unite all levels of government around a shared commitment to the NHS Act and the right to housing. Work with all system stakeholders to remove barriers to housing supply and accelerate housing development. 
• Support all segments of the housing system: Understand that housing is an interconnected system and when one part of the system struggles the effects ripple throughout. Policy needs to ensure that new homes are the right homes, that meet people's needs, at a price they can afford. Governments need to develop complementary policies to improve housing outcomes across the full system - from homelessness to homeownership. 

Quick Facts: 

• Established in the National Housing Strategy Act, the National Housing Council is an advisory body that promotes participation and inclusion in the development of Canada's housing policy. The NHC is appointed by, and provides advice to, the Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities on urgent housing issues - including how to improve the National Housing Strategy (NHS). 
• The report found that across Canada, only the highest-income quintile of renters could afford to become first-time buyers, and only the highest-income quintile of current homeowners could afford to trade-up to a family-sized home. 
• In the rental market, the report found that only the two highest-income quintiles of renters could afford average asking rents, while the lack of non-market and affordable homes means that there is a shortage of homes accessible to renters on the lowest-incomes. 

Associated Links: 

To read the full report, Measuring What Matters: Proposing an Outcomes Framework for Federal Housing Policy, and learn more about the National Housing Council, visit https://nhc-cnl.ca/publications/post/measuring-what-matters-2#_ftnref2  

Disclaimer

The views or opinions expressed on this news release and the report are solely those of the National Housing Council, and do not necessarily represent or reflect the official policy or position of the Government of Canada and/or Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (HICC). The National Housing Council does not act or speak on behalf of the Government of Canada or HICC.