Linking immigration to the housing shortage may be missing the problem, experts say

With rising rents and house prices making it increasingly hard to find an affordable place to live, some are pointing the finger at Canada's record-level immigration rates.

With rising rents and house prices making it increasingly hard to find an affordable place to live, some are pointing the finger at Canada's record-level immigration rates.

Immigration is not the only thing putting a strain on the housing market. High interest rates, increasing building costs and red tape at the municipal level that can slow down or halt home construction are all part of the picture.

Experts and economists say that targeting immigration broadly won't bring the cost of housing down. What's required, they say, is a more nuanced approach.

Many housing experts say tying the official immigration target — even at the 500,000 per year level  — to the number of houses built each year won't make housing more affordable.

David Hulchanski, a professor of housing and community development at the University of Toronto's Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, said new arrivals are free to live where they want — which may not be where housing is available.

"Are we going to require all immigrants to stay in place?" he asked.

Hulchanski said it's also important to distinguish between households and homes because "the 40 million people in Canada don't live in 40 million houses."

Canadian households, he said, have an average of about 2.45 people. In Germany it's just 2.14 people per household, while in Ireland it's 2.73 people per household.

By that measure, he said, 500,000 immigrants would need about 204,000 homes in Canada, 233,000 homes in Germany and just 183,000 in Ireland.

Still, Hulchanski and other housing experts see a clear link between non-permanent immigration and housing availability.

The massive recent spike in non-permanent residents, they say, has had a substantial impact on housing affordability.

"We exponentially increased demand [for housing]," said Stephen Pomeroy, a professor and housing expert at McMaster University.

"Temporary foreign workers and students don't come to buy homes. They rent. So we've had a massive demand impact on the rental part of the housing system."