National housing supply strategies in the 2020s: comparing Australian and Canadian approaches

Following the change of government in 2022, Australia’s Federal administration has strived to restore a pro-active national leadership role in housing policy. The stated imperative to expand housing supply by all means possible has formed a central theme. In parallel, and facing similar calls for stronger action to address housing affordability stress, Canada’s Federal government has been pursuing a similar course. Reflecting the global zeitgeist of the early 2020s, a key underpinning narrative in both countries revolves around the contention that unnecessary planning regulation is the main limiting factor for private housebuilding activity. Thus, responsive federal government action in both countries has involved efforts to lobby for, and financially incentivise, planning process simplification and policy de-regulation by state/province/territory/local governments. As demonstrated in this paper, however, these efforts form only one dimension of substantially broader pro-supply strategies being rolled out in the two nations. Moreover, while largely featuring ‘market enabling’ measures to support and de-risk private housing development, these have also included the direct commissioning/funding of housing for both rent and sale on a scale without recent precedent.