The authors alone are responsible for the contents of the paper and the opinions expressed, which are not attributable to the reviewers, IMFG or its funders. [...] But the economics of affordable housing is complex and there is no “free lunch.” Somebody has to pay the difference between the affordable rates and the market price. [...] Section 2 assesses the problems, describing the of poverty, income stratification, and homelessness create housing affordability gap, the state of the social housing demand for affordable housing. [...] This is particularly true in sector, federal and provincial housing policies and fiscal Ontario, the only Canadian province in which social housing conditions, and the present uncertainty in the housing is a municipal responsibility. [...] During the 1990s, the federal government – the central player in the construction of public housing in the postwar Desperate times are calling for radical thinking.