Are immigrants causing problems in rising rents in Canada?

According to data released this week by Statistics Canada, rental prices in the country increased by an average of 8.2% from October 2022 to October 2023. Meanwhile, the sharp increase in population in the country is not unrelated to this situation.

National Bank Chief Economist Stephen Marion says: “There is no record in Canada where peak rent inflation has exceeded peak headline inflation.” As long as the federal government does not reduce the ceiling for immigrants, for 37% of Canadian households that are renters, a significant improvement in conditions cannot be expected. According to Stephen Marion, the imbalance in the Canadian housing market is mainly caused by the unprecedented increase in the working-age population. Is. During the last 12 months, 874,000 people were added to the labor force in Canada, which is a completely unprecedented growth. But the Minister of Finance has a different view and believes that what has exacerbated inflation is the lack of labor, not the increase in immigration and rapid population growth.