Imbalance between new homes and new residents escalating unaffordability in B.C.

The imbalance between the number of people moving to B.C. and the amount of new housing being built is fuelling B.C's housing affordability crisis. Permanent and non-permanent immigration has surged in the last few years, with 180,000 people moving from other jurisdictions and 40,000 new housing units completed. This is a stark contrast to the average number of newcomers between 2008 and 2018, which was 38,000, and the decade-long average of 10,000 non-permanent residents. This imbalance has been remarkably stable over the past three decades and is continuing to cause housing affordability issues in B.C.