Canada among the most unaffordable housing markets in the world
A new report has dubbed Canada one of the least affordable housing markets globally.
The 2026 edition of the Demographia International Housing Affordability report was published last week. It comes from the Chapman Center for Demographics and Policy and the New California Coalition, and was co-published by the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, an independent Canadian public policy think tank based in Western Canada.
The annual report assesses housing affordability in 96 major markets across eight countries ā Canada, Australia, China, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This edition covers the third quarter of 2025, which is July through September.
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The housing markets are rated from affordable to impossibly unaffordable based on their median multiple, which is the median house prices divided by median household income.
The report classifies housing markets with a median multiple of three or less as affordable, 3.1 to four as moderately unaffordable, 4.1 to five as seriously unaffordable, 5.1 to 8.9 as severely unaffordable, and nine or higher as impossibly unaffordable.
So, where do housing markets in Canada land? According to the report, four of the six markets in the True North are rated severely unaffordable or impossibly unaffordable.
Demographia International Housing Affordability
“There has been a considerable loss of housing affordability in Canada since the mid-2000s, especially in the Vancouver and Toronto markets,” it reads.
In the report’s ranking, Vancouver is the least affordable housing market in Canada and the world, placing 92nd with an impossibly unaffordable median multiple of 10.8. It’s more unaffordable than most markets except for Hong Kong, Sydney, San Jose, and Adelaide.
“Vancouver has been among the five least affordable major markets in each of the last 18 years,” reads the report.
The report also notes that a recent B.C. Supreme Court decision could reduce new housing supply and sales in the Vancouver market, which it says will likely “worsen housing affordability in this already exceedingly expensive metropolitan area.”
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Toronto is the second least affordable housing market in Canada, ranking at 81 globally, with a severely unaffordable median multiple of 7.6.
And severely unaffordable housing has spread to smaller markets in Ontario, including Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo, Brantford, London, and Guelph. This is due to people moving out of Toronto seeking more affordable housing markets outside of the city.
Montreal is also severely unaffordable, with a median multiple of 5.8. Ottawa and Calgary are considered seriously unaffordable, with median multiples of 5 and 4.3.
One place in Canada does stand out for having one of the most affordable housing markets nationally and internationally. Edmonton tied with three other markets (Oklahoma City, Rochester, and St. Louis) for the third-best housing affordability, with a median multiple of 3.6.
“Edmonton has the highest-ranking housing affordability ranking ever achieved by a major market outside the United States in the history of Demographia International Housing Affordability,” reads the report.
Check out the full report.
With files from Kendall Collins and Amir Ali