Modernizing Housing Data Initiative

As the Government of Canada works towards solving Canada's housing crisis, the necessity of timely, detailed and relevant housing data is clear to support evidence-based policy and program development.

The Modernizing Housing Data (MHD) Initiative aims to modernize and enhance the collection and dissemination of housing data.

Announced in Budget 2024 to support a data-driven response to the housing crisis, the MHD Initiative is one of the measures the federal government is taking to address housing challenges. It will enable better monitoring and reporting of federal initiatives, such as Build Canada Homes, which aims to build affordable homes, support builders with financing, and encourage innovative building methods.

Having improved data and tools will allow for a better understanding of current challenges and the development of data-driven responses. 

Partnership

As a collaboration between Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (HICC), Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), and Statistics Canada, the MHD Initiative will generate timely and granular data that will inform housing policy and program development.

Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada

As the department responsible for the design and development of federal housing policy and programs, HICC is creating a model integrating data on land use, housing supply, demographics, and economic variables. This will help simulate and predict how policies and programs impact housing supply, access and affordability across Canada, but also to better inform policy and program development going forward.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

Under the National Housing Act, CMHC is responsible for producing data on residential construction markets. CMHC is expanding the scope of its Starts and Completions Survey to provide coverage for smaller municipalities of key variables such as housing completions, newly completed and sold units, and price of newly built units. Data will now also be collected on bedroom counts in newly built apartment units, as well as communal apartment living units. In addition, statistics will be produced on the length of time between issuance of a building permit to time of housing start, and a tool will be developed to produce standardized data on development fees and charges levied by municipalities across the country.

Statistics Canada

As the national statistical agency producing a variety of housing data, Statistics Canada is expanding the Canadian Housing Statistics Program to produce annual data on dwellings. These data provide new characteristics and ownership information on housing stock, improving our understanding of Canada's housing market. Statistics Canada will also use occupancy permit data to measure the number of completed housing units available for occupation. These initiatives will increase regional granularity and provide insight into development and construction activity.