Demographics has become front-page news in Canada. The national population was 40 million in summer 2023 and within nine months surged to 41 million — most of that due to immigration.

While the federal government has plans to temporarily reduce immigration, and especially the number of foreign students, Canada’s population is expected to continue to grow substantially in coming months and years.

In this episode of CRE Talks, Stan Ivankovic, vice-president, business development with Environics Analytics and Adam Jacobs, head of research with Colliers Canada, discuss how Canada’s record immigration and rebounding tourism are impacting labour, consumer spending and the housing market in this country.

Canadian residents continue to face super-high home prices, development delays and the sluggish construction of new homes, and there are various challenges and bright spots to keep an eye on.

Jacobs and Ivankovic cover the following topics:

• Over the last few years, Canada has seen more immigration to secondary or tertiary markets, and particularly in Alberta, which has been trying to attract more residents.
• Immigration is not only changing the number of Canadian consumers, but is also shifting how people consume products and the types of services required around the country.
• A surging population could also prove to be a boon for the office market as many industries will need larger teams of white-collar workers to remain functional and productive.
• Overall demand for various types of housing is going to increase, but we have yet to see meaningful solutions to expand and diversify the national housing inventory to keep pace with growth. It's becoming increasingly clear that governments alone will not be able to solve this problem.
• We're in the middle of a debate about productivity and the office. While many workers remain productive in a hybrid work environment, what are the consequences for innovation?
• Footwear, cosmetics, dollar stores and urban malls are thriving in the retail landscape. How are other retail types performing?
• Some forms of tourism, including cruises, are bouncing back, but we have yet to see tourism from China return to pre-pandemic levels — and that could impact the luxury shopping sector.