How does Calgary keep market housing affordable and in supply?
Calgary's market housing is at the tipping point of affordability. But does home ownership have to slip out of reach or can the situation be reversed?
Article content
Building Industry and Land Development Calgary Region brought together independent industry experts for a summit, Unlocking Doors: Housing Supply and Affordability Summit, earlier this month to discuss ways to prevent market housing from escaping the reach of would-be homebuyers.
Article content
Article content
'We're the second most affordable metropolitan area in Canada. That is great, but that will also draw people here, so we have to redouble our efforts,' says Brian Hahn, CEO of BILD Calgary Region.
Article content
Article content
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. describes housing as affordable when a household spends less than 30 per cent of its pre-tax income to cover mortgage, property tax and utilities. That number has hovered above 40 per cent in the Calgary area for the past three years, show RBC's Thought Leadership Series on Canadian Housing quarterly reports. By comparison, the latest report shows the average across Canada was 58.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2024. Vancouver reflected the most unaffordable metropolis at 92.8 per cent, while Toronto was at 70.8 per cent. Edmonton came in as the most affordable of the group at 33.6 per cent.
Article content
Article content
While the solution to tight demand and high prices might be simple in theory — build more homes — the reality of increasing market housing and affordability involves many moving parts.
Article content
'The biggest challenges are the time from dirt to door, and cost. Every bit you can shorten up on time helps on the cost side, and everything you can do on the cost side helps,' Hahn said.
Article content
SHORT ON HOUSING
Article content
According to CMHC, Alberta needs 130,000 more housing units by 2030 to meet demand created by so much in-migration in the past few years.
Article content
There's an argument to be made that Alberta's builders and developers are up to the challenge. The province marked record building starts topping 46,000 in 2024. However, it's not quite that simple, points out Hahn. Top of mind is the aging skilled labour force.
Article content
'We need to make sure that people are entering the fields that are the skill sets that support land development and housing,' Hahn said. 'Trades are one, and we're grateful for what the province and the federal government has done in terms of supporting that. But also we would like to see focused programs in terms of immigration and making sure that amongst those who come to Canada are those who have experience in construction, and home construction, in particular.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Calgary Herald
30-07-2025
- Calgary Herald
‘Akin to Lego': Homes built in a factory may be ‘next frontier'
Article content Still, she said the federal government deserves credit for programs that support both non-profit housing and private involvement in constructing more purpose-built rentals. Article content Carney also pledged to create a federal entity to oversee the development of affordable housing in Canada. The plan could provide more than $25 billion in financing to prefabricated homebuilders. Article content Article content Modular houses are built in a factory and transported to the site. They're making up an increasing part of the overall housing mix. Article content 'We're going to see more and more, if not completely manufactured units, component manufacturing of housing that gets kind of assembled on site, akin to Lego,' Hahn said. Article content Still, Hahn cautioned against the government playing a major role in the private sector, which he said is already building housing at a rapid pace in Alberta. Article content Alberta could, for the first time in over 40 years, top Ontario in new home construction, with the western province being on pace to build nearly 60,000 homes by the end of 2025. Article content Article content According to Tsenkova, modular houses have the advantage of being delivered quickly — and, in some cases, assembled on-site overnight. Article content In contrast, another apartment building across the street, which Attainable Homes built with traditional methods, took more than twice the amount of time. Article content When fully assembled, the apartment units will have rents below market rates, at around $1,100 including heat, water and electricity. Article content In contrast, the average rent for a studio apartment in Calgary is $1,433, according to RentFaster. Article content Article content Article content Income eligibility requirements are set so that clients spend about 30 per cent of their gross income on rent, or have a target income of around $44,000. Article content 'My personal dream would be that everyone has access to a place they can afford that's (a) dignified shelter for them,' Tait said. Article content ATCO has worked on other housing projects throughout the country, including seven for BC Housing, the City of Toronto and more. Article content Although modular isn't the only solution for the housing crisis, Beattie argues it has to be a bigger part of it.
Global News
25-07-2025
- Global News
Seniors rarely downsize. Here's why it hurts first-time homebuyers
Realtor Barry Lebow specializes in helping seniors downsize — moving out of the family homes they've lived in for decades to a smaller place that's a better fit for their aging lifestyle. From the outside, that might look like the natural progression: feeding a healthy bit of turnover into the housing supply as move-up buyers seek their own family home. But the reality is a bit different when it comes time to sell, Lebow, who works in the Greater Toronto Area, said in an interview. 'Our customers are not always happy customers,' he said. 'Almost all seniors do not want to move.' Experts say it's a myth that seniors who own their homes are keen to downsize to fund their retirements, when the reality is they're largely staying put, in part because they don't like the downsizing options, making it harder for young prospective buyers to break into the housing market. Story continues below advertisement Seniors are in fact the demographic that's least likely to move, according to data from the 2016 census. 'It's actually quite rare,' said Mike Moffatt, founding director of the Missing Middle Initiative at the University of Ottawa. Lebow said that when seniors do move, it's often because they're facing mobility or money issues — or both. He acknowledged there's a type of older Canadian who's keen to cash out on the family home, move into a smaller condo or apartment and take on a new lifestyle. But these are the unicorns, he said. In his work, it's common to come across seniors with three- or four-bedroom houses and no children at home to fill them anymore. More space than they need, in all likelihood, but no motivation to let it go. 'Moving is a traumatic experience,' Lebow said, whether it's the financial cost or the emotional toll of changing addresses and purging years of accumulated belongings. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Beyond the typical home showings and paperwork, his job has ranged from rehoming a pet dog who couldn't be accommodated in a new abode to acting as de facto mediator when the prospect of mom or dad downsizing becomes a tense family conflict. Some of his clients are also facing cognitive decline, Lebow said, and only see their real estate agent as the guy trying to throw them out of their home. Story continues below advertisement 'Believe me, I've been yelled at,' Lebow said. 1:58 New realtor trends emerging as housing market cools A Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. report from November 2023 also found that while there was a bit of a shift toward downsizing as Canadians age, that trend is still limited to a minority of older households. There's also minimal movement to condos or rental properties as Canadians age, the report found. Data from CMHC indicates the 'sell rate'— the proportion of Canadians older than 75 who are cashing out of the housing market — fell steadily between 1991 and 2021. Canadians are living longer and might also be in better financial shape as they get older, the agency said, letting them age in place. 'In order for them to leave, they would need something that met their needs as much. And often, that doesn't exist,' Moffatt said. Story continues below advertisement Among the biggest factors motivating — or hindering — a move are cost and lifestyle, he said. Many seniors still want to be able to garden and host family over the holidays, he said, which makes a one-or-two bedroom condo in the downtown core unappealing. Moffatt said many older Canadians are keen to stay in their existing neighbourhoods, but smaller options are not readily available. Modern infill units set up for street-level access in older, residential neighbourhoods are the kinds of options many seniors need to give moving a second thought. The kind of sixplex-unit zoning recently up for debate at Toronto city council would create the kinds of units that would be right for many would-be downsizers, Moffatt noted. Toronto ultimately decided last month to broaden sixplex zoning to only some wards, leaving the others to opt in if they choose. Moving houses is also expensive when it comes to hiring movers, staging costs and the myriad of taxes and fees for real estate agents and lawyers. Measures to reduce the tax burden seniors face when moving can help to encourage more turnover of family homes, Moffatt said. The Liberal government tabled legislation in May to waive the federal GST on new homes, but it only applies to first-time homebuyers. Story continues below advertisement Moffatt said it would 'absolutely' help improve supply in the housing market if that policy were extended to downsizing seniors. Such a move could sweeten the deal for seniors who are open to getting into a smaller condo unit but don't see the financial value in the move. That could spur a positive domino effect in the market: Moffatt explained that when move-up buyers are able to leave behind their starter homes to take on seniors' larger properties, that opens up more supply at the bottom of the housing ladder for first-time buyers. The Canadian Press reached out to Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne to ask if the federal government would consider expanding the GST rebate to seniors. A Finance Canada spokesperson did not mention seniors in their response, only saying in an email that the GST rebate is meant to help first-time buyers enter the housing market by lowering upfront costs to buying a home and spurring the construction of new housing across Canada. 'Incentivizing or reducing the barriers to building housing across the board benefits everyone,' Moffatt said. 'It is kind of an irony, but one of the best things we can do to help first-time homebuyers is to make it easier for seniors to move into new housing.'
CTV News
25-07-2025
- CTV News
Seniors rarely downsize — here's why that's hurting first-time homebuyers
A real estate sign is displayed in front of a house in the Riverdale area of Toronto on Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Evan Buhler Realtor Barry Lebow specializes in helping seniors downsize — moving out of the family homes they've lived in for decades to a smaller place that's a better fit for their aging lifestyle. From the outside, that might look like the natural progression: feeding a healthy bit of turnover into the housing supply as move-up buyers seek their own family home. But the reality is a bit different when it comes time to sell, Lebow, who works in the Greater Toronto Area, said in an interview. 'Our customers are not always happy customers,' he said. 'Almost all seniors do not want to move.' Experts say it's a myth that seniors who own their homes are keen to downsize to fund their retirements, when the reality is they're largely staying put, in part because they don't like the downsizing options, making it harder for young prospective buyers to break into the housing market. Seniors are in fact the demographic that's least likely to move, according to data from the 2016 census. 'It's actually quite rare,' said Mike Moffatt, founding director of the Missing Middle Initiative at the University of Ottawa. Lebow said that when seniors do move, it's often because they're facing mobility or money issues — or both. He acknowledged there's a type of older Canadian who's keen to cash out on the family home, move into a smaller condo or apartment and take on a new lifestyle. But these are the unicorns, he said. In his work, it's common to come across seniors with three- or four-bedroom houses and no children at home to fill them anymore. More space than they need, in all likelihood, but no motivation to let it go. 'Moving is a traumatic experience,' Lebow said, whether it's the financial cost or the emotional toll of changing addresses and purging years of accumulated belongings. Beyond the typical home showings and paperwork, his job has ranged from rehoming a pet dog who couldn't be accommodated in a new abode to acting as de facto mediator when the prospect of mom or dad downsizing becomes a tense family conflict. Some of his clients are also facing cognitive decline, Lebow said, and only see their real estate agent as the guy trying to throw them out of their home. 'Believe me, I've been yelled at,' Lebow said. A Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. report from November 2023 also found that while there was a bit of a shift toward downsizing as Canadians age, that trend is still limited to a minority of older households. There's also minimal movement to condos or rental properties as Canadians age, the report found. Data from CMHC indicates the 'sell rate'— the proportion of Canadians older than 75 who are cashing out of the housing market — fell steadily between 1991 and 2021. Canadians are living longer and might also be in better financial shape as they get older, the agency said, letting them age in place. 'In order for them to leave, they would need something that met their needs as much. And often, that doesn't exist,' Moffatt said. Among the biggest factors motivating — or hindering — a move are cost and lifestyle, he said. Many seniors still want to be able to garden and host family over the holidays, he said, which makes a one-or-two bedroom condo in the downtown core unappealing. Moffatt said many older Canadians are keen to stay in their existing neighbourhoods, but smaller options are not readily available. Modern infill units set up for street-level access in older, residential neighbourhoods are the kinds of options many seniors need to give moving a second thought. The kind of sixplex-unit zoning recently up for debate at Toronto city council would create the kinds of units that would be right for many would-be downsizers, Moffatt noted. Toronto ultimately decided last month to broaden sixplex zoning to only some wards, leaving the others to opt in if they choose. Moving houses is also expensive when it comes to hiring movers, staging costs and the myriad of taxes and fees for real estate agents and lawyers. Measures to reduce the tax burden seniors face when moving can help to encourage more turnover of family homes, Moffatt said. The Liberal government tabled legislation in May to waive the federal GST on new homes, but it only applies to first-time homebuyers. Moffatt said it would 'absolutely' help improve supply in the housing market if that policy were extended to downsizing seniors. Such a move could sweeten the deal for seniors who are open to getting into a smaller condo unit but don't see the financial value in the move. That could spur a positive domino effect in the market: Moffatt explained that when move-up buyers are able to leave behind their starter homes to take on seniors' larger properties, that opens up more supply at the bottom of the housing ladder for first-time buyers. The Canadian Press reached out to Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne to ask if the federal government would consider expanding the GST rebate to seniors. A Finance Canada spokesperson did not mention seniors in their response, only saying in an email that the GST rebate is meant to help first-time buyers enter the housing market by lowering upfront costs to buying a home and spurring the construction of new housing across Canada. 'Incentivizing or reducing the barriers to building housing across the board benefits everyone,' Moffatt said. 'It is kind of an irony, but one of the best things we can do to help first-time homebuyers is to make it easier for seniors to move into new housing.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 25, 2025. Craig Lord, The Canadian Press
