This Calgary woman is ditching Canada over ‘extremely sad’ tent encampments, ‘shacks of homes’ selling for $1M, hard drugs on city streets — and others are following suit

The cost of living crisis in Canada

Three in 10 Canadians (28%) say they’re giving serious consideration to leaving their home province because of housing affordability, according to data from the Angus Reid Institute. And two in five (42%) say they’re considering another country altogether, either the US (15%) or another international destination (27%).

Data compiled by the CBC, using numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS), found that the number of Canadians moving to the US hit 126,340 in 2022 — an increase of nearly 70% from 2012. Snowbirds alone can’t account for such a jump.

In part, this exodus can be attributed to the higher cost of living and lower quality of life in Canada. More than half (55%) of Canadians aged 25 to 44 years reported that rising prices were “greatly affecting their ability to meet day-to-day expenses,” according to the spring 2024 Canadian Social Survey. That’s much higher than it was two years earlier, at 33%. And, nearly four in 10 (38%) Canadians are concerned about their ability to afford housing or rent.

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Housing remains a top concern

Many Canadians have been priced out of the housing market, thanks to increasing demand (including an influx of immigration resulting in record-high population growth and not enough supply (thanks to a perfect storm of factors, including higher construction costs, a decreasing labour pool and a lot of bureaucratic red tape).

Across Canada, the average price of a home sold in September 2024 was $669,630, according to WOWA data, though it’s much higher in areas like Greater Vancouver, where the average home totals $1,252,066 — a cost that has soared 71% over the past decade. In the Greater Toronto Area, the average home sells for $1,068,700.

RBC’s housing affordability measure estimates that “only 45% of all households would have the income to own a condo and a smaller 26% have enough for a single-detached home at today’s prices and interest rates.”

The problem extends to renters, many of whom are struggling to meet their monthly expenses, let alone save to buy a house. In 2023, Canada had record-high average rent growth of 8% and record-low vacancy rates of 1.5%, according to CMHC.

Is there any light at the end of the tunnel?

The Bank of Canada has been cutting interest rates, with the latest cut bringing the overnight rate to 3.75%. This is an attempt to ease inflation, which rose to dramatic highs during the height of the pandemic, reaching 8.1% in June 2022. It’s dropped steadily since that time, to 2.5% in July 2024, which could provide some relief to Canadians.

But this alone won’t solve Canada’s affordability issues. So, for those who don’t want to leave Canada — but can’t afford housing — what are the solutions?

The federal government has a plan to build more homes by bringing down the costs of homebuilding and constructing more affordable housing for students and seniors, as well as working with provinces and municipalities to improve zoning and permit processes. It’s also looking at new construction methods, such as prefabricated housing, to compensate for the tight labour market and increasing cost of construction.

New rules introduced in August will also allow first-time homebuyers to pay their mortgage over 30 years (rather than the previous 25) and put down a smaller down payment. But this doesn’t address the high cost of housing, and it also means Canadians will stay in debt longer while accruing even more interest.

Solving these complex issues will take time and political will. And solutions probably won’t come soon enough to help many struggling Canadians, or stop people like Alina Mcleod from packing up and leaving.

Sources

1. YouTube video: I AM LEAVING CANADA.... and it makes me sad (August 2024)

2. Angus Reid Institue: Canadian Dream? High housing costs has two-in-five recent immigrants saying they may leave their province (or Canada) (July 3, 2024)

3. CBC: Emigration from Canada to the U.S. hits a 10-year high as tens of thousands head south (May 30, 2024)

4. Stastistics Canada: Nearly half of Canadians report that rising prices are greatly impacting their ability to meet day-to-day expenses (August 15, 2024)

5. Stastistics Canada: Canada's population estimates: Record-high population growth in 2022 (March 22, 2023)

6. WOWA: Canadian Housing Market Report (October 21, 2024)

7. RBC: The Great Rebuild: Seven ways to fix Canada’s housing shortage (April 8, 2024)

8. CMHC: Rental Market Report (January 31, 2024)

9. Bank of Canada: Policy interest rate (October 23, 2024)

10. Statista: Average inflation rate and bank rate in Canada from January 2018 to July 2024 (September 9, 2024)

11. Government of Canada: ASolving the Housing Crisis: Canada's Housing Plan