Canada Multifamily National Report

Demographic tailwinds fading for the multifamily sector. In line with expectations, Canada’s immigration reform has significantly slowed population growth. Between October 2024 and March 2025, the temporary resident population declined by 89,000 – a stark contrast to an increase of 340,000 during the same six-month period the year before. This reversal brought annual population growth down to 1.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2025 – a sharp slowdown from 3.2 per cent a year earlier. If the federal government follows through on its plan to reduce the non-permanent resident population to 5.0 per cent of Canada’s total, overall population is projected to decline by 0.2 to 0.3 per cent annually in 2025 and 2026. As the majority of non permanent residents are renters, their departure will continue to ease demand pressures in the apartment rental market. The impact will be especially pronounced in some larger metropolitan areas, where post-pandemic population growth had relied heavily on inflows of international students and temporary foreign workers.