A recent opinion poll from the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) sheds light on the country’s housing crisis and the federal policies needed to restore confidence in the market.

In a December 2025 Abacus Data survey of 3,000 Canadians, 88 per cent of those under age 45 said they would like to own a home, but only 29 per cent feel confident they will be able to afford one.

“Homeownership is not just financially important – the data proves that it is still very emotionally central to Canadians, who see the housing crisis as a systemic failure affecting the middle class as much as low-income households,” said David Coletto, CEO of Abacus Data.

According to the poll, two-thirds of respondents believe the federal government is most responsible for the housing affordability crisis, but only 17 per cent feel that current policy plans will be enough to address the issue.

One policy, the government’s Build Canada Homes initiative, focuses on building social housing on public lands. However, this strategy only accounts for about one per cent of the new housing construction needed.

“Canadians recognize that much more policy action is required on homeownership, which is a cornerstone of the Canadian middle-class that is slipping away,” said CHBA CEO Kevin Lee. “But it doesn’t have to be that way. What’s more, we have a major housing supply crisis that’s a big cause of the affordability challenge, and CMHC says that to double housing starts, 75 percent of those starts will have to be homes for ownership. We can’t get there without major policy change from the federal government to bring back the dream of homeownership, and the other levels of government have a big part to play, too.”

The promised GST relief for first-time buyers has yet to pass through the Senate in Bill C-4. This delay has kept buyers on the sidelines and further slowed housing starts. In addition to passing Bill C-4, the CHBA calls for other measures that boost housing affordability and supply. Most survey respondents also support these steps:

• Broadening the GST relief to all buyers of new homes and extending it to renovations that add new housing units, such as secondary suites and accessory dwelling units;
• Using all levers available to encourage municipalities to reduce skyrocketing development charges that are ultimately paid for by buyers of new homes; and
• Fixing the stress test by eliminating it on uninsured mortgages and making it dynamic on insured mortgages. This will allow well-qualified buyers who can afford a home back into the market.

“There are real solutions to Canada’s housing crisis, and Canadians need smart federal policies that focus on both homeownership and social housing,” said Lee. “The federal government has a leading role to play, and Canadians expect them to step up.”