2025 Federal Election
Homebuilding in Canada stalls despite population explosion
From the Fraser Institute
By Austin Thompson and Steven Globerman
Between 1972 and 2019, Canada’s population increased by 1.8 residents for every new housing unit started compared to 3.9 new residents in 2024. In other words, Canada must now house more than twice as many new residents per new housing unit as it did during the five decades prior to the pandemic
In many parts of Canada, the housing affordability crisis continues with no end in sight. And many Canadians, priced out of the housing market or struggling to afford rent increases, are left wondering how much longer this will continue.
Simply put, too few housing units are being built for the country’s rapidly growing population, which has exploded due to record-high levels of immigration and the federal government’s residency policies.
As noted in a new study published by the Fraser Institute, the country added an all-time high 1.2 million new residents in 2023—more than double the previous record in 2019—and another 951,000 new residents in 2024. Altogether, Canada’s population has grown by about 3 million people since 2022—roughly matching the total population increase during the 1990s.
Meanwhile, homebuilding isn’t keeping up. In 2024, construction started on roughly 245,000 new housing units nationwide—down from a recent peak of 272,000 in 2021. By contrast, in the 1970s construction started on more than 240,000 housing units (on average) per year—when Canada’s population grew by approximately 280,000 people annually.
In fact, between 1972 and 2019, Canada’s population increased by 1.8 residents for every new housing unit started compared to 3.9 new residents in 2024. In other words, Canada must now house more than twice as many new residents per new housing unit as it did during the five decades prior to the pandemic. And of course, housing follows the laws of supply and demand—when a lot more prospective buyers and renters chase a limited supply of new homes, prices increase.
This key insight should guide the policy responses from all levels of government.
For example, the next federal government—whoever that may be—should avoid policies that merely fuel housing demand such as home savings accounts. And provincial governments (including in Ontario and British Columbia) should scrap any policies that discourage new housing supply such as rent controls, which reduce incentives to build rental housing. At the municipal level, governments across the country should ensure that permit approval timelines and building fees do not discourage builders from breaking ground. Increasing housing supply is, however, only part of the solution. The next federal government should craft immigration and residency policies so population growth doesn’t overwhelm available housing supply, driving up costs for Canadians.
It’s hard to predict how long Canada’s housing affordability crisis will last. But without more homebuilding, slower population growth, or both, there’s little reason to expect affordability woes to subside anytime soon.
Austin Thompson
Steven Globerman
Senior Fellow and Addington Chair in Measurement, Fraser Institute
2025 Federal Election
Liberals edge closer to majority as judicial recount flips another Ontario seat
From LifeSiteNews
The Liberal Party is two seats away from a majority government after a recount flipped an Ontario riding in its favor, marking the second riding to switch to the Liberals post-election.
The chances of a Liberal Party majority government are increasing after another judicial recount flipped a riding.
On May 16, a judicial recount switched the southern Ontario riding of Milton East-Halton Hills South to a Liberal victory with a 21-vote difference between the Liberal and Conservative parties.
“Just before midnight, an official recount confirmed the outcome of the race in our riding of Milton East-Halton Hills South,” Liberal Kristina Tesser Derksen celebrated on X.
“It is a profound honour to be elected as your MP,” she continued.
On election night in April, the riding had been called for the Conservative Party, which previously took the riding with a narrow lead. However, a judicial recount is automatically ordered when the top two candidates are separated by less than 0.1 percent of the valid votes cast.
According to election laws, the ballots must be recounted in the presence of a provincial or territorial Superior Court judge.
The riding is the second to flip in the Liberal’s favour after post-election recounts. Earlier this month, the Quebec riding of Terrebonne flipped to the Liberals, beating the Bloc Québécois by one vote.
There are two remaining judicial recounts in Canada. One is the Newfoundland and Labrador riding of Terra Nova-The Peninsulas, where the Liberal candidate won by 12 votes.
The second is the Ontario riding of Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore, where the Conservative candidate won by 77 votes.
Currently, the Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister Mark Carney, holds 170 seats in Parliament, two away from a majority government. The Conservatives hold 143 seats, the Bloc Québécois 22, the NDP seven and the Green Party one.
Under Carney, the Liberals are expected to continue much of what they did under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, including the party’s zealous push in favor of euthanasia, radical gender ideology, internet regulation and so-called “climate change” policies. Indeed, Carney, like Trudeau, seems to have extensive ties to both China and the globalist World Economic Forum, connections that were brought up routinely by conservatives in the lead-up to the election.
2025 Federal Election
Judicial recounts could hand Mark Carney’s Liberals a near-majority government
From LifeSiteNews
Three official federal recounts are underway in ridings and the Liberal Party could gain one more seat, leaving it just one short of establishing a majority government.
Three judicial recounts are underway in Canadian federal ridings from the April 28 federal election, the outcomes of which could mean Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals possibly securing a majority government if he gets help from the New Democratic Party.
A recent recount in the Quebec riding of Terrebonne saw the Liberals win by one vote over the Bloc Québécois, the closest election call since 1963.
There is a recount underway in the Terra Nova-The Peninsulas riding in Newfoundland and Labrador that the Liberals won by just 12 votes on election night.
In another riding, in Milton East-Halton Hills South, Ontario, a recount is taking place after the Liberals won by only 29 votes.
In the riding of Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore, Ontario, a recount is occurring after the Conservatives won the riding by 77 votes.
Should the Liberals manage to hold onto and flip another riding in their favor, they would be ever closer to forming a majority government.
Carney was elected Prime Minister after his party won a minority government. Carney beat out Conservative rival Pierre Poilievre, who lost his seat. The Conservatives managed to pick up over 20 new seats, however, and Poilievre has vowed to stay on as party leader for now before running in a by-election.
As reported by LifeSiteNews, the interim leader of Canada’s far-left New Democratic Party (NDP) has claimed the Liberal Party is contacting its MPs to find out whether they want to cross the floor to help secure a majority government under Carney.
The Liberals have 170 seats, just two shy of a majority. The NDP has seven seats, which is 12 short of official party status. Former NDP leader Jagmeet Singh resigned after losing his seat in the April election.
Under Carney, the Liberals are expected to continue much of what they did under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, including the party’s zealous push in favor of abortion, euthanasia, radical gender ideology, internet regulation, and so-called “climate change” policies.
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