Author Description

This document identifies issues & trends related to affordable housing & urbanization, and presents an overview of Canadian affordable housing policies. It begins with an introduction on such issues as how housing affordability is defined, factors affecting the ability to pay for housing, the populations at risk from lack of affordable housing, and the current state of housing affordability in Canada. It then discusses the impacts (including costs & benefits) of urban growth and presents a statistical analysis of the relationship between urban growth & housing affordability. Finally, it identifies the key challenges that all levels of Canadian government face in addressing affordable housing needs in Canada's cities. The appendix contains an overview of provincial affordable housing policy and of municipal housing policy & programs in western Canadian cities.