A recent poll by Leger surveyed nearly 1,600 Canadians about their perceptions of increasing rental costs, housing supply issues, and potential government actions to help improve the rental situation in Canada. From August 18 to 20, 2023, respondents aged 18 years and older completed the survey using Leger’s LEO online panel. The results were weighted according to age, gender, mother tongue, region, education and presence of children in the household in order to ensure a representative sample of the Canadian population.
Key takeaways:
• Throughout the past couple of months, 55% of respondents said they were worried about being able to pay their upcoming rent or mortgage. This proportion rose even higher among those between the ages of 18 and 34 (66%), Albertans (67%), and British Columbians (68%).
• 95% of respondents said they think increasing rental costs and the lack of affordable rental homes in Canada is a serious problem (66% said “very serious” and 28% said “somewhat serious”).
• 15% of the homeowner respondents said their primary residence does have rental space available that they are not currently renting; the same proportion said they could turn part of their space into something rentable but have not yet done so.
• 40% of all the respondents said they blame the federal government for the housing crisis, 32% said their provincial government, and 6% said their municipal government. Homeowners are more likely to blame the federal government (43% vs 35% among renters), while renters are more likely to blame their provincial government (37%).
The majority of respondents said they support all the initiatives mentioned in the survey that governments could implement to help address the rental situation. The strongest support among the six ideas tested went to:
- providing incentives for developers (79%)
- government-supplied affordable housing (79%)
- tighter rent control (77%)
Disincentives for short-term rentals were least supported idea tested (56%) .
Click here for more: The Housing Crisis in Canada – Leger (leger360.com)
