if you really do the math around what it actually takes to buy a house and the amount of money people are making, even on minimum wage, it's worth asking if the real problem canadians are facing in relation to housing isn't their addictions to drugs, tobacco, marijuana, alcohol, debt, fast food and gasoline.

if i had $3000/month, and i were to rent a reasonably priced $1300-$1500 apartment here in windsor, i'd be able to put $1000/month into a savings account and, with interest, have enough of a downpayment to buy a $250-$300K house in less than two years. that's barely minimum wage.

it's not clear to me why young people aren't able to do this, other than that they waste their money on poor lifestyle decisions, in large part perhaps inherited from their parents, and then complain that they can't afford housing as a result of these lifestyle choices.

the canadian government may consequently want to research a cost-benefit analysis around the question of it may be worth trying to get smoking rates, marijuana use, alcohol use, indebtedness, fast food consumption and gasoline use down as a part of it's housing strategy. people might find they can afford to buy a house after all, if they'd just make more intelligent choices with their money.