Newcomers to Canada Caused 11 to 21 Percent of Housing Price Increases: Department of Immigration

Immigrants arriving in Canada led to a rise in housing prices, accounting for 11 percent of the price increase in smaller towns and 21 percent in cities of more than 100,000 people, according to the Immigration Department.

According to the report “Immigration and Housing Prices Across Municipalities in Canada,” municipal data across Canada from 2006 to 2021 suggest that over the study period, “the rise in the influx of new immigrants, who arrived in Canada within the past five years, on average, accounted for 11 percent of the rise in median house values and in median rents across municipalities with a population of at least 1,000.”

The report, first covered by Blacklock’s Reporter, said this association was “notably more pronounced” in larger municipalities.

“In the 53 municipalities with a population exceeding 100,000, which together attracted over 80 percent of new immigrants, the rise in new immigrants accounted for 21 percent of the overall increase in median house values and 13 percent of the increase in median rents,” said the report.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said data from municipalities across Canada during the 2006–11 and 2016–21 periods suggest that “municipalities experiencing larger increases in house values also saw a more rapid increase in new immigrant populations.”

The report said the connection between immigration and housing prices “varied over time and across regions” and highlighted that immigration was not the only factor influencing housing prices. 

It noted, for example, that there was a noticeable discrepancy between regions where new immigrants settled and where housing prices increased for the 2011–16 period, where Alberta and Saskatchewan saw significant immigrant growth but little change in housing values.

The report said immigration’s impact on housing costs may be more significant in provinces with higher housing demand and lower supply. “The varied impact of immigration on housing prices across different regions and time periods suggests that any observed trends are closely tied to the specific economic and policy context of each region and time period,” it said.

The report added that the ongoing debates on immigration’s role in housing price dynamics “often lack definitive empirical evidence, and establishing such evidence is a challenging task.”

A separate Bank of Canada report from July 2024 indicated that immigration contributes “inflationary pressures in some sectors” and in particular drove up house prices and rents. “This is because most newcomers start out as renters,” said the Bank’s monetary policy report.

The report also said the high population growth in recent years had boosted demand for housing and added to existing pressures on housing prices and rents. “The increase in housing demand from newcomers is being felt across all types of housing, but the largest initial impact tends to be in rental markets.”

Canada’s population increased from 38 million in July 2020 to an estimated approximately 41.7 million in July 2025.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada had warned back in 2022 that Canada’s population growth “has exceeded the growth in available housing units.”