06:59 AM EDT, 06/06/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Statistics Canada recently published a study on the housing needs and use of immigrants and temporary residents, based on data from the 2021 census, noted National Bank of Canada.

Since then, population growth has been staggering, and intense pressure on rental prices confirms that housing supply hasn't been able to keep pace with population growth, said the bank.

Using the results of this study, National Bank was able to estimate rental housing needs since 2021 based on population growth and compare them with housing construction during this period.

After a year of equilibrium in 2021, new construction in the following three years fell well short of the rental housing needs generated by population growth. According to the bank's calculations, because of this episode, there was a shortage of more than 450,000 rental units in the country at the end of 2024 to fully meet pent-up demand.

These figures illustrate the scale of the imbalance Canada has experienced in the housing market in recent years. "Fortunately," faced with a supply problem that will certainly take years to resolve, the federal government has decided to tackle demand by drastically changing its immigration policy from 2025 to 2027, added National Bank.

Combined with a pace of construction that is expected to continue throughout the year, the bank estimates that the catch-up will begin as early as 2025.