On this page
This web page is intended to help you find information on urban housing policy. If you need help, please contact Nina Smart, Liaison Librarian, at () or . In addition, assistance with microdata queries is available at data-services@sfu.ca.
Government and association sites
Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM)
"a common voice for local government"
Start with their Housing strategy page for an overview of federal and provincial government initiatives - includes policy papers and resources
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)
Canada's national housing agency, including:
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA)
Think tank, with housing reports and studies such as:
- Upzoning Metro Vancouver’s Low-density Neighbourhoods for Housing Affordability (February 2022)
- How to build affordable rental housing in Vancouver (March 2021)
Canadian Rental Housing Index
"compiled using data from the 2016 long-form census, obtained through a Statistics Canada custom data request"
Developed by the BC Non-Profit Housing Association and VanCity
School of Cities (University of Toronto) with City Research Insights policy briefs
Centre for Urban Economics and Real Estate (UBC)
Discussion papers (scroll down past Research)
Statistics and microdata
Start with: What is the difference between Data and Statistics? Michigan State University
Statistics
Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA)
producing "accurate, up-to-date information and analysis on economic issues"
Housing Market Stats section includes Monthly Stats, national and regional statistics, and the National Price Map
Royal LePage Market Updates
Includes the quarterly House Price Survey, regional market/city surveys
Statista
A portal of downloadable statistics. Sample Search: Vancouver housing
Examples: Residential Housing in Canada (Dossier) and
Rental vacancy rates in British Columbia 2000 to 2022 (Graph based on CMHC information)
CHASS
(Computing in the Humanities and Social Sciences) Data Centre, University of Toronto
Census and financial information
Bank of Canada
"Canada's central bank"
Real Estate Market (based on StatsCan and CMHC tables)
Statistics Canada: Housing Statistics
including CMHC Housing Data Tables
example: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, average rents for areas with a population of 10,000 and over
(Table: 34-10-0133-01, formerly CANSIM 027-0040)
Related video: Housing Now: How New Census Data Will Shape the Canadian Housing Landscape UBC's Housing Research Collaborative
Canda Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)
Including:
- Housing markets, data and research
- Housing in Canada Online (HiCO)
- CMHC Data Tables such as Housing Market Indicators, Rental Market Data
Housing Data BC Housing
Homelessness
Canadian Observatory on Homelessness
"largest national research institute devoted to homelessness in Canada"
Their Homeless Hub includes Publications such as Making the Shift (2022) Youth Homelessness Social Innovation Lab report, and a section on Policy Briefs
2023 Homeless Count in Metro Vancouver
Homeless Counts (BC Housing) 2020 and 2021 listings by communities
Outside of Canada
International House Price Database
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
Sage Data Planet (formerly Data Planet)
"public, private and commercial sources of standardized and structured statistical data" many American resources - for instance Zillow Real Estate Metrics - but Canadian content being added constantly
Microdata
Abacus Data Network
Research data repository run by the British Columbia Research Libraries' Data Services
For Data and GIS questions send contact our data team at data-services@sfu.ca
Books, reports and government documents
Books
Still renovating: a history of Canadian social housing policy [print and online]
Houses and homes: housing for Canadians [print]
Canadian urban regions: trajectories of growth and change [print]
In defense of housing: the politics of crisis [print and online]
Building a co-operative community in public housing: the case of the Atkinson Housing Co-operative [print and online] Chapter 1 "Canadian Public Housing Policy and Programs"
Municipal-federal-provincial relations in Canada [print]
Gentrification [print and online]
Other recommended titles:
Neoliberal housing policy: an international perspective [print and online]
Remaking housing policy: an international study [print and online]
The Routledge handbook of housing policy and planning [online]
You can find more monographs in the Catalogue under Subjects such as:
Housing policy -- Canada
Housing policy -- British Columbia -- Vancouver
Housing policy -- Canada -- History
Housing -- Canada
Homelessness -- Canada
Gentrification
For Canadian and international government and think tank reports: Policy Commons
Further resources and tools
- Finding book reviews and writing book reviews (SFU Library)
- Giving effective presentations (SFU Student Learning Commons)
- Resources to help you improve your presentation skills (SFU Library)
- How to write an annotated bibliography (SFU Library)
- Writing services offered by the Research Commons including writing consultations and the Read Ahead service, which does cover policy-writing assignments
- Policy Writing (SFU Library Public Policy) Suggestions and examples for writing policy briefs and memos
Back to Urban Studies
Back to Public Policy