Canada’s housing crisis prompts nearly 40% of immigrants to consider moving: survey

Canada’s reputation as a welcoming country for newcomers could be under threat as the ongoing housing affordability crisis hits immigrants hardest, according to a new Angus Reid poll.

According to the survey, 28% of Canadians are seriously considering leaving their province because housing costs are too high. This figure rises to 39% among people who have lived in Canada for 10 years or less.

“As more immigrants seek to realize the Canadian dream from abroad, many who have arrived in recent years have found it less of a dream than a nightmare,” the report says.

Among immigrants who have lived in Canada for 11 years or more, the proportion who plan to leave their province is 30%, which is closer to the general average.

The survey, which polled 4,204 Canadians in mid-June, found that levels of dissatisfaction largely corresponded with the respective housing costs of Canadian cities, and also found that a slight majority of respondents hope the affordability situation will improve in “the coming years.”

Home prices have soared in many Canadian cities in recent years, and rental vacancy rates have hit rock-bottom levels. Economists warn the crisis could reach “even more alarming levels” in the years ahead if new home construction doesn’t increase significantly. The recent boom in population growth has contributed to the problem, but policymakers disagree on its extent, citing chronic labour shortages and rising interest rates as factors.

The survey results come on the heels of other recent data that suggest a possible erosion of Canada’s status as a “model of successful migration management,” according to the OECD. Statistics Canada reported earlier this year that the citizenship rate among recent immigrants fell from 75.4 per cent in 1996 to 45.7 per cent in 2021. While some of that decline is likely due to pandemic-related restrictions, the agency writes that “even accounting for the impact of the pandemic, the citizenship rate declined at a faster pace from 2016 to 2021 than in any other five-year intercensal period since 1996.”

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City discontent

Respondents living in cities with the highest housing prices are the most likely to consider leaving their province, the survey found. The percentage of people who agreed or strongly agreed that they were “seriously considering leaving” their province because of housing costs was 44 per cent in central and suburban Toronto, and 33 per cent in Vancouver.

Provincially, Ontario (39%) and British Columbia (36%) had the highest number of respondents considering leaving, while Quebec (16%) and Saskatchewan (15%) had the lowest number.

Nationally, among both immigrants and native-born Canadians, a majority of those considering leaving the country (45%) would relocate elsewhere in Canada, with Alberta (18%) and Atlantic Canada (10%) being the two most popular destinations. Alberta has seen massive interprovincial migration in recent years, with housing prices more affordable than in many other provinces.

An additional 15 percent listed the United States as their desired destination, 27 percent a country other than the United States and 12 percent were unsure.

Optimism about improving housing affordability in the coming years varies considerably by region. Quebecers are the most pessimistic, with 58% saying they disagree or strongly disagree with the idea of ​​“hoping for an improvement in housing affordability in the coming years.” More than half of respondents in other provinces have a positive view of the future.

John MacFarlane is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jmacf. Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple And Android.