Appendix E The variables

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The tenure, geographic and demographic variables outlined below are factors that may be correlated with housing affordability and therefore were included in the models.

Tenure

Owners - with mortgage all 3 years

Owners - without mortgages all 3 years

Owners - with a change in mortgage status during the three-year period

Renters - subsidized all 3 years

Renters - market rent (reference category)

Renters – with a change in the rent subsidy status during the three-year period

Changed tenure - refers to those who both owned and rented during the three-year period

Geography

Toronto

Vancouver

Montreal

Ottawa/Gatineau (reference category)

Calgary

Edmonton

Victoria

Other Census Metropolitan Areas, Census Agglomerations, or small urban centres

Rural

Changed - refers to those who had moved between any of the above places during the three-year period

Age group

16 to 19

20 to 29

30 to 49 (reference category)

50 to 64

65 and above

• based on age in 2002

Disability status

Disabled in any of the three years

Not disabled in any of the three years (reference category)

• respondents assess whether they have any difficulty doing any of the activities of daily living and whether they have a physical condition or mental condition or health problem that reduces the amount or kind of activity they can do at work, at school, at home, etc.
• don't know and refusals are re-coded as non-disabled

Aboriginal status

Aboriginal

Non-Aboriginal (reference category)

• only off-reserve aboriginals are covered in SLID
• don't know and refusals are re-coded as non-Aboriginal in this study
• Those classified in SLID as Aboriginal (629,000 off reserve Aboriginals aged 16 and over) indicated at least one of the following: that they were a Treaty Indian or a Registered Indian as defined by the Indian Act of Canada; or that their ancestors were Cree, Micmac, Métis, Inuit or other Aboriginal groups. Thus, SLID classifies persons as Aboriginal using ancestry as well as a partial measure of identity. In contrast, the Census estimate used most often is based on identity rather than ancestry. For the Census identity approach, those in the Aboriginal category have to have answered yes to at least one of the following: that they were an Aboriginal person; that they were a member of an Indian Band or First Nation; or that they were a Treaty Indian or a Registered Indian as defined by the Indian Act of Canada. The Census identity approach resulted in 471,000 Aboriginals aged 15 and over.

Visible minority

Visible minority

Not visible minority (reference category)

• don't know and refusals are re-coded as not visible minority
• Visible minority status is defined based on three questions: mother tongue, ethnic or cultural group of ancestry, and country of birth

Immigrants: Years in Canada before 2002

0 to 9

10 to 19

20 to 29

30 to 39

40 or more

Non-immigrant (reference category)

• based on number of years in 2002
• don't know and refusals are re-coded as non-immigrant

Family type

Couple family (reference category)

Women living alone

Men living alone

Female lone-parent

Other family type

Changed family type

• based on family situation all three years
• "changed" refers to changes in family type between any of the three years
• the major income earner is used as the reference person in the derivation of this variable

Education

Below high school

Graduated high school

Some post-secondary education without certificate

Some post-secondary education with certificate (reference category)

Bachelor's degree

Postgraduate degree

• based on the highest level of education as of 2002