Shortfall in Canadian Rentals Could Quadruple by 2026
If you think the rental shortage is bad now, just wait a few years - and this doesn't just apply to Toronto and Vancouver - this is Canada-wide.
According to RBC's assistant chief economist, Robert Hogue: "Without a significant boost in rental stock, Canada's rental housing gap could exceed 120,000 (units) by 2026 - quadrupling the current deficit."
He also said that this would further tip the housing market into an imbalanced state and make it more difficult to reach the optimal vacancy rate of 3%. The report recommends the construction of 332,000 new rental units between now and 2026 to achieve a healthy and balanced rental market.
The report says that while turning condo units into rentals, converting commercial buildings (such as underutilized office towers) into rental housing or having homeowners add rental suites to their homes will all help increase supply, it's not enough to move the needle.
RBC Economics believes that purpose-built rentals hold the key to improving affordability and stability in the rental market. The purpose-built rental housing supply in Canada rose by 2.4% in 2022, the fastest pace since 2014, but not in cities that require it the most, such as Toronto and Montreal.
With over 10,000 pre-construction units cancelled or delayed in the GTA alone since Covid, and rental demand only continuing to increase as 500,000 new immigrants come into the country and countless international students, the situation for renters is only going to continue to get worse.
Full Article by Robert Hogue and Rachel Battaglia here:
https://thoughtleadership.rbc.com/proof-point-shortfall-in-canadian-rental-housing-could-quadruple-by-2026/
