The Canadian Housing Survey was launched in 2018 as part of Canada’s National Housing Strategy. It gives researchers and the public new insights into Canada’s housing market.
It is thanks the the Canadian Housing Survey that we know that the eviction rate in British Columbia is higher than in any other province. The article linked to this post takes a closer look at this during the period 2018 to 2021.
Here are a few highlights:
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- The gap in eviction rates between British Columbia and other provinces is solely related to no-fault evictions (when an owner is selling the property or the owner is taking over the unit for their own use or the owner plans to renovate or demolish the property)
- No-fault evictions comprise the vast majority of evictions in all provinces.
- Evictions continued in all provinces during 2020, despite eviction moratoriums and other strategies to prevent them as part of COVID public health measures.
- Tenants in private rental housing across the country reported significantly lower levels of mental and physical health compared to tenants living in social housing.
Digging into the data enables the researchers to identify gaps in the data and to recommend areas for further investigation. Here are two examples:
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- There are significant gaps in the data from the Canada’s three northern territories where information in the data set has been suppressed. To get around this problem, the researchers recommend over-sampling the northern population.
- The survey responses suggest that social housing could be a health measure. This could be explored through further investigation about the health differences between tenants in private rental housing and social housing.
The study will be of particular interest to Canadian readers. Researchers in other jurisdictions may find the methods in this study useful.
You can read the full study at the University of British Columbia: Estimating No-Fault Evictions In Canada: Understanding BC’S Disproportionate Eviction Rate In The 2021 Canadian Housing Survey
