Shaping the Future of Housing: Insights from Canadian Homeowners
Executive Summary
This report offers insights into the attitudes and preferences of Canadian homeowners, empowering stakeholders to refine their strategies in line with market needs. Through qualitative research, we explore key homeowner behaviors, barriers to adoption, and opportunities for engagement with innovative housing solutions. We aim to inform developers, builders, and policymakers with practical recommendations to help them better align their offerings with consumer demand.
Drawing on qualitative ecosystem research designed to gather insights from 56 Canadian homeowners across diverse demographics, we examined homeowner perspectives on innovative housing, focusing on their awareness, perceptions, and barriers to adoption. The different forms of housing innovation we investigated include Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), middle housing and multiplex conversions, modular and prefabricated housing, affordable housing, supportive housing, non-profit housing associations, and community bonds. By exploring these topics, we identified common themes that set the foundation for quantitative research to validate and expand upon the preliminary findings in this report. The results of our quantitative study will be shared on this website through a different content piece.
Throughout the research, we observed that many participants used "modular" and "prefabricated" interchangeably, reflecting a lack of clear differentiation between these methods. As a result, we collapsed the findings for modular and prefabricated housing innovations in this report to provide a unified analysis.
Key Findings
- Homeowners often perceive local regulations as overly restrictive, particularly for ADUs and multiplex conversions.
- Skepticism about the quality and durability of modular and prefabricated homes persists, with concerns over construction standards, customization, and impact on property value. Trusted channels like industry leaders and credible organizations can help shift perceptions through transparent demonstrations, robust quality assurance, and long-term warranties supported by testimonials and case studies.
- Limited access to affordable financing remains a significant barrier. Expanding tailored financial products like low-interest loans, grants, and subsidies, alongside promoting community bonds, can help bridge this gap.
- Community resistance and Not In My Backyard (NIMBY) attitudes often hinder projects like ADUs, multiplex conversions, and supportive housing due to concerns about increased density and a negative impact on neighborhood aesthetics. Engaging homeowners early, communicating the benefits, such as financial gains and enhanced amenities, and showcasing well-integrated examples can address concerns and build community support.
References
- Hogue, R. (2024, April 9). The Great Rebuild Seven ways to fix Canada’s housing shortage - RBC Thought Leadership. RBC Thought Leadership. https://thoughtleadership.rbc.com/the-great-rebuild-seven-ways-to-fix-canadas-housing-shortage
- Household characteristics data. (2022, April 20). https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/professionals/housing-markets-data-and-research/housing-data/data-tables/household-characteristics
- Diffusion of innovation theory. (n.d.). https://sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/MPH-Modules/SB/BehavioralChangeTheories/BehavioralChangeTheories4.html
- Rivard, A. B. (2024, March 13). Combat NIMBYism with transparency to help resolve Canada’s housing crisis. Policy Options. https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/march-2024/nimby-housing-opinion/
About the Author
The Decision Lab
The Decision Lab is a Canadian think-tank dedicated to democratizing behavioral science through research and analysis. We apply behavioral science to create social good in the public and private sectors.
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