demographics and the future of housing demand in BC

The recent past has seen communities across British Columbia struggling with unprecedented growth in housing demand driven by rising immigration rates, increased international student enrolment, and intermittent surges in interprovincial migration. This growth has presented communities throughout the province with many opportunities; it has also put pressure on the real estate industry to meet growing housing and infrastructure needs in both urban and suburban areas.

In the research series Demography and Demand we were asked by the Real Estate Institute of British Columbia (REIBC) to look at the impact of BC’s shifting demography through two lenses: the first being how a growing and changing population will impact future demand for housing, and the second being how these demographic shifts will change the size and composition of those working in the broad range of occupations that make up the real estate industry.

Some key findings:

In many regions throughout the province, future population growth is expected to outweigh what we have seen historically. Over the next two decades (2024-2044) BC is expected to grow by about 2.1 million people. That is considerably higher than the 1.5 million increase over the past two decades. Those 2.1 million new residents, along with folks who are already here and will move into the housing market (yes the kids will eventually move out), would require upwards of 1.1 million net new homes to be constructed in the province.

This era of growing housing demand will be associated with an aging workforce and skills shortages. With a growing number of our real estate workforce expected to retire in the next decade, targeted recruitment and retention strategies, especially for younger professionals and underrepresented groups, will be essential to filling the gap in occupations related to both real estate construction and conveyance.

Of course, the timing and magnitude of these issues differ for different regions in the province. As part of its commitment to support the sector's adaptation to these shifts, the REIBC has made the full series of Demography and Demand reports available to the public. You can grab the Mainland Southwest region here, or you can access the full series on the REIBC website here.