A new poll found 40% of Canadians blame Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government for the housing crisis in the country..Leger polled 1,537 individuals from Aug. 18 to 20, asking several questions about the rapid increase in housing costs and what actions could be taken to address it..When respondents were asked which level of government is mostly responsible for the housing crisis, 40% blamed the Trudeau government, while 32% blamed their provincial government..Only 6% of respondents believed that their municipal government was responsible and an additional 22% admitted that they were unsure about who to blame..Renters were more likely to hold the provincial government accountable, while homeowners were more likely to blame the Trudeau government..Approximately 95% of the respondents said the increasing rental prices and the scarcity of affordable homes are serious problems, with 55% saying they were worried about paying their rent or mortgage at least once in the past few months. .About 16% of the respondents mentioned that they “frequently” worried about their ability to afford rent or mortgage payments..The respondents who were most confident about making their payments were from rural areas or over 55 years of age..Respondents between 18 and 24 showed the highest concern about making their payments..Residents of Alberta and British Columbia were more likely to worry about affording their payments, whereas individuals from Quebec were the least likely to be worried..The survey also showed a list of solutions governments could try and asked respondents if they agreed with those solutions..The most popular solutions, with 79% support each, were creating more government housing and incentivizing builders to build affordable homes, followed by 77% agreeing with making rent controls stricter and 68% saying people with lower incomes should get government assistance to pay their rent..The least amount of support, at 56%, was for trying to reduce short-term rentals, such as Airbnb, and 64% agreed with giving homeowners incentives to create rental units within their homes..The poll has no margin of error since online polls are not considered random samples.
