Rent

Military bases in Canada typically have PMQs, or Private Married Quarters. PMQs, now called Residential Housing Units (RHUs), consists of apartments, row houses, duplex or detached houses. Family size and availability dictate what type of housing is allocated. Military base housing is helpful because military members are forced to move frequently. So, members who live in RHUs do not have to be concerned with constantly selling and buying a house, they only need to pay rent and utilities. RHUs also help with the fact that many military bases are located within hot real estate markets, or worse, non-existent real estate markets in more isolated posts. Living in PMQs/RHUs is also convenient since personnel are typically close to work.

The nature of the PMQ/RHU neighborhood is such that there is social support. Children of military personnel (base brats) also have a bond because of what they have in common.

Currently the Canadian Forces Housing Agency (CFHA) houses only 17% of eligible Canadian Forces members in RHUs. Accommodation in the private sector is popular when rents and home costs are competitive. Many service personnel like to develop equity in their homes. The issue is that in many markets in close proximity, real estate markets have priced homes far beyond a military member's salary. Most PMQs were built in the 1950s with bare bones construction, minimal insulation and single pane windows, although many have been renovated. Most RHUs do not have garages. No new RHUs have been built on military bases, even those whose populations have tripled over the decades.

Lately, a senior Air Force officer told members that they should consider contacting Habitat for Humanity if they were finding it difficult to secure affordable housing.