VANCOUVER—Nearly half of all new jobs in Canada between 2015 and 2019 were located in the Vancouver and Toronto metropolitan areas, but the number of new housing starts did not keep pace, putting upward pressure on prices in the already expensive markets, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
“While job creation in Toronto and Vancouver was strong over the past few years, housing starts between the two metropolitan areas stayed relatively flat. Given that both cities have expensive housing and low vacancy rates, it is crucial that the supply of housing is allowed to keep up with demand. If that doesn’t happen it will become harder for people to move to take advantage of the opportunities present in these cities,” said Steve Lafleur, a senior policy analyst with the Fraser Institute and co-author of Job Creation and Housing Starts in Canada’s Largest Metropolitan Areas.
