Why Canada Keeps Wasting Its Most Valuable Resource: Land.

We keep talking about Housing Supply vs. Demand like land is an infinite resource. But here’s the thing: land is fixed, especially in our big metros. Toronto isn’t getting an expansion pack. Vancouver can’t download more map tiles. And Montréal stopped growing landmass after the glaciers left.

And layered on top of this is a whole class of landowners who insist they “support more housing… just not here.” Their demands are wrapped in the language of “neighbourhood character,” and “protecting investments,” but at their core, they’re exercises of class power. These are not policy debates; they’re territorial claims, especially in expanding wealthy R1 zoning. When land is fixed and city space is scarce, the ability to block new homes is a profound expression of privilege, one that protects incumbent wealth at the direct expense of everyone who can’t get in the door.

And this isn’t a new insight. We’ve known this for almost a century. Back in the 1940s, Humphrey Carver, chair of the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s Research Committee, looked at mountains of social, economic, and construction data—actual evidence, not vibes. Carver essentially said: “You can optimize construction costs all you want… but the market alone will never meet Canadians’ housing needs.”

Fast-forward 80 years. Our metros are still expanding like a Costco parking lot. We have transit stations surrounded by R1 lots the size of Nunavut islands. We have corridors zoned for “tower vibes only.” And we’re shocked, shocked!, that housing supply isn’t keeping up.

But here’s where things get exciting: Ottawa is about to flip the script. The zoning reforms coming in 2026 are some of the most promising in the country. They acknowledge the simple truth that we already have the land. We just haven’t been allowed to use it efficiently. Opening the door to more infill, more plexes, and more missing middle isn’t just good policy; it’s an overdue correction.

And personally? I can’t wait. This is the kind of shift that lets planners, designers, builders, and community organizations finally work with the city instead of against invisible walls. I’d love to join a team that’s ready to take advantage of these new tools and actually build more missing middle homes across Ottawa.

Imagine if we actually:

• Built plexes near transit like it was a normal thing to do

• Unlocked missing middle housing everywhere instead of missing every housing target

• Used the land we already have efficiently, like we were Switzerland, instead of hoping everyone will commute from Churchill, Manitoba

Until we fix inefficient land use, no number of subsidies, or eliminated development charges will solve the core problem. Because Carver was right then, and he’s still right now: You can’t market-optimize your way out of broken land use.

#HousingCrisis #LandUse #UrbanPlanning #HousingPolicy #OttawaPlanning #MissingMiddle