Opinion: Establishing a national housing secretariat could be the answer to effective housing policy development
Housing is not just a national crisis; it’s a deeply personal one for Canadians. Behind every proposed solution lies a desire for stability and a place to call home, whether it’s a young family seeking their first house or a senior looking to downsize while maintaining independence.
First, we won’t be able to tackle our national housing supply shortage using today’s traditional onsite construction practices alone. Rapid construction should be prioritized to help stimulate supply across the entire housing continuum.
One promising path forward is through broader adoption of innovation through offsite construction technologies, such as mass timber, panelization and modular home construction. Not only are these technologies 20 per cent to 50 per cent faster to complete, once manufacturing operating and capital costs are scaled, the per-unit cost for housing could be lower than traditional housing.
We believe scaling can be stimulated by providing contracts, loans and supports to manufacturers and incentivizing developers and early adopters through funding streams such as the Housing Accelerator Fund and the Homebuilding Technology and Innovation Fund.
Second, while there’s no shortage of goodwill for addressing Canada’s housing challenges, the lack of coordination and collaboration between all levels of government is further exacerbating the crisis. The consequences go beyond individual impacts; they affect the overall economy and social fabric of the country.
Politicians at all levels of government, housing stakeholders, and civil society and Indigenous organizations can’t work in silos and expect cohesive results. We believe establishing a national housing secretariat is the answer to effective housing policy development.
Addressing our housing crisis requires a permanent mechanism to facilitate a long-term, ongoing, multi-faceted, inclusive and collaborative approach to substantially increase supply. Taking a page from the successful secretariat model of the Federal Secretariat on Early Learning and Childcare, a housing secretariat could provide the framework, support, and resources needed to address affordability challenges, coordinate policy and build the housing supply Canada needs.
A national housing secretariat would be an inclusive, holistic, innovative and coordinated approach to building short-term measures and long-term strategies to address the country’s housing crisis.
Third, when we talk about increasing housing supply across the entire “housing continuum,” we mean all forms of housing, from emergency shelter and community housing to rental accommodation and homeownership.
Yet affordable homeownership units provided by non-profits, such as Habitat for Humanity, are still taxed the same as other newly constructed houses, even though they’re meant for lower-income families.
Janice Myers is chief executive of the Canadian Real Estate Association.