Tenants in public, non-profit, and co-op housing fare better in meeting basic needs and rent payments
A recent study has found that social and non-market housing options – such as co-ops, non-profits, and government-owned units – play a critical role in supporting the economic well-being of Canadian renters, especially in the post-pandemic era marked by inflation, housing shortages, and rising interest rates.
Households living in public housing, co-ops, and non-profit housing reported greater ability to meet basic needs like food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. Renters in the private market who received rent supplements, a subsidy tying rent to 25–30% of household income, also showed improved economic outcomes.
By contrast, cash housing allowances, such as those provided through the Canada Housing Benefit, did not show a statistically significant improvement in economic well-being.
“These findings point to the stabilizing role of social housing and targeted financial support in helping vulnerable households avoid cycles of poverty and displacement,” the study noted.
Researchers Xavier Leloup, Catherine Leviten-Reid, Nazeem Muhajarine, Kristen Desjarlais-deKlerk, and Laurence Simard based their findings on the first cycle of the 2018 Canadian Housing Survey, covering all provinces, the Yukon, and Nunavut. The study focused on working-age households (ages 15 to 65) and used statistical modeling to assess how different types of rental housing affect financial stability.
The ability to pay rent on time was also a key indicator of economic health. Vulnerable groups (including one-person households, single parents, Indigenous and LGBTQ+ individuals, and those with chronic illnesses or histories of homelessness) were more likely to miss rent payments.
However, tenants in non-profit or public housing, or those receiving rent supplements, were significantly less likely to delay or miss rent.
The findings come as Canada’s federal government eyes a structural revamp of its housing strategy, including the creation of a new Crown corporation, Build Canada Homes, to develop long-term social housing.
The report emphasizes that Canada needs more non-market housing models where rents are tied to income and funded sustainably over the long term.
Read next: Housing group pushes for 15-year plan to expand social housing in Quebec
“It is time to return to an ambitious social housing model to address the affordability crisis and ensure the economic well-being of all tenants,” the study concluded.
With Canada now offering less social housing than it did 30 years ago, the report reinforces calls from industry and advocacy groups for scaled-up development of affordable, stable rental housing to safeguard financial security for low-income renters.
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