Housing Stock and Affordability Analysis
Advanced insights. Better decisions
Housing Stock and Affordability Analysis
We are Canada’s foremost independent housing analytics firm. We are trusted by CMHC, cities and towns for their housing analysis needs and planning databases.
CANCEA has conducted extensive analyses on regional housing markets, affordability, and the needs of the population. Throughout the research, CANCEA has developed a large linked database of households, properties and the economy at a hyper-detailed geospatial resolution across the entire country.
Our housing needs analysis present an overview of a municipality’s demographic and housing situation, including trends, current state and forecasts up to the desired planning horizon.

Our reports include:
- Maps which show population and housing statistics at the dissemination area resolution
- Graphs and figures to represent trends and comparisons across different sub-populations
- Population growth trends, e.g. demographic aging, household composition, income levels and occupations)
- Housing stock analysis, including stock by tenure, housing types, and trends in prices and rents
- Housing needs indicators, including core housing need, affordability, suitability, and adequacy
- Sub-population analysis, e.g. populations most vulnerable to core housing need and affordability challenges, older adults, and other sub-groups as requested
Scenario and Sensitivity Analysis
Our socio-economic simulation platform is Canada’s largest and is used by clients that seek a comprehensive current and long-term analysis of different housing and policy scenarios. We project the characteristics of a municipality or region’s population or housing stock up to a defined planning horizon under different sets of assumption. Scenarios and sensitivity analyses can help planners and policy-makers understand the risks, benefits and potential pressures acting on the area. We work with our clients to determine the types of scenarios that would generate the most relevant insight. Example of scenarios include:
- Growth scenarios compare the effects of a higher or lower construction rate with the historical average on a region’s demographic characteristics and housing need or determine the target growth rate to achieve planning objectives.
- Supply-demand mismatch scenarios estimate the risk of a housing shortfall or oversupply due to misalignment between demographic trends and development rates
- Suitability and land-use constraints sensitivity analysis demonstrate what types of housing (i.e. what combination of high-, medium- or low-density dwellings) can be developed without running out of developable land or running the risk of creating a housing stock that is unsuitable for the population.
- Housing affordability sensitivity analysis measure how much different factors contribute to household affordability challenges to understand which factors are most important in an area.
Interactive Database
We curate publicly available data from Statistics Canada, CMHC, and municipalities to create complete, high-resolution databases with consistent definitions across data sources. Our interactive housing databases include historical demographic and housing data and projections that can be filtered down to the individual or household level.
CANCEA’s highly curated databases offer the following value-adds:
- User-friendly design that lets users quickly pull up relevant data
- Interactive dashboard with figures to visualize demographic and housing data and trends
More than 400
Leading companies and government institutions
Trust our services for policy and business-critical forward-looking analysis.
Why
CANCEA?
We are trusted. More than 400 leading organizations in Canada and the UK, including governments, associations and businesses trust our services and data products. With over 20 years of critical thinking and analysis across a range of socio-economic and strategic issues, we have a deep knowledge of regional and local communities, their resources and the challenges they face.
All of our socio-economic analysis, across 800 topics and over 56,000 local regions, are modelled as one system in one simulation platform ensuring the quality and consistency of insights generated across all locations and topics.
Our systems approach allows for best-of-class data generation and forecasting from hyper detailed trend and causation analysis.
Regional information that extends beyond traditional data sources to ensure that the best information on local area populations and economies can be utilized.
Hyper detailed information accompanies our insights, predictions and forecasts. Hyper detailed trend and causation analysis is determined by data with little reliance upon assumptions.
The sheer richness of our data and simulation capabilities, both in terms of who, what, when and where and the relationships between them drive an ability to answer many more questions.
As a strictly data-driven firm, we are necessarily apolitical. The consistency of our hyper-detailed local data can be summed and independently verified against official projections by government statistical agencies, central banks and the OECD.
Our dedication to a one-model systems approach with hyper-trend and causal analysis keeps assumptions to a minimum. Any assumptions are shared openly, so you and others can use our results with confidence.
With modern technology, methods and access to data, high-quality socio-economic analysis and data should not cost as much as it does. We’ve made the investments and are keen to disrupt the industry with highly cost-effective services that matter to you.
Latest Reports
Explore our latest ground-breaking social and economic research that our socio-economic and thought leadership experts have delivered for our clients.