Vancouver, Toronto among least affordable cities in the world; no Canadian market rated affordable
WINNIPEG – TheNewswire - May 15, 2025 — Canada’s housing affordability crisis is worsening, with all six of its major markets rated unaffordable, according to the Demographia International Housing Affordability 2025 report released today.
The international report, authored by Wendell Cox and published by the Urban Reform Institute and the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, analyzes 95 major housing markets in eight countries using the “median multiple” — the ratio of median house prices to gross median household income — to assess affordability. A ratio of 3.0 or below is considered affordable.
Canada’s national median multiple now stands at 5.4, placing the country in the “severely unaffordable” category.
Vancouver (11.8) ranks as the fourth least affordable market globally, behind only Hong Kong (14.4), Sydney (13.8) and San Jose (12.1), and is considered "impossibly unaffordable." Toronto (8.4) and Montreal (5.8) are classified as severely unaffordable.
Calgary (4.8) and Ottawa-Gatineau (5.0) fall into the seriously unaffordable range. Only Edmonton (3.7) is considered moderately unaffordable, making it the most affordable of the six Canadian markets surveyed.
The report draws a strong link between housing unaffordability and land-use policies such as greenbelts, urban growth boundaries and densification mandates, particularly in British Columbia and Ontario.
"What was once a nation of middle-class homeowners is becoming a country where homeownership is out of reach for the average family," said Wendell Cox. "The evidence shows a direct link between restrictive land-use policies and skyrocketing housing prices."
The report also highlights a concerning spillover effect: as prices rise in Vancouver and Toronto, affordability is deteriorating in smaller regional centres such as Kelowna, Chilliwack, London and Guelph, driven by migration from unaffordable urban cores.
Between 2019 and 2023, Canada's largest metro areas experienced a net loss of nearly 275,000 domestic migrants, while smaller markets gained population — a trend the report calls “counterurbanization.”
"Densification alone won’t solve the crisis," the report concludes. "Canada needs more housing where people want to live — including detached homes at the urban fringe."
The Demographia International Housing Affordability 2025 report is produced by the Urban Reform Institute and the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.
Media contact:
Wendell Cox
Demographia
demographia@gmx.com
David Leis
Vice-President
Frontier Centre for Public Policy
david.leis@fcpp.org
About the Frontier Centre for Public Policy
The Frontier Centre for Public Policy is an independent Canadian think-tank that conducts research and analysis on public policy issues, including energy, economics and governance.
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