Housing Affordability in Canada: The RBC Index, Price-to-Income and Cities

Housing affordability asks a practical question: what share of a typical household’s income goes to owning a home? This page sets out how affordability is measured, where it stands nationally and in major cities using RBC Economics’ housing affordability measure, and how it reached today’s level. It is one of the site’s housing market analysis pages.

How housing affordability is measured

Three measures come up most often, and each answers a slightly different question.

Ownership costs as a share of income. The RBC Housing Affordability Measures show the proportion of median pre-tax household income needed to cover mortgage payments (principal and interest), property taxes and utilities on a home at the benchmark market price. RBC publishes it each quarter for Canada and the major markets listed below, for detached homes, condos and an aggregate of all housing types. The figures on this page are the aggregate.

The 30% shelter-cost benchmark. CMHC and Statistics Canada consider housing affordable when shelter costs are below 30% of total before-tax household income. That benchmark is used to measure core housing need among people who already have a home; RBC’s measure applies a similar idea to someone buying today at market prices and current mortgage rates.

The price-to-income ratio. The home price divided by household income, ignoring interest rates. It is covered in full, with a year-by-year national series and city ratios, in home prices vs household income.

The measures can move in opposite directions. When rates fall, ownership costs as a share of income drop even if prices hold, while the price-to-income ratio doesn’t change.

Canada’s affordability now

RBC’s national aggregate measure was 52.8% in Q2 2026 (report published September 28, 2026). In other words, owning a home at market prices would take 52.8% of a median household’s pre-tax income, against the 30% shelter-cost benchmark.

Source: RBC Economics housing affordability reports. A lower percentage means more affordable.

The measure peaked at 63.5% at the end of 2023, the highest RBC has recorded, after the Bank of Canada’s 2022 and 2023 rate increases raised mortgage costs on already high prices. The latest reading is 10.7 percentage points below that peak. In its report on the second quarter of 2026, RBC said rising household income accounted for the entire national improvement that quarter, as home prices and interest rates held fairly steady, and that upward pressure on long-term interest rates and possible Bank of Canada rate increases could push ownership costs up again into 2027.

Affordability by city

RBC’s aggregate measure for each market it tracks, Q2 2026, with the market’s long-run average where RBC’s report gave one:

Source: RBC Economics, housing affordability report, September 28, 2026. Share of median pre-tax household income needed for mortgage payments, property taxes and utilities, all housing types.

Vancouver has the highest measure of the 14 markets, at 83.9%, and Regina the lowest, at 27.9%. The national figure blends markets where owning takes most of a median income with markets where it takes far less. Each city’s market page has its latest prices; the cheapest cities to live in Canada compares the most affordable places on housing and other living costs.

The income needed to buy

At the national MLS HPI composite benchmark of $657,500 (August 2026), qualifying for a mortgage takes about $148,300 of household income with the minimum down payment of $40,750, or $129,800 with 20% down (how the income figure is worked out). For comparison, the median household income in Statistics Canada’s Canadian Income Survey was $86,000 in 2024. The income needed to afford a home section has the figure for each city and lets you change the price and down payment.

RBC’s measure covers the mortgage, property tax and utilities only. Condo fees, insurance and maintenance add to the monthly bill; the guide to the cost of owning a home lists every carrying cost.

How affordability got here

Ownership costs depend on three things: prices, mortgage rates and incomes. In 2020 and 2021 low rates and strong demand pushed prices sharply higher (CREA’s national annual average changed by 13.4% in 2020 and 21.2% in 2021); when rates rose in 2022 and 2023, payments on those prices jumped, which is why RBC’s measure peaked at the end of 2023. Since then, lower rates, flat or falling prices in many markets and rising incomes have brought the measure down.

The longer-run causes are covered elsewhere in this section: home prices vs household income tracks the price-to-income ratio, the housing shortage analysis covers how far construction has fallen short, and the Canadian housing crisis explained brings the causes together.

Government measures

Federal, provincial and municipal governments have responded with programs for buyers (the FHSA, a larger Home Buyers’ Plan withdrawal and land transfer tax rebates), tax changes on new rental construction, funding tied to municipal zoning reform, and limits on who can buy, such as the foreign buyer ban. The housing crisis explainer covers the policy response and what it can and can’t change.

Options for buyers

For buyers, the main levers are the price and type of home, the location, the down payment and who buys together. The first-time home buyer hub covers the programs, tax credits and rebates available, and the rent vs buy calculator compares owning with renting in a given market.

Related

• Home prices vs household income: the price-to-income ratio
• Is Canada in a housing bubble?
• How much will home prices increase?
• Mortgage affordability calculator