The third round of CMHC’s survey on social and affordable housing is completed, with some interesting results. First, the average monthly rent for a 2BR unit was just $599 (household income was the most common metric used to set rents). The average rent across CMAs for a 2BR unit in CMHC’s latest Rental Market Report (2022) was $1,258. About two-thirds of residents surveyed lived in housing operated by governments, 21% by non-profits, and just 7% in co-ops.
Sadly, just 43% of units are rated in excellent or good condition, which makes sense considering over half of the units were built before 1980–72% of units built after 2003 received this ranking. This reflects the lack of funding governments have allocated for maintenance and repair of these crucial units. This type of housing tends to serve families and seniors, while people with disabilities and people exiting homelessness are lower in numbers. The national vacancy rate for the social and affordable housing was 2.5% (higher than the national average of 1.9% found in CMHC’s 2022 report), but this ranged from 0% in Nunavut to 19% in Saskatchewan. The higher vacancy rate may reflect units that are not able to be rented due to their condition.
You can read the full report and download the data at the link above.
