Alberta Housing Profle

Morgan Alger + Brandon Williams

March 11, 2013
Alberta has a lower
percentage of households
in core housing need than
the Canadian average and
the lowest incidence of
core housing need among
Canadian provinces.
8% of Albertan households
found themselves at risk of
core housing need in 2006.
Alberta has a high average
household income.
Albertas urban population
has greater risk of housing
need, but fared better than
most other Canadian urban
populations.
Non-family households
have higher incidences
of core housing need in
Alberta.
FAST FACTS
Having a lower level of
education, renters, young
household maintainers, and
First Nations are groups
with higher risk of core
housing need in Alberta.
Those most vulnerable in
Alberta are also those more
likely to live in inadequate
housing.
Introduction
The following report is a profle of housing need in
the province of Alberta, Canada. This report studies
the incidence of as households earning under LICO
(low income cut of) and spending more than 30%
of their income on housing. This group of Canadians
may be at greater risk of being in core housing need,
where households are unable to fnd satisfactory,
adequate and afordable housing.
The data used was extracted from the Census
Canada Public Use Microdata Individuals File
from 2006. Only the data reported by primary
household maintainers were considered. Any small
inconsistencies between tables regarding the total
number of households in Alberta were caused by
missing cases that werent reported in the 2006
census. The results shown here are not intended in
any way to show annual trends, or change over time.
It is simply a snapshot of core housing need as it
stood in 2006.
Alberta has the lowest risk of
housing need in Canada
In Canada, most households are able to fnd
satisfactory and suitable housing. In Alberta, this
is also true: 92% of households, or about 1,077,000
households, were able to satisfy their housing needs
in 2006.
However, as shown in Chart 1, there remain 8%
of Albertan households in who struggled to meet
housing needs. Albertas proportion of households
in need remains lower than the Canadian average of
10.3%, and signifcantly lower than Quebecs, where
the most incidence of housing need was found, at
12.6%.
Chart 2 shows that 10.3%, or 1,202,546, Canadian
households earn below LICO and spend more than
30% of their income on housing. 7.8% of this total
was found in Alberta, compared with 33.7% of those
households in Ontario and 31.9% in Quebec. The
Atlantic provinces, Saskatchewan and Manitoba
each bore less than 5% of the national total of
households in need.
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Chart 1: Percentage of Canadian households earning less
than LICO and spending more than 30% of household in-
come on housing in Canada, by province
(Below)
Chart 2: Provincial distribution of all Canadian households
earning less than LICO and spending more than 30% of
household income on housing
8.0%
8.1%
9.2%
9.5%
9.9%
10.1%
10.2%
10.4%
10.8%
12.6%
10.3%
7.8%
0.3%
2.2%
33.7%
2.9%
1.6%
3.0%
12.9%
3.8%
31.9%
Alberta has fewer households in the
lowest income quintiles
The income groups shown in Table 1 are based on income quintiles
from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)
report entitled Recent Trends in Housing Afordability and Core
Housing Need (2012).
Table 1 shows that there is a higher average income in Alberta
compared to the rest of Canada. The percentage of Albertan
households the lowest income bracket is 35%, which is much
lower than the national percentage in the lowest income quintile
at 42%. In the highest income quintile, the percentage of Albertan
households in core housing need is 12%, compared with the
national average of 8%.
Chart 3 and Chart 4 show that, on average, there are more
households living in moderate- and high-income groups in Alberta
compared to the rest of Canada. As well, the relative sizes of
quintiles in the charts shows more evenly distributed income across
quintiles in Alberta.
Chart 3: Distribution of income in Alberta
Chart 3: Distribution of income in Canada
Low Income
Moderate
Income
Middle
Income
Upper
Income
Highest
Income
Low Income
Moderate
Income
Middle
Income
Upper
Income
Highest
Income
Households per income group for Alberta and Canada
Canada Alberta
Low Income ($0-$30,000) 41.7% 34.5%
Moderate Income ($30,001-$60,000) 36.0% 35.7%
Middle Income ($60,001-$75,000) 8.8% 10.2%
Upper Income ($75,001-$114,000) 8.4% 11.9%
Highest Income ($114,000+) 4.6% 7.4%
Total number of hhlds 11,609,008 1,166,624
Alberta households earning < LICO and spending > 30% of income on housing, by family size
Person not
living in a
census family
Two persons Three persons
Four
persons
Five persons
Six or more
persons
Total
Percentage of total households earning <
LICO and spending > 30% on housing (%)
15.3% 4.1% 5.3% 4.7% 6.2% 14.1% 8.0%
Distribution of all households earning <
LICO and spending > 30% on housing, (%)
56.8% 16.8% 9.9% 8.9% 4.2% 3.3% 100.0%
Number of hhlds earning < LICO and
spending > 30% of income on housing
53,194 15,759 9,294 8,369 3,913 3,125 93,658
Number of hhlds 347,675 384,374 175,354 178,055 63,113 22,160 1,170,730
Table 1: Households per income group in Alberta and
Canada
Single person households and
large households face more
housing need
Table 2 shows that single-person households and
households with higher numbers of family members
(6+) are more likely to be in housing need in
Alberta in 2006. It should be noted that two-person
households do not distinguish between married
couples and single parents with children. The
distribution of the risk of housing need shows that
persons not living in a census family represent over
56.8% of the 93,658 households in Alberta earning
less than LICO and spending more than 30% on
housing.
Younger households are more
likely to be in housing need
Households in Alberta that have a primary
maintainer aged 24 years or younger are clearly
more likely to be in core housing need than those
households where the household maintainers are
over 25 years of age. Households with primary
maintainers 25 and up are roughly equal when
it comes to housing need. However, among all
households in Alberta earning less that LICO
and spending more than 30% on housing, 32%
are households where the primary maintainer is
over 55 years of age. The distribution of housing
need among the 93,658 households at risk
disproportionately afects those above 55 years of
age.
Higher levels of education
lower risk for housing need
Table 3 shows that, in general, those in Alberta who
have an apprenticeship or college degree and higher
are better of in their housing situations than those
who do not. Those who have no degree or a high
school education are the most likely to be in housing
need. Of the 93,561 households in Alberta at risk,
over 50% have a high school education level or less.
Households per income group for Alberta and Canada
Canada Alberta
Low Income ($0-$30,000) 41.7% 34.5%
Moderate Income ($30,001-$60,000) 36.0% 35.7%
Middle Income ($60,001-$75,000) 8.8% 10.2%
Upper Income ($75,001-$114,000) 8.4% 11.9%
Highest Income ($114,000+) 4.6% 7.4%
Total number of hhlds 11,609,008 1,166,624
Alberta households earning < LICO and spending > 30% of income on housing, by family size
Person not
living in a
census family
Two persons Three persons
Four
persons
Five persons
Six or more
persons
Total
Percentage of total households earning <
LICO and spending > 30% on housing (%)
15.3% 4.1% 5.3% 4.7% 6.2% 14.1% 8.0%
Distribution of all households earning <
LICO and spending > 30% on housing, (%)
56.8% 16.8% 9.9% 8.9% 4.2% 3.3% 100.0%
Number of hhlds earning < LICO and
spending > 30% of income on housing
53,194 15,759 9,294 8,369 3,913 3,125 93,658
Number of hhlds 347,675 384,374 175,354 178,055 63,113 22,160 1,170,730
Table 2: Alberta households earning less than LICO and
spending more than 30% on housing, by family size
Renters at greater risk of
housing need
Table 4 compares homeownership rates for Alberta
and Canada. Across all households, Alberta has
slightly higher rates of homeownership. Renters
in both Alberta and Canada are more likely to face
housing need than homeowners. Of those at risk of
core housing need in 2006, 73.5% were renters. In
Alberta, this number is 66.7%, just slightly lower than
the Canadian average.
First Nations are twice as likely
to be in housing risk
Across Canada, First Nations are more likely to fnd
themselves below LICO and spending more than
30% of their income on housing, and Alberta is
no exception (Table 5). Overall, the percentage of
First Nations households in this position in Alberta
is lower than the national average. However, the
incidence of housing risk among the First Nations
population in Alberta is 15%, approximately
twice the likelihood of housing need for the non-
Aboriginal identity population.
Alberta households earning < LICO and spending > 30% of income on housing, by education level attained
None
High school or
equivalency
Apprenticeship
and other
trades
College,
CEGEP and
some
university
Bachelor's
degree
Master's
degree
Doctorate
degree
Degree in
medicine or
related
Total
Percentage of total households earning <
LICO and spending > 30% on housing (%)
12.9% 9.5% 6.3% 7.2% 5.0% 4.5% 2.8% 0.7% 8.0%
Distribution of all households earning <
LICO and spending > 30% on housing, (%)
29.8% 26.5% 11.6% 21.3% 9.8% 2.1% 0.3% 0.1% 100.0%
Number of hhlds earning < LICO and
spending > 30% of income on housing
27,818 24,686 10,833 19,900 9,127 1,919 295 49 93,327
Total number of hhlds 215,641 259,850 171,950 276,384 182,530 42,655 10,544 7,029 1,166,587
Households earning < LICO and spending > 30% of income on housing, by household tenure type for Canada and Alberta
Owned (%) Rented (%)
Total Number of
hhlds
Owned (%) Rented (%)
Total
number of
hhlds
Canada 69.3% 30.7% 11,649,258 27.5% 72.5% 1,202,546
Alberta 73.6% 26.4% 1,170,730 33.3% 66.7% 93,411
Households earning > LICO and
spending > 30% of income on housing
All Households
Alberta households earning < LICO and spending > 30% of income on housing, by education level attained
None
High school or
equivalency
Apprenticeship
and other
trades
College,
CEGEP and
some
university
Bachelor's
degree
Master's
degree
Doctorate
degree
Degree in
medicine or
related
Total
Percentage of total households earning <
LICO and spending > 30% on housing (%)
12.9% 9.5% 6.3% 7.2% 5.0% 4.5% 2.8% 0.7% 8.0%
Distribution of all households earning <
LICO and spending > 30% on housing, (%)
29.8% 26.5% 11.6% 21.3% 9.8% 2.1% 0.3% 0.1% 100.0%
Number of hhlds earning < LICO and
spending > 30% of income on housing
27,818 24,686 10,833 19,900 9,127 1,919 295 49 93,327
Total number of hhlds 215,641 259,850 171,950 276,384 182,530 42,655 10,544 7,029 1,166,587
Households earning < LICO and spending > 30% of income on housing, by household tenure type for Canada and Alberta
Owned (%) Rented (%)
Total Number of
hhlds
Owned (%) Rented (%)
Total
number of
hhlds
Canada 69.3% 30.7% 11,649,258 27.5% 72.5% 1,202,546
Alberta 73.6% 26.4% 1,170,730 33.3% 66.7% 93,411
Households earning > LICO and
spending > 30% of income on housing
All Households
Table 3: Alberta households earning less than LICO and
spending more than 30% on housing, by education level
attained
Table 4: Alberta households earning less than LICO and
spending more than 30% on housing,by tenure type
Inadequate housing affects
those most in need
Table 6 shows the incidence of inadequate
housing, where the household lives in housing
that needs major repairs. Households at risk of
core housing need were almost twice as likely to
fnd themselves in inadequate housing in Alberta.
11.0% of households earning less than LICO and
spending more than 30% of household income on
housing lived in housing that required major repairs,
compared with 6.6% average across all households.
Albertas biggest cities are
worse off
As shown in Table 7, in 2006, Edmonton saw
the most housing need, at almost 10%, whereas
rural Alberta had a housing need lower than the
provincial average at 6%. Calgarys incidence
Incidence of housing need among Aboriginal identity and non-Aborginal identity populations in Canada and Alberta
Canada Alberta
First Nations
identity
population*
Non-
Aboriginal
identity
population
First Nations
identity
population*
Non-
Aboriginal
identity
population
Percentage of total households earning <
LICO and spending > 30% on housing (%)
17.8% 10.1% 15.1% 7.6%
Distribution of all households earning <
LICO and spending > 30% on housing, (%)
4.9% 95.1% 8.4% 91.6%
Number of hhlds earning < LICO and
spending > 30% of income on housing
59,406 1,142,887 7,783 85,067
Total number of hhlds 333,543 11,315,715 51,423 1,119,308
* comprised of North American Indian, Metis, Inuit, Multiple Aboriginal Responses and Aboriginal responses not included elsewhere
Housing conditions in Alberta
Only regular
maintenance
needed
Minor repairs
needed
Major repairs
needed
Total
Distribution of all households earning <
LICO and spending > 30% on housing, (%)
60.6% 28.4% 11.0% 100%
Distribution of all households 66.5% 26.9% 6.6% 100%
Number of hhlds earning < LICO and
spending > 30% on housing
56,638 26,488 10,284 93,411
Total number of hhlds 779,105 314,342 77,281 1,170,730
Table 6: Housing conditions in Alberta
* comprised of North American
Indian, Metis, Inuit, Multiple
Aboriginal responses and
Aboriginal responses not included
elsewhere
Incidence of housing need among Aboriginal identity and non-Aborginal identity populations in Canada and Alberta
Canada Alberta
First Nations
identity
population*
Non-
Aboriginal
identity
population
First Nations
identity
population*
Non-
Aboriginal
identity
population
Percentage of total households earning <
LICO and spending > 30% on housing (%)
17.8% 10.1% 15.1% 7.6%
Distribution of all households earning <
LICO and spending > 30% on housing, (%)
4.9% 95.1% 8.4% 91.6%
Number of hhlds earning < LICO and
spending > 30% of income on housing
59,406 1,142,887 7,783 85,067
Total number of hhlds 333,543 11,315,715 51,423 1,119,308
* comprised of North American Indian, Metis, Inuit, Multiple Aboriginal Responses and Aboriginal responses not included elsewhere
Housing conditions in Alberta
Only regular
maintenance
needed
Minor repairs
needed
Major repairs
needed
Total
Distribution of all households earning <
LICO and spending > 30% on housing, (%)
60.6% 28.4% 11.0% 100%
Distribution of all households 66.5% 26.9% 6.6% 100%
Number of hhlds earning < LICO and
spending > 30% on housing
56,638 26,488 10,284 93,411
Total number of hhlds 779,105 314,342 77,281 1,170,730
Table 5: Risk of housing need among Aboriginal identity and
non-Aboringal identity households in Canada and Alberta
of housing need was also above the provincial
average at 8%. This trend stands in the provincial
distribution of risk for housing need, where Calgary
and Edmonton share over two-thirds of the 93,400
households under LICO and spending more than
30% on housing.
Urban housing conditions are
better in Alberta
The incidence of households in core housing need
in Albertan Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) is
generally lower than that of the 10 selected CMAs for
the rest of Canada (Chart 5). Calgary and Edmonton
had two of the three lowest core housing need
percentages of the 10 selected Canadian CMAs. The
distribution of households earning under LICO and
spending more than 30% on housing, is distributed
evenly among Canadian cities, with the exception of
Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal, at 15.6%, 18.6%,
and 7.6% respectively. Edmonton and Calgary share
the national burden at 3.1% and 2.7% respectively.
Across all Canadian CMAs, 12% of households, or
approximately 1,202,500 households, were at risk of
housing need.
0.0%
2.0%
4.0%
6.0%
8.0%
10.0%
12.0%
14.0%
16.0%
18.0%
20.0%
Calgary Ottawa - Gatineau Edmonton Halifax Toronto Regina - Saskatoon Quebec Winnipeg Vancouver Montreal
Percentage of total households earning < LICO
and spending > 30% on housing (%)
Distribution of total households earning < LICO
and spending > 30% on housing
8.2%
2.7%
9.2%
3.2%
9.7%
3.1%
10.1%
1.2%
11.2%
15.6%
1.6%
11.2%
3.0%
12.0%
2.8%
12.5%
7.6%
12.5%
18.6%
15.5%
Chart 5: Urban housing conditions, select Canadian cities
Table 7: CMA comparison of risk of housing need in Alberta
CMA comparison of housing need in Alberta
Calgary Edmonton Other CMA Total
Percentage of total households earning <
LICO and spending > 30% on housing (%)
8.2% 9.7% 6.1% 100%
Distribution of all households earning <
LICO and spending > 30% on housing, (%)
34.5% 39.7% 25.8% 100%
Number of hhlds earning< LICO and
spending > 30% on housing
32,222 37,068 24,120 93,411
Total number of hhlds 391,699 383,264 395,768 1,170,730