Metro Vancouver Area - Data Definitions

Understand how terms found in the Data Map are defined, where the data comes from, and the timeframe covered.

Amenity density

Definition: Amenity density is an accessibility measure based on population-weight distance to neighbouring services and amenities. It is a composite measure calculated in the Proximity Measures Database through a collaboration between Statistics Canada and Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation. The amenity density measure considers access to a grocery store, pharmacy, and public transit stop within 1 km walking; a childcare facility, primary school, and library within 1.5 km walking; a health facility within 3 km driving; and employment within 10 km driving, and assigns each dissemination block a value of low, medium, and high. A dissemination block is considered to have low amenity density if it does not have access to all of those services in the specified radius. Medium and high density neighbourhoods are those with access to all the eight services in the selected radius, with high density being those areas with proximity to each of the eight services in the top third of the distribution of all proximity values across Canada.

Years Covered: 2021

Data Owner: Statistics Canada, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

Publication Year: 2023

Census tract

Definition: A census tract is defined by Statistics Canada as a geographic area located in large urban centres that usually has a population between 2,500 and 8,000 persons.

Change in primary market units

Definition: Change in primary market units displays the change in count of primary market units from the previous year per geographical area and is expressed as a percentage. Areas with fewer than 30 primary market units will be suppressed for data reliability purposes.

Years Covered: Municipality: 2007-2022; Census tract: 2012-2022; Rental Market Survey zone: 2012-2022

Data Owner: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Statistics Canada

Publication Year: 2007-2023

Core housing need

Definition: According to Statistics Canada, a household is in core housing need if its housing falls below at least one of the adequacy, affordability, or suitability standards and if it would have to spend 30% or more of its total before-tax income to pay the median rent of alternative local housing that is acceptable (meets all three housing standards). Not all households are assessed for core housing need. The exclusion criteria are documented in Statistics Canada’s detailed definition for core housing need

Years Covered: 2006, 2011, 2016, 2021

Related Data: Statistic Canada Census Profile

Data Owner: Statistics Canada

Publication Year: 2006, 2011, 2016, 2021

Estimated percentage of affordable private market rental units

Definition: “Estimated percentage of affordable private market rental units” refers to the proportion of units where the asking rate in the last five years was either at or below a rental affordability definition that we have created for this project.

We created our own rental affordability definition because there is no standardized measure in Canada and those that do exist are more commonly tied to real estate market trends (e.g. percentage of average market rent) rather than income trends.

Our rental affordability definition considers the units that are financially accessible to renters by economic family size based on their income. We have also chosen to focus on economic families instead of households. Statistics Canada defines an economic family as a group of people who live together and are related to each other by blood, marriage, common-law union, adoption or a foster relationship. While many households are comprised of economic families, they can also include roommates who may only be living together for financial reasons and are otherwise unlikely to stay together as a unit.

It is commonly accepted that shelter is considered affordable if it costs less than 30% of gross monthly income. We applied 30% to the median before-tax income of economic families that were renting and additionally filtered out economic families that paid no rent and that were receiving government subsidies. The median income was calculated for each region independently to account for geographic variation in income. Therefore, for example, our rental affordability definition procures a different maximum affordable shelter cost for a two-person family in Toronto and a two-person family in Halifax.

Because the income of one-person households is quite different from two-person families and because families of different sizes occupy different sized units, our rental affordability definition produces a different maximum affordable shelter cost for each family size. In other words, our rental affordability definition asks, for example, what is the maximum shelter cost that is affordable for a one-person household and what size units are suitable for that household? We repeat this question for each family size. This contrasts with other affordability measures that set a single shelter cost threshold regardless of the family size.

We chose median income based on a historical analysis of the buying power of renter economic families. The median has traditionally marked a turning point where renter economic families no longer have disproportionate access to the rental market relative to their income. For example, a family in the 25th percentile income, may only have the purchasing power to access 10% of the rental units available on the market. History has shown that families in the median (or 50th percentile) income tend to reach parity and can afford approximately 50% of the rental units available on the market.

To match family sizes to units, we applied an occupancy standard of a maximum of one bedroom for every person and a minimum of one bedroom less than the maximum. Therefore, for each family size, there is one maximum affordable shelter cost applied to two different unit sizes. For example, for a two-person family, 1-bedroom and 2-bedroom units meet our occupancy standard and we count the number of units for both that are under the maximum affordable shelter cost (30% of median income of two-person renter economic families).

In a competitive rental market, the average market rent typically lags behind current asking prices for rent. This is because sitting tenants benefit from rent control which limits annual increases. Since we are interested in the asking prices of units, we can exclude units with long-standing sitting tenants by looking at households that recently moved. While the Census allows us to identify households that moved in the last year, in our rental affordability definition we have used households that moved in the last five years in order to increase the sample size.

Years Covered: 2006, 2011, 2016, 2021

Related Data: Statistics Canada Custom Tabulation

Data Owner: Statistics Canada

Publication Year: 2023

Forward Sortation Area

Definition: Forward Sortation Areas are geographic representations of the areas covered by the first three characters of a postal code. Since full six-character postal codes cannot be represented as geographic areas (they define linear postal carrier routes) and because postal codes are self-reported on the census, Forward Sortation Area boundaries can be highly irregular and they can be variable from census year to census year. A detailed explanation for how Statistics Canada constructs Forward Sortation Area boundaries can be found here.

Municipality

Definition: A municipality is a geographic area representing a local government as determined by provincial legislation. Where provinces have upper tier and lower tier municipalities, the lower tier municipalities are shown.

Non-market units

Definition: Non-market units are displayed as a percentage of the total rental market in each geographical area. The measure is established by dividing the number of non-market units by the total rental units per region which is estimated by dividing the number of renter households reported in the Census by the vacancy rate (also estimated through the CMHC Rental Market Survey). 

Non-market units are private dwellings for rent in properties where rents are subsidized below market rates. Examples include social or public housing, supportive housing with self-contained units, rent-geared-to-income units, and other units with subsidies tied to the unit.

The count of non-market units is dependent on availability of municipal administrative data, and therefore this feature is only available in select areas. These include the city of Mississauga, City of Toronto, Durham Region, Halton Region, City of New Westminster, City of Vancouver, and Montréal agglomeration. Most of these sources only provide current non-market inventory, therefore historic estimates of percentage of non-market units uses the assumption that non-market unit counts have not changed significantly.   

Individual buildings are also displayed by unit count: 200+ units, 50 to 199 units, 20 to 49 units, 6 to 19 units, or less than 5 units.

Data Owner: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, City of New Westminster, City of Vancouver, Statistics Canada

Years Covered: 2016, 2021

Publication Year: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Statistics Canada: 2007-2023; City of New Westminster, City of Vancouver: 2023

Primary market units

Definition: Primary market units are displayed as a percentage of the total rental market in each geographical area. Here, primary market units are included regardless of affordability status. The measure is established by dividing the number of primary market units estimated through the CMHC Rental Market Survey by the total number of rental units. The total number of units is estimated by dividing the number of renter households reported in the Census by the vacancy rate (also estimated through the CMHC Rental Market Survey).

Years Covered: Municipality: 2006, 2011, 2016, 2021; Census tract: 2011, 2016, 2021; Rental Market Survey zone: 2011, 2016, 2021

Data Owner: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Statistics Canada

Publication Year: 2007-2023

Primary market vacancy rate

Definition: Estimated percentage of all available primary market rental units that are vacant or unoccupied. This measure comes from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) Rental Market Survey. CMHC counts a unit as vacant if it is physically unoccupied and available for immediate rental (at the time of the survey).

Years Covered: 2006-2022

Data Owner: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

Publication Year: 2006-2022

Rental Market Survey zone

Definition: Rental Market Survey zones are geographic areas that the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation uses to report results from its annual Rental Market Survey. These zones are geographically larger than census tracts and smaller than a municipality.

Secondary market condo units

Definition: Secondary market condo units are displayed as a percentage of the total rental market within a geographical area. The measure is established by dividing the number of rented condo units by the total number of rental units. The total number of rental units is estimated by dividing the number of renter households reported in the Census by the vacancy rate (also estimated through the CMHC Rental Market Survey).

Secondary market condo units are private dwellings for rent within a condominium development. A condominium is a residential complex with individually owned units and jointly owned common elements and land. It includes units purchased by individuals with the intention to operate rental units, rather than to occupy as residence. Condominium rentals are categorized as part of the “secondary market” units because they were built without the intention to supply the rental market, but are currently doing so.

Years Covered: 2011, 2016, 2021

Related Data: Statistic Canada Census Profile

Data Owner: Statistics Canada

Publication Year: 2011, 2016, 2021

Secondary market non-condo units

Definition: Secondary market non-condo units are displayed as a percentage of the total rental market in each geographical area. The measure is established by subtracting the number of primary market units, the number of secondary market condo units, and the number of non-market units from the estimated total rental units and dividing by the estimated total rental units. This measure can be calculated only when data from a minimum of three sources are available: Statistics Canada Census Profile, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s Rental Market Survey, and municipal administrative data. Therefore, this feature can only be provided in the follow areas: City of Mississauga, City of Toronto, Durham Region, Halton Region, City of New Westminster, City of Vancouver, and Montréal agglomeration. Note that the Montréal agglomeration can only be displayed at the municipal level due to the nature of the available municipal administrative data.

Secondary market non-condo units are private dwellings for rent that is not in a purpose-built rental apartment building or in a condominium. Secondary market non-condo units are typically basement or secondary suites, houses for rent, or units in small multi-unit dwellings. These rentals are categorized as part of the “secondary market” units because they were built without the intention to supply the rental market, but are currently doing so.

Years Covered: 2011, 2016, 2021

Data Owner: Statistics Canada, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, City of Mississauga, RentSafeTO, Durham Region, Halton Region, City of New Westminster, City of Vancouver, Ville de Montréal

Publication Year: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s Rental Market Survey, Statistics Canada Census Profile: 2011, 2016, 2021; RentSafeTO, Durham Region, Halton Region, City of New Westminster, City of Vancouver, Ville de Montréal: 2023; Toronto Community Housing Corporation: 2022; City of Mississauga: 2017-2019

Share of regional change in primary market units

Definition: The regional share of change in primary market stock is calculated by dividing the change within a geographical area over the past year by the change within the larger region over the same period. If a particular area has a net year-to-year loss in its primary market stock, this will appear as a negative share in regional change of primary market units. Areas with less than 30 primary market units will be suppressed for data reliability purposes.

Years Covered: Municipality: 2007-2022; Census tract: 2012-2022; Rental Market Survey zone: 2012-2022

Data Owner: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

Publication Year: 2007-2023

Residential secondary units

Definition: Residential secondary units are displayed as a percentage of the total rental market in each geographical area. Residential secondary units include buildings that were identified as “secondary suites” using Surrey’s building inventory data. Surrey defines a secondary suite as a second dwelling unit (self-contained living quarters including cooking equipment and a bathroom), located within the structure of an owner-occupied single-family dwelling. All secondary suites in Surrey must be registered.

Years Covered: 2016-2022

Related Data: City of Surrey Building Inventory

Data Owner: City of Surrey

Publication Year: 2017-2023

Eviction filings

Definition: The regional change in eviction filings is the change in count of evictions filed from the previous year per geographical area and is expressed as a percentage. Areas with fewer than 30 evictions filed within a given year are suppressed for data reliability purposes. Filings available through LEMR include all applications in which a landlord is seeking possession. These counts do not include tenants who are evicted illegally or choose to move before a formal legal process is initiated. The data provided through Information Access Operations contained only partial location information, rendering it impossible to display data on a level more granular than Forward Sortation Area (region corresponding to the first three digits of a postal code). Additional details about ending a tenancy can be found on the British Columbia Residential Tenancies website

Years Covered: 2008-2022

Data Owner: British Columbia Residential Tenancy Branch

Publication Year: 2023

Building permits

Definition: Building permits are displayed as the total count of permits filed per year as a proportion of region size (km²). Building level data related to the count of building permits filed, and years of issuance, are presented when clicking on an individual building. Work requiring a permit may or may not include new construction, demolition, additions, renovations, or repairs. For additional information regarding building permit requirements, see the Vancouver Home, Property, and Development website

Years Covered: 2017-2022

Related Data: City of Vancouver Issued Building Permits

Data Owner: City of Vancouver

Publication Year: 2023

Purpose-built rentals by construction year range

Definition: This layer shows purpose-built rental housing by the time-period of construction. This layer includes both market and non-market housing. For Surrey, purpose-built rental includes apartment buildings with legal type equal to land ownership, as determined by BC’s property assessment data. Surrey’s building inventory data also does not include unit count. New Westminster’s purpose-built rentals include buildings designed for rental housing with 3+ units. This data does not distinguish between building form (e.g., apartment vs. townhomes etc.)

Years Covered: 2006-2022

Data Owner: City of New Westminster, City of Surrey

Publication Year: City of New Westminster: 2023; City of Surrey: 2013-2022

Property description

Definition: Additional details about the building type or ownership, depending on the region and associated data source. For the City of New Westminster this field specifies whether the property contains market or non-market housing. In the City of Surrey, the building form is specified (e.g., apartment building, townhouse, etc.). For non-market housing in the City of Vancouver this is the property’s operator. Note that this value corresponds to the operator as of 2023.

Data Owner: City of New Westminster, City of Surrey, City of Vancouver

Years Covered: City of New Westminster, City of Surrey: 2006-2022; City of Vancouver: 2023

Publication Year: City of New Westminster, City of Vancouver: 2023; City of Surrey: 2013-2022

Accessible units

Definition: The number of accessible units in non-market housing projects, as indicated by the City of Vancouver.

Related Data: City of Vancouver Non-Market Housing

Data Owner: City of Vancouver

Years Covered: 2023

Publication Year: 2023

Assessment history

Definition: The history assessment values ($) for the property, as determined by BC Assessment.

Related Data: City of Vancouver Property Tax Report

Data Owner: City of Vancouver, BC Assessment

Years Covered: 2006-2022

Publication Year: 2023

Metro Vancouver Area – Data Definitions