9 - Housing Policy in Canada1

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the housing policy in Canada. It provides an overview of the federal and provincial housing programs. The involvement of the federal government in housing matters since 1954 can be usefully divided into three periods. These periods can be characterized according to the main preoccupation of government or according to the public's attitude to the role of government. The first period from 1954–1963 was concerned with stabilization and growth; the second period from 1964–1977, with equity and affordability; and the third period from 1978–1983, with stagflation and restraint. Most of the federal programs were shared-cost programs, with both Ottawa and the provinces contributing loans and/or grants. Sometimes, a province entered into a special agreement with Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation to tailor the program to provincial priorities. The provinces first began to participate actively in housing policy under the 1964 amendments to the National Housing Act (NHA). To exploit the new NHA terms, provincial governments created special agencies. The first to be created was the Ontario Housing Corporation in 1964, which immediately embarked on an ambitious public housing program. The establishment of these agencies was important because a body of administrative and technical skills was developed that would permit the launching of independent provincial programs.