A coalition of housing experts, housing rights advocates, and industry representatives has called on the government to review its policies to build more rental units.

This is the recommendation of a new report titled "A Multi-Sector Approach to Ending the Rental Housing Crisis in Canada," co-authored by Mike Moffat, the founding director of the PLACE Centre at the Smart Prosperity Institute, Tim Richter, the president and CEO of the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness, and Michael Brooks, the director of REALPAC, a group representing 130 real estate companies.

The report, published on August 15, presents a series of recommendations to address the shortage of rental housing in Canada’s largest cities. It also notes that tenant populations and rental prices in Canada have continued to rise in recent years.

Additionally, the rising cost of living has made it nearly impossible to find affordable rental units for individuals earning minimum wage. This trend is evident across the country, according to a study conducted by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), Canada needs to build 5.8 million new homes, including 2 million rental units, by 2030 to address housing affordability.

One of the main recommendations of the report, co-authored by Mike Moffat, Tim Richter, and Michael Brooks, calls on the federal government to take a leadership and coordinating role with provinces, territories, and municipalities to ensure more rental units are built.

For his part, Richter stated that the task is too big for any one government or sector to handle alone, so we hope the federal government will take a leadership role and join us in having this conversation.

Specifically, the report urges Ottawa to create a national workforce strategy, in collaboration with other levels of government, unions, and educational institutions, to ensure Canada has enough skilled labor to build the number of units needed to meet tenants' needs.

It also calls for financial reforms to ensure that rental units are viable for investors and builders, as Brooks noted that industry costs have risen to a level where the number of rental unit construction projects is likely to decline significantly in the coming years.

Some of the financial solutions proposed in the report include creating a tax credit for developers who invest in community rental units and deferring capital gains tax when selling a rental housing project and reinvesting the proceeds into building more rental units.

The report also urges the government to provide fixed-rate financing through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation or the Canada Infrastructure Bank for the construction of rental housing.

To assist low-income tenants, the report suggests a housing tax benefit specifically for families that spend more than 30% of their income on rent.

The report includes recommendations that will be supported by federal opposition parties.

In a related context, rents in Canada rose by more than 18% in 2022, making it difficult for some Canadians to find housing.