CHBA’s Mission Statement: CHBA’s mission is to support our members and their ability to meet the aspirations of Canadians for housing affordability, quality and choice.
The Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) has been the voice of Canada’s residential construction industry for over 76 years. Started in 1943, our not-for-profit association represents one of the largest industry sectors in Canada – an industry responsible for over 1.2 million jobs.
Our members build new communities and homes, and renovate older ones. They don’t just create and update Canada’s wonderful communities, they give back to them: by employing more Canadians than any other industry in the country (in every community); by contributing to charities and neighbourhood projects; and by caring so deeply about what they do and how Canadians live that they get involved in the association to make a difference.
Who we are
Altogether, our membership is made up of some 9,000 companies from coast to coast, from small family businesses to large manufacturers. Our members include home builders, renovators, land developers, trade contractors, product and material manufacturers, building product suppliers, lending institutions, insurance providers, and service professionals.
All of them share a common goal: to help build a country where Canadians can continue to access quality homes, of a form they desire, in a place they desire, at a price they can afford.
What we do, why we do it, and the role of governments
At CHBA, we work to ensure that the needs and interests of homebuyers and homeowners, and our industry that serves them, are understood and supported by governments at all levels. All levels of government—local, provincial and federal—have direct roles in housing that dramatically affect affordability, choice and quality—a careful balancing act to continue to ensure Canadians remain some of the best housed people in the world.
Canadians will always need a place to live. Whether they buy a house, rent, or live in social housing, homes will need to be built and renovated. And our members build all of those types of housing, everything from single-detached houses to townhomes to mid- and high-rise condos and apartments. They build them for people to own or to rent, or for social housing organizations.
So why does CHBA care that Canadians have a choice in the type of home they live in, and whether they rent or buy? At its core, likely for the same reason you do: because as Canadians, we all want to have a home that meets our needs. And 94% of Canadians own their homes, or wish they could. We understand that housing is a continuum and all aspects on that continuum need to work well in order to have healthy communities and a healthy economy. Social housing, rental housing, and homeownership are all part of that continuum, and for 94% of Canadians, moving along that continuum to homeownership is the ultimate goal.
Currently, that continuum is broken. Homeownership rates are falling, especially for younger Canadians and new Canadians. People who want and should be able to own are stuck in rental (or with their parents); this is affecting their financial futures, clogging up the rental system (reducing rental availability and driving up rents), and causing stress right back into the social housing sector.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. It’s not good for the housing industry, but it’s really not good for Canadians. All levels of our Association—local, provincial and national—are actively advocating with all levels of government to make the changes necessary to fix the system; to make the adjustments necessary to return to a strong housing system that keeps the Canadian dream of housing and homeownership alive and well.
This website talks about how this can be responsibly achieved to the benefit of all Canadians, their financial futures, and that of the entire country.