The recently released results of a new poll by EKOS Research suggested that a little over two in five Canadians believed that housing in this country is not affordable for them, a finding that cuts almost evenly across all income levels.

Approximately half of respondents who considered themselves poor or working class said that they believe that the cost of local housing is beyond their means. The rate was 38% and 37%, respectively, among respondents who considered themselves middle or upper class.

The opinions appeared bleaker in some of Canada’s hottest housing markets, where only a small portion of respondents said they believe homes are reasonably priced. Only 6 per cent of respondents in Toronto and 2 per cent in Vancouver said they believe housing was affordable. In Calgary, the number was 11 per cent; in Montreal, 22 per cent.

The results of the telephone poll of 5,658 Canadians, conducted between June 1 and 19, are considered accurate to within 1.3 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The data closely lined up with more formal benchmarks the federal government is using to measure affordability, as well as other data about the cost of housing, whether purchased or rented.

“It’s a deeply troubling finding that in certain portions of Canada, either geographically or societally, that this is a crisis level,” EKOS Research president Frank Graves told The Canadian Press.

The federal government said that it is hoping to halve the number of the hardest-to-help homeless, lifting tens of thousands out of “core housing need” — meaning they spend more than one-third of their before-tax income on housing that may be substandard or doesn’t meet their needs. The Liberal government has stated that the biggest impact could be on renters who are stretched financially in many of Canada’s biggest cities.

Housing Price Concerns Cut Across All Income Demographics by Ephraim Vecina | Canadian Real Estate Wealth