Housing Affordability: 80% Durham Residents Say Municipalities Aren’t Doing Enough
Toronto, ON, January 29, 2026 — Recent Ipsos polling for TRREB shows that four in five (80%) Durham Region residents believe municipalities are not doing enough to make housing affordable, and most (90%) are worried about the next generation’s ability to afford a home.
Residents Want More Affordable Housing Solutions
Eight in ten (80%) Durham residents are concerned about the current state of housing affordability, and an overwhelming majority (93%) agree that “we should do everything we can to make housing more affordable.” Most (94%) residents support better alignment of Canada’s immigration strategy with the capacity to build housing, while only three in ten (28%) believe governments are doing a good job addressing housing affordability in general—among the lowest levels in the GTA.
And They Want Housing Options That Meet Their Needs
Nearly a third of Durham residents (29%) are considering relocating within the next five years due to mounting housing affordability concerns. At the same time, an overwhelming 89% support cutting development charges on new homes by 50%, reflecting a strong desire for solutions that could ease financial pressures on buyers. Many residents also feel that the current housing mix being built does not meet the needs of families in the region: 48% believe there are too many high‑rise condos, while 45% say there is a shortage of “missing middle” options such as duplexes and triplexes. Together, these perspectives paint a clear picture—Durham residents want more attainable, family‑oriented housing choices and policies that make living in the region sustainable for the long term.
About the Study
These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between Oct 17th – 30th, 2025, on behalf of TRREB. For this survey, a sample of 2,000 GTA residents aged 18 years and over was interviewed. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ±2.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all GTA adults been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.
For more information on this news release, please contact:
Sean Simpson
Senior Vice President, Canada, Public Affairs
[email protected]
Raymond Vuong
Senior Account Manager, Canada, Public Affairs
[email protected]
About Ipsos
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