Changes in the Affordability of Housing in Canadian and American Cities, 2006–2016 is a new study that measures changes in housing affordability—shelter costs as a share of income—over a 10-year period in 396 cities in Canada and the United States. Crucially, while affordability increased by an average of 10.5 per cent for the 344 American metropolitan areas included in the analysis, housing affordability actually decreased by 7.6 per cent, on average, in the 52 Canadian metropolitan areas over the same 10-year period. Put differently, while the majority of U.S. cities included in the analysis simultaneously experienced population and income growth and increasing housing affordability, Canada’s largest cities—while experiencing similar population and income growth—became less affordable to live in.
