A study released Monday estimates that the benefits that flow from investments in government-owned housing are worth two to three times the initial investment. The study, by the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis, calculates not just economic spinoffs and jobs but also the social value created in terms of community well-being, stability, health improvements and housing quality. Those social benefits increase with larger investments.
This chart shows the impact of two levels of investment, the amount expected from existing housing programs and the impact of investing a bit more than double that amount. With that larger investment, there’s almost $3 of impact for every dollar invested.
| Impact of investments in public housing in Hamilton & the GTA | ||
| Cumulative impacts, now to 2050 | Expected investment | Double expected investment |
| Total investment in building new units and refurbishing existing ones | $17.1 billion | $36.5 billion |
| Total of economic & social benefits | $30 billion | $102 billion |
| Ratio of benefits to investment | 1.7 | 2.8 |
The larger investment would add 22,800 units of public housing, almost 1,600 of them in Hamilton. It would also ensure that all of the almost 80,000 existing public housing units in Hamilton, Halton, Toronto, Peel, York and Durham were in good condition by 2050. The current spending levels would still leave about two in five existing units in critical condition.
Investments in public housing have large positive public impacts, with the larger investment adding $49 billion to the GTHA economy over 25 years while supporting 354,500 cumulative job years and $12.7 billion in additional federal and provincial taxes. The improvements in wellbeing, to residents and the communities they live in, are $43 billion, 11 times greater with the larger investment than the status quo spending. Part of that total is in significant reductions in emergency room visits and hospitalizations, but the stability and affordability from public housing creates by far the biggest benefits.
Doubling expected investments is, of course, not nearly enough. It would only boost the supply of public housing by about a quarter. Most housing experts argue that we need to invest enough to quickly double the number of public, non-profit, co-op and Indigenous housing units and then to double it again. What the study demonstrates is that this spending pays for itself several times over.