Ontario’s affordable housing crisis remains deep and persistent. More than 600,000 households (that’s more than 1.5 million women, men and children) are in core housing need1, and many more are directly affected by a shortage of homes and high housing prices. The affordable housing crisis affects the personal health of individual Ontarians, it disrupts communities and it is a drag on the economic health of the province. The costs of the affordable housing crisis are high, much higher than the costs of the solutions. This primer from the Wellesley Institute looks at affordable housing issues since the last provincial election in the fall of 2003.