Vancouver has created the most social and affordable housing, both new construction and renewed stock, in the past three years: about 15 times as much per capita as Melbourne, with equally limited federal government support until the past year. The local and provincial government, investors, and non-profit developers have developed six integrated ‘game-changers’, which together are increasing the capacity to scale up a viable non-speculative housing sector Portland has been able to scale up affordable housing for very low-income residents, through imaginative use of new funding mechanisms. Toronto has been unsuccessful in developing new social housing and has lost considerable social housing, because of very poor leadership from the local and provincial governments.