One key observation in the report was that Hamilton is struggling to retain young families, losing thousands of people on net yearly to Brantford and St. Catharines-Niagara and also losing more people to other provinces than other mid-sized Ontario metros. Photo Credit: Government of Alberta.
New data from Statistics Canada in December details “record-high population growth” in the country which is “fuelled by strong permanent and temporary immigration.”
However, that same data notes that Ontario continues to lose thousands of people per year in interprovincial migration.
Canada’s population was estimated at 40,528,396 on October 1, 2023, an increase of 430,635 people from July 1.
Statistics Canada notes that Canada’s total population growth for the first nine months of 2023 was an increase of 1,030,378 people, which already exceeded the total growth for any other full-year period in Canada’s history, including 2022 when there was record growth.
In the third quarter of 2023, 96 per cent of the population growth was due to international migration.
Canada brought in 371,299 immigrants from January to September 2023.
From July 1 to October 1, the country saw the number of non-permanent residents (e.g. work and study permit holders and refugee claimants) increase from 2,198,679 to 2,511,437.
A large number of those coming into Canada come to Ontario, with the province’s population increasing from 15,378,179 in quarter one of 2023 to 15,801,768 in quarter three.
On the other hand, the data also notes that Ontario is losing thousands of people to interprovincial migration, which has largely been attributed to high housing costs in the province, made worse with the increase in people.
Ontario’s interprovincial migration numbers saw a net loss of 5,952 people in 2023.
All provinces and territories recorded losses in interprovincial migration numbers in the third quarter of 2023 except for Alberta and New Brunswick.
Alberta saw a net gain of 17,094 people while New Brunswick saw a small gain of 21.
Statistics Canada also notes that “Alberta has registered interprovincial migration gains of 10,000 or more for five consecutive quarters for the first time since comparable data were made available (1971).”
The Alberta Government has even launched a PR campaign dubbed “Alberta is Calling” advertising the province as “affordable, friendly, and rich in opportunity.”
The PR campaign’s website even appears to be targeted to Hamiltonians since it lists the average house price in Hamilton ($875,000), compared to the average in Calgary ($679,000) and Edmonton ($460,000).
The Statistics Canada data echoes what City of Hamilton Councillors heard from Dr. Mike Moffatt of the Smart Prosperity Institute, a national research network and policy think tank based at the University of Ottawa, a few weeks ago.
Council heard a delegation from the Institute that emphasized the city is losing young families due to the high cost of housing.
Moffatt co-authored a 55-page housing report entitled “Who Will Swing the Hammer?” about Hamilton housing affordability with fellow researchers Jesse Helmer and Maryam Hosseini.
One key observation in the report was that Hamilton is struggling to retain young families, losing thousands of people on net yearly to Brantford and St. Catharines-Niagara and also losing more people to other provinces than other mid-sized Ontario metros.
The report added that Hamilton has a pre-existing housing shortage of roughly 14,500 units.
It continues by noting that the city will have increased difficulty competing with cities like Ottawa and Calgary for talent due to a lack of attainable housing.
Even though Hamilton is reportedly still relatively competitive in attracting families without children, families are being priced out.
As such, the report posits that metropolitan Hamilton, which includes the City of Hamilton, Burlington, and Grimsby, “is struggling to attract and retain young workers” which is becoming a relatively serious problem.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
