News & Insights

It would be nice if the solution to Canada’s housing crisis were as straightforward as ramping up supply. But it’s not. Happily, most Canadians seem to have a good grasp of what's needed to restore affordability.

The Prime Minister boldly acknowledging that house prices must stall strengthens all other housing policy commitments. Ambitious targets for building more homes do little good if we ignore the prices for which these homes will sell. Without deep subsidies funded by tax dollars, new market units will price in the rising land values that have already soared well beyond what most can afford to rent or buy with local earnings.

Gen Squeeze supporter Mary Peirson (MD, CCFP) recently wrote to us, “We have an ageist federal government – one that favours older Canadians and retirees in particular.” Here's one brave Baby Boomer's take on policies that prop up generational unfairness.

Talk of “youth issues” is distracting, drawing attention from the root causes of the problems, which have less to do with younger generations than their treatment by older ones as a result of past policy decisions. To begin to fix this, Ottawa should launch a general fairness council to investigate why Canada no longer works fairly for all generations.

Trading shorter work weeks for longer working lives would improve work-life balance for younger generations and ease the massive demographic squeeze on government budgets.

The scale of damage caused by extreme weather across Canada signals that paying personally to fight climate change is no longer just a political gesture – or even optional. The questions are how much we will pay – some now, or more later? And which generations will incur the largest burdens?

For people across Canada, there’s reason to be concerned about the trajectory Alberta just locked in for the next four years, especially when it comes to climate.

After a short pause triggered by interest rate hikes, home prices have returned to their relentless, decades-long upward trend, punishing the finances of young people, newcomers and most non-owners. The policy positions of the two main parties in Canada share responsibility for home prices having left behind local earnings. To rejuvenate the ability for young people to pay for housing, version 2.0 of the National Housing Strategy must focus more on the regular market, starting with a clear goal that has wide public support: Home prices should stall.

Gen Squeeze founder Dr. Paul Kershaw recently joined TVO's The Agenda with Steve Paikin for a discussion about how life milestone timelines are changing and even disappearing. If the standard life-stage achievements for graduation, career, marriage, children, homeowning, and retirement created predictability and comfort, what happens when people don't meet those marks?