Housing is in the news in Canada. Housing is always in the news in Canada. Because housing in Canada is a relentless catastrophe.

Writing in the Globe and Mail, freelance journalist Rob Csernyik argues we ought to normalize renting. Apparently, we are destined to rent. The goal, or dream, of home ownership is structurally out of reach, and yet we cling to it. Desperately. And we oftentimes take risky measures to reach it. But there is another way, evidently. “By not only normalizing but embracing renting we can redefine what it means to live in Canada,” writes Csernyik. “This alone won’t solve housing gaps and spur necessary construction, but shifting public sentiment can offer an impetus for that necessary journey. More importantly, we can unlock economic gains that are currently sidelined.” Renting frees up economic opportunity, so the logic goes. This economic liberty is good for everyone — renters and workers, landlords and businesses alike. To live in harmony, after all, the economy has work for everyone.

Csernyik is on to something. Sort of. Individual housing ownership as we practice it produces cascading negative externalities. Lots of them. It harms urban infrastructure. It shapes retirement — or a lack thereof. It creates homelessness. It makes people miserable. But is the answer to double down on market ownership and reinforce a society of renters and rentiers? This idea makes little sense in a world in which large institutional investors are buying up housing stock en masse and fighting to control the rental market. It makes even less sense in a country in which class divide is entrenched and oligopoly and monopoly in rental markets is a looming threat.