Most Canadians who are renting their homes are not convinced that the Liberals’ promises to solve the housing crisis and address housing affordability will work.
Only 10% of Canadian renters feel that the Liberals’ 2024 budget will help alleviate the country’s housing crisis, according to a new poll from Rentals.ca.
Conversely, 16% of Canadian renters feel the budget will worsen the housing crisis. 26% said it would not significantly impact housing, and the remaining respondents were unsure or needed more information
Most respondents, 66%, were aware of the recent budget, but only 55% knew of housing-related provisions outlined in it.
“While there is a clear recognition of the government’s efforts, the prevailing skepticism and concern among renters highlight the challenges ahead,” read the report.
The poll revealed that Canadian renters did not trust Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government to alleviate housing affordability.
75% of Canadian renters said that the government’s efforts to address housing affordability in recent years have been ineffective. Only 2% said the Liberals have been very effective over the recent years, while 10% said the party had been somewhat effective. The rest of the respondents were not sure.
It’s not surprising that so many Canadian renters found the Liberals’ housing strategy ineffective, given that most of them had difficulty finding affordable housing.
92% of Canadian renters said they had experienced difficulties finding affordable housing. Only 4% said that they hadn’t.
The prospect of leaving the renter’s market and entering homeownership is grim for most Canadians.
67% of Canadian renters are not likely to consider purchasing a property soon. Only 8% are very likely, while 14% are somewhat likely to consider homeownership in the near future.
Respondents were asked, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how concerned are you about the current state of the housing market in Canada?”
The average response showed a 9 out of 10 level of concern.
The Liberals’ 2024 budget has pledged to invest $8.524 billion over the next five years in various housing measures. The feds have pledged to build 3.87 million homes by 2031. The promise would require Canada to build 1.096 houses every minute from when the promise was made until 2031 without missing a beat.
Canada would have to build over twice as many homes annually every year until 2031 to fulfil this promise. Housing starts in Canada decreased every year between 2021 and 2023.
A previous report showed that housing affordability in Canada had reached an all-time low.
For example, in Vancouver, an average household has to spend 106.3% of its income to cover home ownership costs.
The poll analyzed themes from written responses. The biggest concerns raised by Canadian renters were rent, housing, and affordability.
“Immigration and foreign investment were also cited as significant factors impacting the availability of rental housing,” read the report.
Housing affordability aside, only 21% of Canadians support the federal budget.
The budget proposed $111.2 billion in new spending over the next five years and a $40 billion deficit, with no plan to balance the budget.