Despite a rise in public anti-immigration sentiment, experts say immigration is just one factor in the housing affordability equation, and that post-COVID-19 federal policies have exacerbated issues that were previously contained.
According to research by the Environics Institute published Oct. 17, almost six in 10 (58 per cent) Canadians say they now believe the country accepts too many immigrants, reflecting a 14-percentage-point increase since 2023, that followed a 17-point increase from 2022 to 2023.
It is the most rapid change over a two-year period since 1977, when the Environics Institute began asking this question, and the greatest proportion of Canadians in over 25 years to say there is too much immigration, according to the institute.
With housing affordability a top issue in the recent provincial election, it’s no surprise that some have largely attributed the crisis to immigration, which is controlled by the federal government. But experts say that other demographic changes, such as births and deaths, play important roles as well, and that immigration has clear economic benefits.
“You see this back-and-forth where immigrants often end up as this kind of ping-pong ball,” said Nathanael Lauster, associate professor of sociology at the University of British Columbia (UBC).
It “gets paddled back and forth by different political actors, and that’s quite dangerous, I think, and quite bad for immigrants, and bad for society at large as well when we see that kind of thing.”
High growth preceded immigration reduction targets
According to BC Stats, there were 14,160 international migrants to B.C. in Q1 2019, compared to 40,271 in Q1 2024, the latest data available. That’s an increase of 184 per cent from five years ago, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last month, in response to housing market concerns, Ottawa reduced its projected number of new permanent residents in 2025 to 395,000 from 485,000—a decrease of 18.5 per cent. The target will fall further to 380,000 in 2026 and 365,000 in 2027.
International students are another large cohort. In September, the Liberal government announced changes expected to yield approximately 300,000 fewer study permits issued over the next three years, once again citing a strained housing market.
As numbers come down, spending is going up. At the provincial level, programs are growing to assist new immigrants. For example, the province quadrupled annual funding for newcomer services from $6 million to $25.6 million to ensure more people get more support more easily when they come to B.C.
This funding includes helping refugee claimants and others in vulnerable situations, and can include assistance in finding and securing housing, understanding tenancy rights, accessing emergency shelters and settling into long-term housing solutions.
Immigration can support secondary markets
“When the economy is working, immigrants are good. When the economy doesn’t work, immigrants are the scapegoat,” said Carlos Teixeira, geography professor with UBC Okanagan.
Teixeira said immigrants are needed due to low fertility levels in Canada, as well as for other demographic and economic reasons. He said many immigrants now go directly to the suburbs and bypass inner cities, reversing historical trends. This can be a valuable economic boost to secondary real estate markets.
“What we have seen in the last four, five years, particularly after COVID, we opened the doors to immigrants, they came and they find jobs, they work—that’s why they came to this country, that’s contributing to our economy—but they are also putting pressure on the local housing market.”
In a 2022 paper he co-authored with Anabel Salinas, Teixeira looked at the experiences of Mexican immigrants in Vancouver suburbs and found that they were equally affected by inadequate housing supply.
“Almost half of the survey respondents spent more than 30 per cent of their monthly income on housing,” the paper in GeoJournal said. “Renters used various strategies to afford housing, including sharing housing with relatives and co-ethnic friends (sometimes in overcrowded conditions), while some homeowners sub-let rooms or rented out basement suites.”
His paper continued: “The findings also revealed that in addition to facing employment and housing market challenges similar to other immigrant groups in Vancouver, Mexican immigrants experienced housing discrimination related to suspicions about undocumented immigration.”
Housing market not meeting newcomer needs
Chris Friesen, COO of Immigrant Services Society of BC (ISSofBC), said many immigrants have special housing needs that are not always met by market forces.
The organization assists two main groups: Refugees selected abroad and referred to Canada as part of the country’s re-settlement program, and immigrants who choose to come to Canada through the point system, family sponsorship and other voluntary pathways.
ISSofBC teams in Vancouver and Surrey help government-assisted refugees and refugee claimants actively search for permanent housing.
“The settlement process can’t ultimately start until they have a permanent address, where the children can then register to go to school and the parents can register to attend language classes and a variety of other supports,” said Friesen. “Housing is key to the settlement process or journey.”
ISSofBC does not provide housing search assistance for non-refugees, but Friesen said it offers information, orientations and workshops on the regional market, in addition to pre-arrival orientation programs. Other organizations like MOSAIC and S.U.C.C.E.S.S. are also active in this space, and there are numerous community-focused Facebook sites in different languages that offer informal assistance.
Friesen said the housing market doesn’t always accommodate the larger family sizes of refugees.
“On the one hand, we want the children, because we desperately need a younger population in this country, but on the other hand, it adds a level of complexity when you’re having to find housing for a family of six or eight or more,” he said.
UBC’s Lauster noted that while co-living or intergenerational living may be more common in some cultures, it can also be a financial necessity.
Last month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledged that government “didn’t get the balance quite right” when it bolstered immigration to address post-pandemic labour shortages.
According to Lauster, the federal government’s planned immigration reductions should provide a meaningful boost to home affordability and availability.
“We tend to think of three main factors as affecting populations: That’s births, deaths and migration. Births take a while to affect demand for housing, generally speaking. Deaths and migration can affect it pretty quickly, in terms of these short-term changes in population.”
Meanwhile, Teixeira is concerned about the mainstreaming of racism against immigrants and visible minorities. Despite this, he said his surveys suggest immigrants remain hopeful.
“One of my last questions I ask in most of my surveys … is more or less this: ‘Was it worthwhile coming to Canada?’ The percentage is 90-per-cent-plus,” he said.
