In a move that I didn’t see get any mainstream press coverage, although I learned about it through the Fediverse, the highly influential extension of the federal government, the CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation), quietly redefined affordable housing this year from at most 30% of gross income to 40-45% of gross income (and plausibly 50% by 2035). “Affordable housing” is one step below “market [price based] housing”, so spending 50% of earnings on rent seems like the policy’s working as intended. Society’s @#$%ed
But it’s not what the scale is made for. Where would you even put it? Homeowners can buy market housing or other types of housing, including affordable housing and community housing
In a move that I didn’t see get any mainstream press coverage, although I learned about it through the Fediverse
I have some evidence that mods on the major Canadian subreddits actively censor and push specific political and ideological points. I have built tools to track it too.
Great initiative, good on you! I’d love to see some preliminary data some time. I remember testing whether reddit geo-blocked “mail order marijuana” to Canadians around 2020, and sure enough they did. I’ve been off reddit for 2 years since the API debacle. Are mods on the major Canadian subreddits users or employees? If users, how/why are they so motivated to censor and promote certain narratives? Are they selected for the role based on their activity (e.g., they’re already pro ‘freedom convoy’) and then retained (and motivated to stick to certain narratives) through ongoing relatively small monetary gifts?
The reason this hasn’t blew up is because it’s not as much of bombshell as one might think. Looks like you’re conflating two things: the definition of affordable housing vs housing affordability targets. The definition of “what is affordable housing” hasn’t changed, it’s still 30% if income.
CMHC updated its affordability benchmark which is its own separate thing it uses to track progress on affordability levels. It might sound the same but these are separate things. For example, we can still build projects that are in the “affordable housing” category but if whether we build enough of it is one of the factors in the hit or miss of the affordability benchmark set as the levels observed in 2019.
Thanks for your comment and the article. The link didn’t resolve for me but I’d guess that was a globe and mail article.
Was the affordability benchmark not the same as the affordable housing definition (from 2003 or whenever) until this reports and the decisions behind it at the CMHC this year decoupled them?
No, these have always been different things. They were similar numbers, one was and still is 30% and the other was close to 30% nationally in 2004 (but for BC the benchmark was already >40% for example) but these numbers were not “linked”, they were close to each other - which was a good thing, hence why it was a good benchmark at the time.
In a move that I didn’t see get any mainstream press coverage, although I learned about it through the Fediverse, the highly influential extension of the federal government, the CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation), quietly redefined affordable housing this year from at most 30% of gross income to 40-45% of gross income (and plausibly 50% by 2035). “Affordable housing” is one step below “market [price based] housing”, so spending 50% of earnings on rent seems like the policy’s working as intended. Society’s @#$%ed
Sources
From the CMHC link:
The “housing continuum,” now with benches in parks. Sadly they missed the sleep-prevention middle bar most park benches have these days.
I just love how there’s no home ownership in there. It’s renting all the way down.
But it’s not what the scale is made for. Where would you even put it? Homeowners can buy market housing or other types of housing, including affordable housing and community housing
I have some evidence that mods on the major Canadian subreddits actively censor and push specific political and ideological points. I have built tools to track it too.
Great initiative, good on you! I’d love to see some preliminary data some time. I remember testing whether reddit geo-blocked “mail order marijuana” to Canadians around 2020, and sure enough they did. I’ve been off reddit for 2 years since the API debacle. Are mods on the major Canadian subreddits users or employees? If users, how/why are they so motivated to censor and promote certain narratives? Are they selected for the role based on their activity (e.g., they’re already pro ‘freedom convoy’) and then retained (and motivated to stick to certain narratives) through ongoing relatively small monetary gifts?
Here’s a public version of my script I released last night: https://github.com/unbound-sigbreak/Reddit-Removal-Lock-Tracker
It’s not even subtle
This did get media coverage: https://archive.is/ABVDl
The reason this hasn’t blew up is because it’s not as much of bombshell as one might think. Looks like you’re conflating two things: the definition of affordable housing vs housing affordability targets. The definition of “what is affordable housing” hasn’t changed, it’s still 30% if income.
CMHC updated its affordability benchmark which is its own separate thing it uses to track progress on affordability levels. It might sound the same but these are separate things. For example, we can still build projects that are in the “affordable housing” category but if whether we build enough of it is one of the factors in the hit or miss of the affordability benchmark set as the levels observed in 2019.
Thanks for your comment and the article. The link didn’t resolve for me but I’d guess that was a globe and mail article.
Was the affordability benchmark not the same as the affordable housing definition (from 2003 or whenever) until this reports and the decisions behind it at the CMHC this year decoupled them?
No, these have always been different things. They were similar numbers, one was and still is 30% and the other was close to 30% nationally in 2004 (but for BC the benchmark was already >40% for example) but these numbers were not “linked”, they were close to each other - which was a good thing, hence why it was a good benchmark at the time.
Thanks for the info!