Are programs in search of a policy or a Canadian housing system?

Canada’s housing crisis did not emerge overnight, and it will not be solved by any single initiative.

Canada’s affordability crisis will not be solved by construction alone but must also recognize the shifting demands, needs, and income distributions unfolding, write Jim Dunn, Duncan Maclennan, and Steve Pomeroy.The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Opinion

BY JIM DUNN, DUNCAN MACLENNAN, STEVE POMEROY

January 28, 2026

In 1964, the Ontario Association of Housing Authorities delivered the withering critique that Canadian housing policy had become “production-oriented rather than distribution-oriented,” and focused on counting units rather than delivering outcomes meeting social need. Bu...

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