10/12/2026
Canada Needs More Homes to Sustain Affordability
As someone who’s spent over three decades guiding buyers and sellers in Winnipeg, I keep a close eye on the bigger picture that shapes our local market. While we’ve seen some welcome improvements in affordability, the reality is that these gains may be short-lived. Recent estimates show Canada needs 417,000 to 469,000 new housing starts each year to bring affordability back to where it was before the pandemic—by 2036. That’s a tall order, and unfortunately, the supply gap isn’t really shrinking.
Most of the new homes being built in major Canadian markets are rentals, and construction of ownership-focused properties has notably slowed. Even as rentals help balance things out, owning a home remains a key goal for so many of my clients. With population growth easing off, it’s helped a bit on the affordability front, but the slowdown in construction is happening even faster than any drop in demand. That means if demand picks up later—and it likely will—we could find ourselves in an even tighter spot.
My takeaway, and what I share with clients every day: protecting home affordability in our communities means keeping ownership housing construction moving forward now, not waiting for a surge in demand to catch us off guard. It’s something I’ll continue to watch closely as I help families make informed choices in Winnipeg’s changing market.
