Canadian Housing Survey

Detailed information for 2024

Status:

Active

Frequency:

Every 2 years

Record number:

5269

This survey collects information about housing needs and experiences from a sample of Canadian households. Information is collected on core housing need, dwelling and neighbourhood satisfaction, housing moves, and other aspects of well-being related to housing.

Data release - Scheduled for 2026

Description

The Canadian Housing Survey (CHS) provides information on how Canadians feel about their housing and how housing affects them. Information is collected on housing affordability, dwelling characteristics and housing tenure, economic hardship, dwelling and neighbourhood satisfaction, housing discrimination, housing aspiration, neighbourhood issues and safety, forced moves, experience with subsidized housing, life satisfaction, community satisfaction, self-assessed health, experience with homelessness, and socio-demographic characteristics.

Social and Affordable Housing (SAH) is an important part of the housing stock that provides housing to people in need. The CHS aims to provide detailed and precise statistics on households in SAH by oversampling this subpopulation.

The CHS 2024 will be carried out in all 10 provinces.

Collection period: Data collected from October 28, 2024 to March 31, 2025.

Subjects

Families, households and housing
Household characteristics
Housing and living arrangements

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The target population is the population of Canada's 10 provinces excluding residents of institutions, members of the Canadian Forces living in military camps and people living in Indigenous communities. In all, these exclusions make up about 2% of the population.

People living in other types of collective dwellings are also excluded from the survey:
- people living in residences for dependent seniors; and
- people living permanently in school residences, work camps, etc.; and
- members of religious and other communal colonies.

Collection exclusions make up less than 0.5% of the target population. However, these people are included in the population estimates to which the CHS estimates are adjusted.

Instrument design

The questionnaire content was determined in consultation with the survey sponsor (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation). Standardized content was used when available. Harmonized content was also re-used from past or existing surveys. A questionnaire design specialist was consulted during the design phase. The survey also underwent qualitative testing prior to collection, and recommendations were incorporated.

The questionnaire follows standard practices and wording used in electronic questionnaires, such as the automatic control of flows that depend on answers to earlier questions, and the use of edits to check for logical inconsistencies and input errors. The computer application for data collection was tested extensively.

Sampling

Sampling unit:
The sampling unit for the CHS is the private dwelling.

Data sources

Data collection for this reference period: 2024-10-28 to 2025-03-31

Responding to this survey is voluntary.

Data are collected directly from survey respondents and extracted from administrative files.

The CHS asked that the survey be completed by the household member with the most knowledge of the household's housing situation. In all cases, this person was aged 15 years or older. Proxy response was accepted for questions about other household members. This allowed one household member to answer questions on behalf of any or all other household members.

View the Questionnaire(s) and reporting guide(s) .