Canada’s house prices doubled since 2005 – and supply fell short
He cautioned that “although slower population growth has brought some improvements in affordability, new construction is slowing faster than demand” and that the “key risk now is Canada underbuilds during this softer market and finds itself further short of housing when demand strengthens again.”
The supply equation that fell short
Canada’s housing stock per capita compounds the pricing pressure. The country has just 426 dwellings per 1,000 inhabitants — below the OECD average of 468 and well behind France (591), Finland (574), and Germany (518).
Countries such as Norway and Sweden, which also absorbed strong population growth over the period, entered that demand cycle with proportionately larger housing buffers.
Canada’s population grew 29% between 2005 and 2025, a pace comparable to Ireland and New Zealand, yet real prices climbed far more steeply.
Annual completions accounted for only 1.2% of existing stock in 2011 and 1.3% by 2022, per OECD Affordable Housing Database data cited by CMHC, compared with Australia’s consistent rate of approximately 1.7%.
