OTTAWA – A new analysis from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. shows housing affordability challenges have eased in recent years but still remain at historic highs, and have even spread to other major cities.
The national housing agency says affordability issues are no longer limited to Toronto and Vancouver, and have spread to other major cities like Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax.
CMHC says its newly released housing affordability composite index provides a more comprehensive picture of affordability and looks at factors like whether incomes are keeping up with the cost of housing, if supply can meet demand, and if households will have income leftover after paying for essentials.
CMHC chief economist Mathieu Laberge says affordability has started to recover slightly since 2023.
He also says renters have experienced more stable conditions over the past two years.
Going forward, CMHC says it will regularly update its housing affordability composite index that analyzes trends in seven Canadian cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 25, 2026.
