Canada’s “regular” houses are now worth millions. Can a new government fix this?

Before Donald Trump introduced tariffs on Canada and threatened his sovereignty, the Canadian psyche was consumed by another major issue: the availability of housing. With the election on the horizon, voters are wondering if there is any party to correct what has become a problem of generation.

Willow Yamauchi says she was just a “ordinary” man when she and her husband bought their family house in Vancouver 25 years ago for a modest amount of $ 275,000 – about $ 435,000 (312,000; 236 400 pounds).

Now the same property costs several million.

In the city in the northwest of Canada, Ms. Yamauchi’s story is as common as rainy weather. The average price of a separate house in Vancouver in 2000 was about $ 350,000. Now it’s more than C $ 2 million.

“My husband and I were very privileged to be able to buy the house when we did it,” the BBC 52-year-old writer says. As a member of the X generation, the terms were on its side.

The same thing, she said, cannot be said for young people who – without “Mom and Dad Bank” – are effectively evaluated from the city in which they grew up.

Vancouver, the cultural and economic center with a population of less than one million, is often regarded as the epicenter of Canada’s housing crisis. Report from Last year Chapman University in California listed it in the top In the world.

But this is not the only Canadian city where the cost of houses for many are unavailable. Canada as a whole has one of the highest income ratio to income among developed countries.

In 2021, the average income at home after taxes in Canada was about $ 88,000, according to national data. In the same year, the average housing price reached $ 713,500 – more than eight times higher. The gap is even larger in major cities such as Toronto and Vancouver.

For many Canadians housing is there One of the main questions in the federal electionUS President Donald Trump and his tariffs in Canada have only dimmed. To Trump’s concern about the availability of housing raised a conservative party that was invariably considered as the best to correct the crisis. Its success in pocket issues at all threatened to fall apart by the ruling liberal partyWhich has just recently catapult on top of the poll after the trade war with the United States.

Even with the Trump factor, this topic shows the federal leaders this week in two debates. During the French discussion, the moderator and journalist Patrice Roy showed figures showing how many housing prices increased in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver over the last decade.

“I am sure it will not be a surprise,” said Mr. Roy a federal leader before asking their plans as they will correct the crisis.

Polls show that young people are particularly worried about the housing crisis and what that means their future.

Speaking to the University of British Colombia (UBC) on Vancouver campus, it quickly became clear that the problem for many was in the mind.

Many said that they either decided to live at home during their studies to save on costs, or pay from $ 1,100 to $ 1500 for one room near campus, often in a house that is shared with five or her seeds.

Emily Chu, a 24-year-old girl, who is in the last semester in UBC, says she had to delay her studies for two years at one point to work when she struggled to afford to pay both training and rent.

Now she shares an apartment with her older brother, who works full -time and pays most rent. Ms He hear himself one of the happy.

As for the ownership of housing in the future, she says that “it is not even possible” for most people of her age. “Everyone believes that we can never own housing.”

Young professionals with well -paid work, like Margareta, are also evaluated. The 28-year-old director of non-profit resources based in Vancouver told the BBC that she considered the move to the neighboring province of Albert because of the decrease in the cost of life, despite the fact that lifelong and “devoted Vancouver”.

However, the Calgars, the largest city of Alberta, saw Housing prices increased by 15% in 2024 compared to the previous year As the city survived its The highest population growth rate Since 2001.

The root causes of Canada’s accessibility crisis are complex. One of the main issues is the delivery that has not lagged behind the increasing population, which increased the costs for both buyers and tenants.

The Canadian Corporation and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the National Housing Agency, believes that more than 3.8 million houses should be built in the next six years to resolve the lack.

However construction of new housing was much lower than this goalraising questions whether Canada will achieve this. Experts say the barriers for building a package include high cost and land deficit in urban areas, where most Canadians tend to live and work.

There are also regional barriers, such as law enforcement laws that prevent the construction of more affordable housing with greater density – including apartment buildings or multiplexes – in some neighborhoods.

Daniel Oleksyuk, co-founder of the propaganda group of abundant housing in Vancouver, says his city city is an example where more than half of the land is historically fixed for homes for single families.

“We kept almost all the land,” Mr. Olekuk in the BBC said. “There are whole quarters where everything you have is three to five million dollars.”

On the way of the company, every major federal party has nominated a plan to correct the crisis, and all to build as soon as possible.

Liberals led by Mark Karnya said their goal is to build 500,000 new houses a year with the help of a new government agency called Build Canada Homes, which will control and finance the construction of affordable housing in Canada is a plan similar to the one that is implemented after the Second World War.

Critics question whether the purpose of Carney is viable, as it will require more than twice as much as its current construction level.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives, led by Pierre Paylieur, have promised to link federal financing to housing, starting with the reward of cities that build more houses and fined those who block the construction-marked and burn approach.

Poilievre also promised to withdraw federal taxes on recently built houses, trying to reduce the costs of future buyers. Critics, however, say that this policy may have a minimal effect, as most homes purchased in Canada are reselling, not completely new.

Voters who talked to the BBC say that any plan to build housing in Canada.

While most of the housing is governed by provinces and cities, Ms Dovol notes that the federal government has the ability to “persuasively” and carry out measures that make it cheaper and easier to build across the country.

But others who are watching this issue carefully caveat that the proposed steps may not be enough.

Paul Kersha, Professor of State Policy in UBC and founder “Gyulation of Think Tank Generation Squeeze” claims that politicians could not turn to the elephant in the premises: the wealth of the elder owners caused the housing crisis.

“The political transaction has asked the young Canadians to move a higher rent and mortgage to protect these higher values ​​at home,” Kersha notes.

“None of the parties really call this tension of generations,” he says, adding that politicians may feel that there is a political risk in trying to change or stop that the wealth is increasing for the elderly Canadians – or even saying it aloud.

Professor Kersha calls it a “cultural problem” and says that parties should also focus on reducing the costs for young people as a way to ease this generation.

He claims that the correction of the housing crisis is as integral as the affirmation of sovereignty and well -being in the conditions of threats provided by Trump’s tariffs.

“The dysfunction that entered our housing market destroys the country’s well-being,” he says.

Until the correction is found, the ability of the home’s property still looks gloomy.

Ms Dumal states that, in addition to moving to another place, “you have to win the lottery or marry a multimillionaire. These are some options.”