Community Perspectives on Housing Innovation: A Nationwide Survey of Canadian Residents

Executive Summary

This report examines the neighborhood perspective of Canada’s evolving housing landscape, focusing on how Canadian residents perceive key forms of housing innovation. Amid a severe housing shortage, innovations like Additional Dwelling Units (ADUs), middle housing, prefabricated and modular housing, and supportive housing present scalable solutions to enhance accessibility and affordability. Our survey research, spanning over 2,500 Canadian residents nationwide, reveals valuable insights into the barriers and drivers of community acceptance for these housing types, along with demographic and regional trends in awareness, support, and resistance.

These findings offer developers, municipal planners, and policymakers actionable strategies for promoting the acceptance of housing innovations in neighborhoods across Canada, from tailoring communication to leveraging familiarity. By strategically aligning projects with local values and proactively addressing common concerns—such as parking, traffic, aesthetics, and safety—stakeholders can more effectively foster public support and reduce community opposition. Beyond addressing these concerns, residents are most strongly driven by the promised benefits to their own communities, especially in terms of affordability. Our research showed that the desire to bring more affordable housing to one’s neighborhood was one of the most frequently selected and highly impactful drivers of support across forms of housing innovation.

This report emphasizes the importance of resident involvement and neighborhood perceptions, underscoring how public endorsement can be amplified by visible local approval. In particular,  we found that the perception of neighborhood support can increase a person’s likelihood of supporting an innovation by up to 25 times. Additionally, respondents in communities with existing housing innovations are up to 12 times more likely to support wider adoption than those without these innovations nearby. These statistics underline how demonstrating the local success of similar projects can be a powerful driver of acceptance.

Accompanying this research, we provide guidance on the most effective communication channels, highlighting trusted sources and preferred information types to shape messaging efforts. Ultimately, this project serves as a roadmap for developers, planners, and policymakers seeking to navigate Canada’s complex housing dynamics and drive sustainable, community-approved growth.