Canada is one among few Western countries to depend nearly entirely on market mechanisms for its housing stock. About 95 percent of Canadian households currently obtain their housing through the open market. However, households living in poverty with poor social safety nets don’t have enough spending power to influence private developers, which means the housing markets tend not to respond to their needs.
“Defining ‘Affordable’,” Katrya Bolger, House Divided: How the Missing Middle Can Solve Toronto’s Affordability Crisis, edited by Alex Bozikovic et. al.
