Verdict: Feds to blame for housing woes

August 31, 2023



Three recent and separate national surveys conducted by different polling companies suggest a large proportion of Canadians believe the federal government is the leading factor for Canada’s current housing affordability and supply crisis.
A Leger survey, in partnership with Canadian Press, found 40 per cent of Canadians blame the federal government for the housing crisis, followed by 32 per cent who put the onus on their provincial government, and 6 per cent on their municipal government.
Meanwhile the Pallas Data survey found that more Canadians overall blame the federal government for the housing crisis. Nearly four-in-10 respondents named the federal government, followed by their provincial government (18.5 per cent), the Bank of Canada’s policy interest rates (9.0 per cent), municipal governments (7.3 per cent), and banks and their mortgage policies (7.1 per cent).
Alberta residents are most likely to blame the federal government, followed by residents in the Prairie provinces, Ontario, British Columbia, the Atlantic provinces and Quebec.
A third survey by Nanos, in partnership with Bloomberg, found 68 per cent of respondents believe the federal government’s elevated immigration targets will have a negative impact on the cost of housing, with residents in the Prairie provinces (70 per cent) most likely to believe this, followed by Quebec (69 per cent), Ontario (68 per cent), the Atlantic provinces (66 per cent), and British Columbia (64 per cent).
“The old truism that perception is reality applies here. Housing is indeed a provincial responsibility, but Canadians think that the federal government is responsible for the crisis,” said Joseph Angolano, founder and CEO of Pallas Data.