Housing analyses
report
Home ownership tax shelter
Published on Apr 24, 2023When home values rise, the wealth gained by home owners is sheltered from taxation. Housing wealth is treated very differently by our tax system than earnings from employment, or even stock market returns. Canadian home owners have gained an additional $3.2 trillion in housing wealth since the mid-1970s – so much of it tax free. This is why Gen Squeeze has long argued for a tax shift. Our new study does a deep dive into one piece of this shift: the home ownership tax shelter.
Straddling the Gap 2022: Celebrating Stalling Prices for Canadian Homes
Published on Nov 23, 2022Gen Squeeze’s latest housing affordability analysis of the gap between home prices and earnings confirms that our primary goal should be that home prices stall for many years ahead – or even continue to fall moderately.
poll
Poll: Majority of Canadians support a price on housing inequity
Published on Nov 14, 2022Our poll suggests many Canadians are open to changing a dysfunctional housing system that pits younger aspiring home owners working to overcome the chasm between home prices and earnings, against older established home owners who bought into the market decades ago and have watched as rising prices created wealth windfalls.
report
Ontario housing affordability report
Published on May 01, 2022Generation Squeeze has been busy crunching the latest data on housing prices in Canada, building on past work to expose the disconnect between home values and earnings from paid work. We started with Ontario, to give voters in that province the most up-to-date information on housing ahead of their June provincial election. Spoiler alert – what we’ve found isn’t pretty.
The Cheap Credit System
Published on Jan 26, 2022You might have heard us say that there’s no silver bullet to fix housing affordability - only silver buckshot. Housing supply is one piece of the puzzle, protections for renters is another, and so is tax policy. One-piece we haven’t talked about much yet is monetary policy. Yes, we know it’s not exactly sexy. But for anyone struggling to afford a home, or anyone concerned about whether their kids can afford a home, things like interest rates and inflation are important. We explain how our cheap credit system is contributing to Canada’s housing crisis.
A Price on Housing Inequity
Published on Jan 05, 2022Just like governments have introduced a price on pollution to lower our emissions and tackle climate change, this report recommends putting a modest price on housing inequity to apply downward pressure on the skyrocketing housing prices that have landed Canada in an affordability crisis. We can start down this path by adding a small surtax (starting at 0.2% and peaking at 1%) on homes valued over $1 million. The surtax would help to disrupt Canada’s addiction to high and rising home values by signalling that earnings from hard work shouldn’t be taxed more than wealth home owners gain from rising home prices while they sleep and watch TV.
solutions lab report
Housing wealth and generational inequity
Published on Jan 04, 2022Wealth and the Problem of Housing Inequity across Generations: A Solutions Lab examines how everyday Canadians are entangled in a web of public policies that motivate them to count on rising home prices to gain wealth – even though these same high prices make it harder and harder for those who follow to afford a home at all. When home prices rise faster than the incomes of Canadians, we erode affordability. A good home should be in reach for what hard work can earn.
toolkit
Regulating short term rentals
Published on Nov 18, 2020In 2020 Generation Squeeze and Third Space Planning wrote a comprehensive guide to help communities design effective short-term rental regulations or improve existing approaches.
report
Straddling the Gap 2020
Published on Oct 17, 2020In October 2020, Gen Squeeze released new data showing that British Columbia remains the worst economy in Canada when it comes to earning enough to cover one of the biggest costs of living – housing. This means BC’s economy is especially problematic for young people, newcomers and others who struggle to afford housing here.
report
Straddling the Gap 2019
Published on Jun 12, 2019It's not news that the cost of buying a home in many parts of Canada is a struggle for younger people. Average home prices in Canada are more than double what is affordable for younger Canadians, according to research we released that illustrates the state of housing affordability in every province and major cities within them.
Building Housing Common Ground
Published on Dec 01, 2017If you get a bunch of housing sector leaders in a room for a day, what can they all agree on? To find out, we convened a diverse mix of 48 housing experts from Metro Vancouver, Victoria and Toronto. We wanted to find the common ground principles that tie diverse interests together and find a way to reform our housing system from there.
Code Red: Rethinking Canadian Housing Policy
Published on May 25, 2016With the release of this report, Gen Squeeze launched its CODE RED Campaign, which seeks to rein in housing costs for both renters and prospective owners. The report is a wake-up call, shining a spotlight on the epic struggle facing many younger residents in Metro Vancouver. We hope other jurisdictions can learn from, and avoid the crisis affecting this part of the country.
