FAQs

HART (Housing Assessment Resource Tools) is a UBC research project that provides free, evidence-based tools to help communities across Canada assess housing needs, identify suitable public land for non-profit housing, and develop property acquisition strategies.

Our three main tools help you:

• Measure housing need in your community using census data
• Identify well-located public land suitable for affordable housing development
• Explore acquisition strategies to preserve existing affordable housing

Use the Housing Needs Assessment Tool if you need to:

• Quantify housing need in your municipality
• Develop housing targets or strategies
• Understand which income groups need affordable housing

Use the Land Assessment Tool if you want to:

• Identify government-owned land for housing development
• Evaluate sites based on proximity to amenities
• Prioritize parcels for non-profit housing projects

Use the Property Acquisitions Tool to:

• Learn about acquisition strategies used globally
• Design an acquisition program for your municipality
• Preserve existing affordable rental housing

No specialized software is required. All HART tools are web-based and accessible through your browser.

While the tools are designed to be user-friendly, some familiarity with housing policy concepts is helpful. Government planning staff typically find the tools straightforward to use. If you need more detailed guidance, our eLearning course provides comprehensive training.

Our eLearning course provides in-depth training on how to use all three HART tools, understand the methodology behind them, and apply them to real-world housing planning scenarios.

The course is ideal for:

• Municipal planning staff conducting housing needs assessments
• Communities wanting to replicate HART’s land assessment methodology
• Anyone developing a comprehensive housing strategy

Learn more and register for eLearning →

HART was originally funded by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) through the Housing Supply Challenge (data-driven round).

We developed an initial prototype with the City of Kelowna, then expanded nationwide in the second funding round with 13 partner governments. Since then, HART has received additional grants from various sources to continue our work.

All communities can use HART tools for free. Our Housing Needs Assessment Tool is available nationwide, and the tools and data will remain freely accessible in perpetuity.

If you want more detailed collaboration—such as custom land assessments, specialized analysis, or implementation support—please contact us to discuss partnership opportunities.

Yes. HART data and outputs can be used in housing strategies, official community plans, and other municipal documents. We use Statistics Canada census data—the most reliable nationwide source—which is updated every five years.

When citing HART in your reports, please reference both the tool used and link to our website. All raw data and our Statistics Canada custom order are available in our dataverse.

We use a custom order of census data from Statistics Canada. The census provides the most reliable, nationwide, disaggregated data currently available in Canada.

Key details:

• Census data is collected every five years, allowing for regular updates
• Data is available for all Canadian communities
• Our custom order includes detailed breakdowns by income category and household type

All raw data and our custom Statistics Canada order are available in our dataverse. This includes the complete datasets used to generate the Housing Needs Assessment outputs.

You can download, analyze, and integrate this data into your own systems or reports.

This is a limitation of the census data source, not a choice by HART. Statistics Canada’s census does not currently include people experiencing homelessness in its calculation of core housing need.

Statistics Canada has announced plans to address this issue in the 2026 census. HART will incorporate this data once it becomes available.

Not currently. Neither the census nor CMHC have an established methodology for calculating suppressed demand—households who leave an area, or never move there, because of lack of adequate housing options.

This is a known limitation that likely means housing need is underestimated in high-cost regions. Addressing suppressed demand in a comparable and replicable way is a priority for future stages of the HART project.

Income categories provide more accurate and useful groupings for housing planning. They better reflect the actual shelter costs and housing needs of different populations.

Key advantages:

• Categories based on Area Median Household Income (AMHI) percentages allow for accurate comparisons between communities across Canada
• Makes it easier to track affordability changes over time
• Aligns with housing policy frameworks and funding program eligibility

The Housing Needs Assessment Tool provides household sizes (number of people per household), but you’ll need to take an additional step to convert these into unit sizes (number of bedrooms).

To determine unit sizes:

• Access household type data in our dataverse
• Apply the unit size conversion formula found in Appendix D of our methodology
• This will show you the mix of studio, 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom, and 3+ bedroom units needed

Data sources vary by province and territory because land ownership information is managed differently across Canada.

Examples:

• British Columbia: Province-wide land assessment data is public and free
• Ontario: Data must be purchased from a private company for limited use
• Alberta: Provincial land holdings data was unavailable

Most data was assembled from federal, provincial, and municipal government sources. Some is proprietary and cannot be displayed online, but we’ve provided detailed maps to our partner communities. Learn how to replicate this analysis through our eLearning course or contact us.

No, the raw data is not available for download. We signed data-sharing agreements with governments and institutions that prohibit public redistribution of the raw data.

However, much of the underlying data comes from open data portals that you can access directly. We’ve compiled a sample list of open data sources to help you get started.

Currency varies by data source. Land ownership data from property assessment authorities is generally reasonably up-to-date. Open data portal sources tend to be updated less frequently.

Important limitations: Land development can proceed faster than data updates, so some sites we identify as vacant may no longer be available. Additionally, our assessment doesn’t evaluate all factors needed to determine if a site is suitable for development.

Our goal: While we don’t have resources to comprehensively evaluate thousands of parcels, we hope our work provides a starting point for local experts and citizens to explore non-profit housing opportunities in their communities.

Detailed land assessment maps are only available for our 13 partner communities. There is no nationally available source of government-owned land data in Canada, so we built these maps through direct collaboration and data-sharing with partner governments.

If your community isn’t shown: You can replicate a similar land assessment using our eLearning course, which teaches the methodology step-by-step. Alternatively, contact us to discuss partnership opportunities.

For each partner community, we built a comprehensive inventory of government-owned land, then applied criteria developed in collaboration with local partners to identify candidate parcels.

Criteria vary by community based on data availability and local context, but generally fall into three categories:

• Parcel geometry: Minimum lot sizes; excludes long, narrow parcels likely to be corridors
• Current use: Excludes parks, agricultural land, utility structures, and waste/water treatment facilities
• Exclusion areas: Excludes designated natural areas, floodplains, and heritage districts

Important: These parcels are an initial estimate of potentially suitable sites. We have not performed full feasibility evaluations. Many factors must be considered before determining whether to develop a site. See our methodology for complete details.

We use the Proximity Measures Database from CMHC, which identifies key amenities that should be near housing. Each parcel receives a score based on its walking distance to these amenities.

Higher scores indicate: Better access to transit, services, employment, and community facilities—factors that improve quality of life and reduce reliance on cars.

In addition to vacant land, our Land Assessment Tool considers parcels with one- or two-storey buildings. These may be underutilized sites where buildings could be redeveloped to support housing on top of existing uses.

These co-development opportunities are efficient because services (water, sewer, power) are already connected. We use satellite imagery to estimate building heights.

Not necessarily. We deliberately include sites in zones that may not currently allow housing to take an expansive approach to what might be possible.

Why? Zoning can be changed, and enabling non-profit affordable housing is a compelling reason for municipalities to consider rezoning. These sites should be viewed as opportunities that may require planning amendments, not shovel-ready projects.

Land is often the most expensive component of housing development. Eliminating or reducing land costs significantly lowers the rent needed for a project to break even, making housing more affordable.

Governments have both the means and the responsibility: They own land on behalf of citizens and have a duty to provide housing for those unable to afford market prices. The National Housing Strategy (NHS) Act recognizes adequate housing as a fundamental human right under international law (International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights).

Non-profit organizations hold significant, well-located land—particularly faith communities—often with older buildings needing replacement and strong interest in supporting their communities.

We attempted to include non-profit-owned land in our assessment but couldn’t identify these lands comprehensively across jurisdictions. This remains an area for future development.

Land assessment maps require local partnerships. We rely on partner governments to understand local land-use regulations and provide access to proprietary ownership data. In most provinces, land ownership information is not openly available.

For communities outside our partnerships, we lack both the local context and access to necessary data. If you’re interested in conducting a similar assessment in your community, consult our methodology or contact us.

The ‘best’ strategy depends on your community’s specific resources and context. Different approaches require different legal powers, data infrastructure, or funding levels.

Our Property Acquisitions Tool helps you identify which strategies are feasible based on what your community currently has available. It’s designed to provide options rather than prescribe a one-size-fits-all solution.

Data constraints across Canada make this extremely challenging. While CMHC has per-unit rent data for purpose-built rental buildings, they don’t share it with researchers below the census tract level. Other public sources are limited.

Private data sources exist but are typically limited to newer buildings (which are often not affordable) or very limited geographic areas. We’re unable to create a comprehensive nationwide database with current available data.

The primary benefit is removing property from the speculative market, ensuring permanent affordability rather than temporary measures.

Additional advantages:

• Non-profit ownership gives control over future development, increasing the likelihood of truly affordable housing
• Can be achieved through partnerships with other parties while maintaining affordability goals
• Builds long-term community assets rather than short-term solutions

The database is global in scope with particular focus on North America (Canada and the United States). This focus reflects the federated nature of housing policy in both countries.

Coverage includes:

• Detailed analysis of municipal, provincial/state, and federal programs in Canada and the US
• Examples from Europe and Asia

Note: Very few acquisition strategies have been documented in smaller population centers, though there’s no reason they couldn’t be implemented successfully in these communities.

Funding accelerates success but isn’t the only strategy. Municipalities can launch effective acquisition strategies without guaranteed long-term funding.

Strategies that don’t require major capital:

• Pilot programs: Small-scale tests that generate data to support funding requests to higher levels of government
• Right of First Refusal: Give non-profits with capital priority access when strategic properties come on market
• Monitoring systems: Track at-risk properties to identify acquisition opportunities early

Find more detailed guidance in our How-To Guides.

Acquisition is fundamentally a land policy, not just a way to protect existing rental units. This broader perspective opens multiple possibilities.

Acquisition strategies can support:

• Land Back programs: Providing critical support for Indigenous housing developed by Indigenous communities
• Social housing sector development: Transforming non-profits from managers into powerful housing providers
• Social capital pools: Building community-controlled assets (particularly underdeveloped in Canada compared to the US)