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CHBA’s Municipal Benchmarking Study Shows Housing Affordability Has Worsened Due to Municipal Development Charges and Delays

OTTAWA – March 4, 2025 – The Canadian Homebuilders’ Association (CHBA) has released its 2024 Municipal Benchmarking Study that examines how local development processes, approvals, and charges impact housing affordability and housing supply in major housing markets across the country.

The study benchmarks municipalities based on three key development features: municipal fees charged on new residential development; length of time for residential development applications to move through the development application process; and features in place to help applicants navigate the development application process.

The previous edition of the study was conducted in 2022. This edition of the study provides further detail on how a municipality’s performance on these measures influences housing outcomes, including affordability and availability of housing for young families, and the total cost implications of these municipal processes and policies. The study also includes the indirect costs to the construction process that accumulate on a development as its application goes through the application process.

CHBA CEO Kevin Lee speaking about the Municipal Benchmarking Study on March 4. Watch the recording here.

“Development charges, delays, and inefficient processes at the municipal level directly impact the price of homes and how many are built. The purpose of this study is to facilitate dialogue with all levels of government, but particularly with municipal governments, on the effects of longer timelines, higher fees, and the level of efficiency of processes on housing affordability and outcomes. This report also offers insight into best practices that municipalities can adopt to help improve their housing affordability and supply. It also points to ways that the provincial and federal governments can continue to drive and support change at the municipal level,” said CHBA CEO Kevin Lee.

The report’s key findings include:

  • The cities of Edmonton, Halifax, and London rank highest overall.
  • When looking at the municipalities ranked in the bottom ten, seven are in Ontario, and two are British Columbia’s largest municipalities that were studied.
  • Municipal fees charged on new residential developments went up by an average of $27,500 for a low-rise home since the 2022 study, raising the new average in Canada for municipal fees in these cities to $82,600 (ranges from $8,700 to $195,000) at the time of the 2024 study.
  • Municipal fees charged on new residential developments went up by an average of
    $3,000 for a high-rise home since the 2022 study, raising the new average in Canada at the time of the 2024 study to $35,000 (ranges from roughly $1,600 to $134,400).
  • The 2022-2031 period is on track to be the decade with the fewest homes built per new persons added to the Canadian population since at least 1972.
  • A combination of a challenging economic backdrop and costly application processes are leading to fewer application submissions.
  • Application submissions have fallen significantly since peaking in 2021, in both Ontario and British Columbia. The decline has been driven by site-plan and/or development permit applications.
  • In contrast, more affordable markets, such as Alberta, have experienced an increase in application submissions.
  • Approval timelines improved marginally from the previous study but remain high, and in some cases the improvement is likely simply because of fewer applications being submitted.

“More needs to be done to address the housing crisis in Canada. The CHBA Municipal Benchmarking Study points out the barriers to getting more homes built and ways in which these barriers contribute to the cost of a new home,” stated Lee.

For more information on CHBA’s Municipal Benchmarking Study, please visit chba.ca/municipal-benchmarking/.

 

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MEDIA INQUIRIES
Journalists wishing to interview Kevin Lee, Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association, are encouraged to submit their request by email to media@chba.ca.

About the Canadian Home Builders’ Association
The Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) is the voice of the residential construction industry in Canada, representing some 8,500 member firms across the country. Our membership spans new home builders, renovators, developers, trade contractors, building material manufacturers and suppliers, lenders, and other professionals in the housing sector.