Revision of 1996 and 2001 Core Housing Need Estimates

CMHC is releasing revisions to previous estimates of core housing need. During verification of ongoing research, CMHC found that some households had been misclassified when Statistics Canada applied core housing need to both the 1996 and 2001 Censuses.

The misclassification occurred when comparing incomes of households currently living in unacceptable housing with the benchmark income levels, known as Core Need Income Thresholds, required to access adequate, suitable and affordable housing in their communities. Instead of comparing a household's income against the income needed to access a dwelling with the required number of bedrooms given the size and make-up of the household, the comparison was mistakenly made against the income needed to access a dwelling with the actual number of bedrooms currently occupied by the household. The result is that some households who reported occupying larger homes than required to suitably accommodate all family members were incorrectly identified as being in core housing need. At the same time, some households who reported occupying dwelling units with insufficient numbers of bedrooms to suitably accommodate all family members were incorrectly identified as not being in core housing need.

The outcome of the misclassification was to overestimate core housing need for both 1996 and 2001. Data for 1991 were not affected. The impact of the misclassification varies across geographic regions and socio-economic groupings.

For example, one-person and senior-led households were more likely to be incorrectly identified as being in core housing need than others. Correspondingly, larger households living in crowded conditions were more likely to have been incorrectly identified as not being in core housing need. A summary of the effects of the revisions is included in the following tables:

Table 1: Number of Households in Core Housing Need — Provinces and Territories, 1996 – 2001

Table 2: Percentage of Households in Core Housing Need — Provinces and Territories, 1996 – 2001

Table 3: Characteristics of Households by Core Housing Need Status Illustrating the Effect of the Revision on Core Need, Canada, 2001

All inquiries concerning the revisions to CMHC's 1996 and 2001 core housing need estimates should be directed to John Engeland of the Housing Indicators and Demographics group in the Policy and Research Division at (613) 748-2799 or jengelan@cmhc-schl.gc.ca.