New research: Canada’s housing challenge is also an infrastructure challenge

Canada is growing, and that’s a good thing. Canada’s population is growing at its fastest rate since the 1950s and is expected to surpass 41 million people next year. As Canada grows, acute national challenges such as housing affordability and infrastructure renewal are more pressing than ever.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) estimates that 5.8 million housing units must be built by 2030 to restore affordability to 2004 levels—3.5 million above the 2.3 million units projected based on recent construction rates. New homes, however, are only part of the puzzle.

“Municipal infrastructure is a prerequisite to building more housing,” said Scott Pearce, Mayor of Gore, Quebec and President of FCM. “We cannot build new housing without putting in place the municipal water, wastewater, transportation and community infrastructure that provides the critical foundation for Canadians’ quality of life.”

New research commissioned by estimates that, on average across the country, the cost of the municipal infrastructure required to support new housing is in the range of $107,000 per home. When considering the 5.8 million homes that the federal and provincial governments are directing municipalities to approve by 2030, the scale of the gap could reach an equivalent of $600 billion in municipal infrastructure investment.

Source - https://fcm.ca/en/news-media/news-release/new-research-canadas-housing-challenge-also-infrastructure-challenge

Amazing work by Federation of Canadian Municipalities

I can add a bit more colour:

1. Housing costs are key area of focus - https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/housing-economists-great-idea-could-183702297.html
2. Technology continues to evolve around green building materials. There are still challenges as part of making green materials affordable and available to builders - https://utilitiesone.com/financing-strategies-for-green-construction-initiatives
3. Emergency, risk, and crisis management plans and reporting need to be factor into infrastructure including how best to mitigate the impact of climate change - https://medium.com/@paulyoung_81567/transforming-the-public-sector-in-canada-september-2023-bd7389ec6eb3
4. Economic development opportunities need to be push to rural areas including smaller communities. There needs to be more balance around how to support economic growth and prosperity to all communities - https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/people-are-leaving-canada-s-biggest-cities-amid-a-housing-crunch-1.1868764
5. Urban planning challenges - https://www.mammoet.com/resources/urban-plannings-top-three-challenges-and-how-to-beat-them/
6. Paramedic - https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/paul-young-055632b_your-ambulance-is-on-the-way-eta-65-minutes-activity-7132655953828552705-XKhm?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
7. Fire safety - https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/paul-young-055632b_older-homes-contributed-to-hawaii-fires-activity-7105933295854522369-kB22?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
8. Policing - https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/crime-and-polcing-canada-and-usaa
9. Public Sector governance model - https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/public-sector-policy-review-reporting-paul-young-faudc/
10. Data and AI strategy - https://www.unityit.com/top-it-challenges-in-local-government-and-how-managed-it-services-can-help-tackle-them/
11. Housing model is not a one size fits all

Urban?—?https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/paul-young-055632b_activity-7109163890856390656-peiw?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

North https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/challenges-facing-northern-communities-paul-young

Rural?—?https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/how-address-rural-affairs-planning-issues-paul-young

It is time for local government to undertake a compete policy review as part of looking a ways to streamline government, delivering program spending with value for money, tax fairness, economic growth, climate change, cybersecurity threats, public safety, healthcare, and education.

There needs to be coordination in terms of policy development that involves all levels of government and the private sector. The status quo no longer works for government.

Embracing technology as part of transforming government including adoption of a digital model, 3D building construction, geospatial technology to manage climate change threats, economic policies that drives economic growth and opportunities for everyone.

Paul Young CPA CGA

Senior Data and AI Thought Leader - Public Sector Policy Development and Public Sector Reporting

[email protected]

City of Woodstock, Ontario

City Of Hamilton

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Bonnie Crombie, MBA, ICD.D

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#publicsector #capitalspending #programspending #publicsafety #housing #economicgrowth #taxation #propertytax #userfees #roads #bridges #risk

#crisis #emergency #urbanplanning #ruralplanning #water #waste #emissions #publicgovernance #corporategovernance #recycling #biodiversity #land #facilities #greentransition