Case Study · Transit & housing
Regional Express Rail's Impact on Housing Affordability
A 773-community analysis connecting transit access, housing prices, commuting costs and overall shelter affordability.
Headline finding
+1.5% affordability
Toronto Real Estate Board · 2016
What the Work Shows
Using data across 773 Greater Golden Horseshoe communities, CANCEA examined housing affordability as the combined cost of shelter and transportation rather than housing price alone. The analysis tested how Regional Express Rail could change accessibility, commuting behaviour and housing-market outcomes.
For households around GO stations outside Toronto, the model estimated an average 1.5% affordability improvement as lower transportation costs more than offset housing-price effects for households that shifted from driving to rail. Improved transit access could also support housing-price premiums of up to 12% in some locations.
Why It Matters
The case shows why housing and transportation cannot be evaluated independently: accessibility can change both the price of where people live and the cost of reaching work and services.
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