Most of this (313k) is temporary work visas and student visas according to the article and makes sense given the absolute collapse of these numbers during COVID and the fact that applications for school often happen a year out, last year was the first year for any new international students, this year is the first “normal” year.

It’s also worth noting, this is around 2.4% growth in the population annually, so while the absolute number is high(bigger population, bigger numbers) the percentage growth is actually not that high compared to historical norms.

https://datacommons.org/tools/timeline#&place=country/CAN&statsVar=GrowthRate_Count_Person

That doesn’t mean it isn’t causing problems for Housing. It absolutely is, but if you take away international students our education system will collapse since Canada is a massive exporter of education and we use it to fund domestic students.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Experts have been warning that the strong pace of population growth in Canada is eroding housing affordability, given the country has struggled to ramp up home construction.

Earlier this month, Bank of Canada deputy governor Toni Gravelle gave a speech on the effect of immigration on the economy and inflation in particular.

Gravelle acknowledged there are many benefits to this rise in immigration, noting it has helped grow the economy, expand the workforce and counteract an aging population.

"This jump in demographic demand coupled with the existing structural supply issues could explain why rent inflation continues to climb in Canada.

It also helps explain, in part, why housing prices have not fallen as much as we had expected," Gravelle told the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce.

In a Leger poll last month, about three-quarters of respondents agreed the increase in immigrants is adding strain to both the housing market and health-care system.

The original article contains 337 words, the summary contains 152 words. Saved 55%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!