The region has some of the nation's lowest population densities
A significant share of affordable housing in Canada’s territories, which has some of the nation’s lowest population densities, are semi-detached or single-detached homes, according to Statistics Canada.
These asset classes comprise approximately 60% of publicly owned social and affordable housing in Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. In contrast, more than 75% of public social and affordable housing units in the most populated provinces – namely, Ontario and Quebec – are apartment buildings, StatCan said.
Nunavut’s 5,438 public social and affordable housing units represented 46% of the 2021 Census dwelling counts in the territory. The Northwest Territories (14%) and Yukon (5%) have more modest numbers of homes classified as public social affordable housing units. In Ontario, only 2% of total 2021 dwellings were recognized as publicly-owned social and affordable housing.
Read more: StatCan on the current state of Indigenous housing
Earlier this year, some regions in Canada saw buyers of detached properties return to the market amid a substantial decline in prices, according to an analysis by RE/MAX Canada.
“While detached housing values show substantial year-over-year gains in the first half of 2022, successive increases to the Bank of Canada’s (BOC) overnight rate put a damper on price appreciation in the second quarter of the year,” RE/MAX said.
“Buyer sentiment changed virtually overnight as growing geopolitical concerns and spiralling inflation destabilized global markets, leaving the Bank of Canada little option but to raise interest rates,” added Christopher Alexander, president of RE/MAX Canada. “Those fast and furious incremental increases placed downward pressure on housing sales and prices, improving affordability on one hand, but eroding it on the other.”
