CMHC exceeds 2023 housing goals despite economic headwinds

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) surpassed its 2023 housing targets despite difficult economic conditions and internal financial struggles.

According to its annual report, the crown corporation helped deliver 494,319 new, repaired or assisted living units through its programs in 2023, well ahead of its 350,000 target. That includes 153,708 affordable housing units, surpassing its goal of 120,000.

“Canada’s housing challenges are serious, complex and urgent, but they are solvable,” says CMHC’s acting president and CEO Michel Tremblay. “I am optimistic that our country is united in facing them with strength and resolve.”

According to the report, more than 48,000 housing units were purchased in Canada with the help of CMHC’s homeowner insurance products in 2023, while its multi-unit insurance products helped support the construction, refinance or purchase of more than 220,000.

At the end of the year, CMHC’s total insurance-in-force stood at $414 billion, an increase of $15 billion compared to 2022.

Economic and financial challenges

Despite surpassing its housing targets, the report acknowledges the economic hurdles CMHC faced in 2023, and the difficult road that lays ahead as interest rates remain high and new home construction continues to lag.

Last year, CMHC’s total income before taxes dropped by $168 million, or 9%, compared with 2022. The corporation pins the shortfall on a 111% decrease in its Assisted Housing Activity, which represented a $210 million loss. At the same time, the agency still managed to declare a dividend of just over a billion dollars using net income and retained earnings.

“Rising interest rates to tame inflation and labour shortages hindered the country’s ability to create much needed housing supply,” adds Tremblay. “Yet, even in these challenging times, we met our ambitious goals for 2023.”

Tremblay says those challenges hobbled the organization’s ability to reach its new home construction targets, delivering 241,735 in 2023, well below the 270,000 pace it maintained in 2021 and 2022.

“Canada needs an additional 3.5 million homes beyond what’s already on track to build,” he adds. “This number has become a rallying point and raised awareness at all levels of government and the private and non-profit sectors of the magnitude of the efforts needed to overcome current housing challenges and build a better future for everyone.”

The year of the Housing Accelerator Fund

This was also the year that CMHC accepted applications for the Government of Canada’s $4-billion Housing Accelerator Fund, which was announced in the 2022 budget.

In 2023, the program committed $2.5 billion to fast-track the construction of more than 68,000 housing units and support the construction of an additional 750,000 over the next decade.

By the end of the year, CMHC had signed 179 agreements with cities, towns and communities across the country to support ambitious and creative housing strategies.

Additional highlights

Some additional highlights from the report, as it pertains to the Government of Canada’s National Housing Strategy (NHS), include:

134,707 new housing units created or committed, and 272,169 housing units repaired or committed.

31% of funding committed towards the housing needs of women and children.

$6.13 billion allocated for the construction, repair and financial support of Indigenous and Northern housing with 23,858 units built, repaired or supported.

15,742 affordable units under the Rapid Housing Initiative for those experiencing or at risk of homelessness, including 6,239 for Indigenous people.

The reduction or elimination of housing need for more than 517,000 households to date.

Canada Greener Affordable Housing program launched, which will contribute to the decarbonization goals of Canada’s Green Buildings Strategy, to help meet net-zero emissions by 2050.