CIMM – Housing Shortages – November 25, 2024

Key Facts and Figures

• Reducing the volume of immigrants will help to alleviate some pressure in the housing market with the housing supply gap expected to decrease by approximately 670,000 units by the end of 2027.
• In the first nine months of 2024, the number of international students coming to Canada was down 43% compared with 2023. Measures to cap international student volumes are already resulting in lower rental prices in some areas of the country that saw large numbers of students in recent years. For example, in Vancouver, one- and two-bedroom apartment rental prices are down more than 10%, and Toronto over 8%.

Key Messages

• Immigrants help build Canada and enrich the national fabric. Canada’s ability to successfully welcome immigrants depends on having the capacity to do so – in particular, having enough homes. However, Canada is currently facing a lack of housing supply which is putting pressure on housing affordability.
• The Government of Canada has recently advanced a series of measures to better match immigration with Canada’s capacity to build new homes. Notably, starting this year, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is incorporating temporary residents into the Levels Plan for the first time, and targeting a decrease in our temporary resident population to 5% of the total population by 2026, to continue aligning our immigration system with Canada’s domestic capacity.
• The Levels Plan, tabled on October 24, will right-size population growth after the post-pandemic surge, support continued robust gross domestic product (GDP) growth and enable GDP per capita growth to accelerate throughout 2025 to 2027, improve housing affordability, and lower the unemployment rate.
• Visitors, international students and temporary workers are a critical part of Canada’s social, cultural and economic fabric. However, it is essential to balance this with our welcoming capacity so that services and support, including affordable housing, are available.

Supplementary Information

• According to Statistics Canada, in 2023, Canada experienced its highest annual population growth rate since 1957, at 3.2%. Numbers from the second quarter of 2024 indicate that quarterly population growth has begun to slow for the first time since 2020. Statistics Canada indicates that temporary and permanent immigration accounted for almost 98% of the growth in 2023.

Budget 2024 and Canada’s Housing Plan

• Budget 2024 included a number of housing investments that aim to stimulate innovative construction, protect renters, and train and recruit the next generation of skilled trades workers. Highlights include:
  • Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund:
    $6B over 10 years to launch the fund, to accelerate the construction and upgrading of housing infrastructure, and to improve densification.
  • Housing Accelerator Fund:
    $400M over four years, in additional investments to top up the Housing Accelerator Fund to help fast track 12,000 new homes in the next three years.
  • Apartment Construction Loan Program:
    $15B in new loan funding for the Apartment Construction Loan Program to build more rental apartments.
  • Foreign Credential Recognition Program:
    $50M over two years to streamline foreign credential recognition within the construction and health care sectors.
  • New Rapid Housing Stream
    $976M over five years and $24M ongoing to launch the new stream under the Affordable Housing Fund, to build deeply affordable housing, supportive housing and shelters for the most vulnerable.
  • Federal Homelessness Strategy:
    $1.3B over four years in additional investments for Canada’s Homelessness Strategy to support emergency funding over the winter for those experiencing or at risk of unsheltered homelessness, including those living in encampments.
  • Interim Housing Assistance Program:
    $1.1B over three years for the Interim Housing Assistance Program which helps provincial and municipal governments prevent homelessness for asylum claimants on a cost-sharing basis;
• The Budget also included extending goods and sales tax (GST) relief to new student residences: $19M over five years, and $5M per year ongoing, for the removal of GST on new student residences for not-for-profit universities, public colleges, and school authorities to alleviate pressures to student housing projects.
• The Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities released Canada’s Housing 2030 Plan to the public on April 12, 2024, to help respond to the housing crisis. The plan contains three themes: (1) Building more homes; (2) Making it easier to own or rent a home; and (3) Helping Canadians who can’t afford a home.

Facilitative pathways for construction workers

• Category based selection was launched in Express Entry in June 2023; Between June 2023 and October 2024, IRCC invited 6,100 candidates through four trade category invitations rounds to apply for permanent residence.
• Temporary Foreign Workers: Between 2023 and the end of February 2024, IRCC issued over 42,000 work permits^{Footnote 1} to temporary foreign workers in construction sector occupations, with the majority coming under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. As well, construction is a sector exempted from the 10% cap on the proportion of temporary foreign workers that can be hired in low-wage positions at a specific work location.
• Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP): IRCC supports provinces and territories in developing targeted initiatives to fill critical labour market needs in the construction sector to support housing development. For instance, last year, IRCC officials worked closely with Nova Scotia in designing the Critical Construction Worker Pilot under their PNP, which was launched in October 2023.
• The Atlantic Immigration Program and the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot are also regional economic immigration programs designed with the needs of key sectors in mind and has flexibilities to respond to critical labour market needs, such as the construction sector.
• Global Skills Missions: IRCC will organize global skills missions in collaboration with government representatives, employers and stakeholders, to recruit the talent Canada needs.