Feds overestimate impact of immigration on housing, PBO says

Photo: Spencer Colby The Canadian Press Yves Giroux, the Parliamentary Budget Officer, seen here in June 2024

Nick Murray – The Canadian Press in Ottawa

Published at 3:30 p.m.

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• Canada

Canada’s Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) says the federal government is overestimating the impact its new immigration plan will have on the country’s housing shortage.

In October, the Liberal government announced it would reduce the number of permanent residents allowed into the country between 2025 and 2027.

The PBO has previously noted that Canada needs to build 1.3 million more homes by 2030 to close the housing gap. Now, he says the revised immigration plan will reduce that number by 45 per cent, or 534,000 units.

The government has projected that its new immigration targets will reduce that number by 670,000 by 2027.

The Liberal plan to reduce immigration levels is expected to result in a population decline of 0.2 per cent in each of the next two years.

The PBO noted that this would be the first time Canada has seen an annual population decline.