This is the best summary I could come up with:

Inflation and the Bank of Canada's response to it, has been the main reason for the slowdown, according to David Macdonald, a senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).

Canada could need upwards of 3.5 million new homes built by the end of the decade, according to Aled ab Iorwerth, deputy chief economist with the CMHC.

He says Canada is nowhere near on track to meet that goal, and that means most Canadians, particularly those in major cities, will continue to struggle to afford housing.

"It's not only that the construction cost goes up, it's not only that the rates are up, it's not only that people can't afford their daily food and shelter – it is the fact that the government has not figured out how to streamline the process (to approve developments)."

The federal government recently waived the GST/HST on the construction of rental housing in Canada, prompting some developers to say they would add thousands of units in the coming years.

But Shaun Hildebrand, president of Urbanation, a consulting and research firm that focuses on condo and rental markets in Ontario, disagrees.

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