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Across the country, lack of affordable housing is top of mind for many Canadians.

The increase in housing prices has pushed home ownership out of reach for many. And, the combination of households staying longer in rental housing — and little new rental housing being built — has led to low vacancy rates and high rents. The tip of this iceberg is the rampant homelessness on the streets of our major cities, including Vancouver.

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Almost two years ago, the federal government released a new National Housing Strategy, however, much of the commitment is for loans not grants spread over 10 years and back-end loaded, meaning most of the money is spent at the end of the 10 years. The Parliamentary Budget Officer notes that when compared to past federal funding levels, this strategy barely moves the needle.

So what are the parties promising?

Subhead: Mortgage stress

At the peak of the real estate frenzy the federal government introduced mortgage stress tests to prevent households from becoming over-leveraged. The stress tests require that a borrower can make payments if interest rates rise by two percentage points.