Housing affordability: the perfect wedge
Municipal Housing Starts Opinion Research
Download (PDF)A recent poll by Political Intelligence shows that a majority would support tying federal funding for municipalities to the number of housing starts. (67%) This includes nearly 3 in 4 who would support such a policy strongly.
When asked “Would you support a plan that ties federal funding to a municipality's housing starts, requiring high growth municipalities to increase new housing by 15% per year?” just 17% said they were either somewhat or strongly opposed.
Support for tying municipal funding in this way is above the majority level in all demographics and regions of Canada. Highest among those living in Quebec (75.7%) and lowest in the Prairies (50.7%).
The proposal also receives support across partisan lines, making housing one of the few issues that cross party lines.
“To be clear, this is the Pierre Poilievre housing strategy we asked about. When it was first proposed, this plan was heavily criticized by other parties. After years of rising housing costs and other affordability concerns, it appears Mr. Poilievre and his team have found the perfect wedge - in fact, NDP and Liberal voters now support this in greater numbers than Conservatives. That is smart politics.” — Emrys Graefe, managing partner of Political Intelligence.
“It’s ironic that these results suggest Liberal & NDP supporters now embrace a plan to tie municipal funding to housing starts, that is unheard of.” — Quito Maggi, Chairman & CEO of Political Intelligence.
Our Methodology
The analysis in this report is based on results of a survey conducted from Thursday, January 25th to Friday, January 26th, 2024, among a sample of 947 adults, 18 years of age or older, living in Canada. The survey was conducted using automated telephone interviews (Smart IVR).
The survey is intended to represent the voting population in Canada. The margin of error for the poll is +/- 3.2% at the 95% confidence level. Margins of error are higher in each subsample.
This poll was commissioned by and is the exclusive property of Political Intelligence. Any reproduction, in whole or in part of this report or the data contained herein is expressly prohibited without written authorization by Political Intelligence.
About Political Intelligence
Political Intelligence is a public affairs and government relations firm based in Ottawa, Canada. Political Intelligence represents clients to Municipal, Provincial and Federal Governments across a growing number of practice areas including mental health, FinTech, Housing, Energy and Indigenous affairs.
