The term ‘financialization’ is normally raised in the context of behaviour by some housing market actors who will purchase low cost, older rental housing and increase rents to generate more profit. Often, they do this by evicting existing tenants.
This contributes to a major problem in Canada’s housing market. Canada is losing affordable rental housing at an alarming rate. According to noted housing policy expert Steve Pomeroy, over 550,000 units below $750/month were lost between 2011 and 2021. This represents 6% of total unsubsidized rental housing in Canada. This means there are fewer and fewer affordable options for low-income households.