The Housing Needs Assessment data produced by HART’s HNA Tool
The Housing Assessment Resource Tools (HART) project is funded by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) to research solutions to Canada’s Housing Crisis. We offer comprehensive, equity-focused solutions to the unique problems faced by communities of all shapes and sizes cross-country. The goal of the project is to develop standardized, replicable and sustainable tools, along with associated public information and training, to improve the quality of housing supply decision-making at all levels of government across Canada.
The following data, which was compiled using our Housing Needs Assessment Tool, represents information about Housing Need in the Metro Vancouver area using 2016 data from Statistics Canada. 2021 data will be published in 2023.
Key findings
There is an existing deficit of 149,885 homes costing under $1,460/month
36% of single mother-led households are in Core Housing Need
Almost 100% of median income households (maximum affordable monthly shelter cost of $2,190/month) require space for three or more people
Area Median Household Income (AMHI) Categories and Shelter Costs (2016)
This table shows the income categories used by the HART project, and the characteristics of each group, including their income range and affordable shelter cost.
Percent of Households in Core Housing Need, by Household Income Category (2016)
This graph shows the total proportion of households and number of households that were in core housing need in Metro Vancouver according to the 2016 census data. For example, this chart shows that over 75% of households in the “Very Low Income” category (maximum affordable monthly shelter cost is $365) were in Core Housing Need, which is 18,895 households.
Percent of Household Size Categories in Core Housing Need, by Area Median Household Income (AMHI) (2016)
This graph shows the breakdown of household size for households in core housing need. For example, this graph shows that of Median Income households (maximum affordable monthly shelter cost $2,190) in core housing need, nearly 100% of households had three or more people.
Total Affordable Housing Deficit (2016)
This table shows the 2016 existing housing deficit at each income category level. For example, in 2016 there was a deficit of 88,990 homes that were affordable to Low Income households. This number does not necessarily indicate a lack of homes, but a lack of homes at or below the maximum affordable shelter cost for this income category.
Percentage of Households (HHs) in Core Housing Need, by Priority Population (2016)
This graph shows the proportion and number of marginalized households in core housing need against the proportion of all households in core housing need. For example, over 35% of Single mother-led households (a total of 22,285 households) were in Core Housing Need, compared to the 18% of all households in the Metro Vancouver Area. Please note that this graph represents the top three populations by proportion; the full HART needs assessment includes 12 priority populations identified and measured in the census.
For more information about the HART HNA data, read our FAQ.
