Demand for housing in BC lower mainland. In 2021, the B.C.’s net migration reached 100,797 people, with two-thirds of that increase coming from abroad. It was the highest annual total since 1961, according to the B.C. government, but it could become the norm over the next several years.
Ottawa has said it hopes to welcome 485,000 newcomers in 2024 and 500,000 in 2025. If B.C. continues to absorb around 20 per cent of immigrants to the country, the province could be looking at 97,000 newcomers next year, and around 100,000 in 2025.
Vancouver has the second-largest proportion of immigrants of large urban centres in Canada, according to 2021 census data from Statistics Canada. Immigrants also account for three-fifths (60.3 per cent) of the population of Richmond and half (50.4 per cent) of Burnaby’s population, according to census data.
McNeill told Glacier Media in December that the province will have to build housing and amenities “roughly the size of Burnaby” in the next three years to accommodate the new targets.