Economic and Social Reports
Housing use of immigrants and non-permanent residents in ownership and rental markets

This study was jointly conducted by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and Statistics Canada.

Abstract

Understanding the housing use of immigrants and non-permanent residents (NPRs) is important for developing effective housing policies and urban planning strategies. Using 2021 Census data, this study estimates housing unit occupancy rates—defined as the number of dwellings per 1,000 people—for immigrants and NPRs. These rates reflect housing use constrained by factors such as financial resources, living preferences and housing supply availability.

The analysis of the 2021 Census data shows that immigrants typically exhibit higher housing occupancy in the ownership and rental markets compared with Canadian-born individuals. On average, immigrants occupy 310 owned units and 151 rental units per 1,000 people, totalling 461 housing units, compared with 397 housing units for Canadian-born individuals. NPRs, meanwhile, occupy 41 owned units and 316 rental units per 1,000 people, for a total of 357 housing units.

As immigrants spend more time in Canada, their reliance on the rental market decreases and homeownership increases. In their initial years after admission, immigrants have lower housing occupancy rates than Canadian-born individuals. Over time, however, their housing occupancy rises significantly, driven by a substantial growth in homeownership—underscoring the lasting impact of immigration on the ownership market.

The findings also suggest that an increase in immigration would particularly heighten demand for single-detached homes in the ownership market and for rental apartments, while a rise in NPRs would primarily boost demand for rental apartments. Additionally, immigrants and NPRs are both more likely to own homes in smaller municipalities than in larger municipalities, emphasizing varying impacts of immigrants and NPRs across different municipal contexts.

Keywords: immigration, non-permanent residents, housing, homeownership

Authors

Haozhen Zhang is with the Research and Knowledge Mobilization Division, Research and Data Branch, at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Feng Hou is with the Social Analysis and Modelling Division, Analytical Studies and Modelling Branch, at Statistics Canada.

Acknowledgments

This is a joint study conducted by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and Statistics Canada. The authors would like to thank Rubab Arim, Chantal Goyette, Radu Parvulescu, Jerry Situ and Li Xue for their advice and comments on an earlier version of this article.

Introduction

Immigrants and non-permanent residents (NPRs) have been driving nearly all of Canada’s population growth in recent years, becoming increasingly vital to the country’s demographic and economic landscape. The growing influx of immigrants and NPRs has led to a substantial increase in housing demand, potentially affecting housing supply, affordability and urban planning decisions nationwide. With distinct housing needs and preferences, immigrants and NPRs shape rental and ownership markets in ways that change over time. Understanding the housing patterns of these groups is crucial for developing effective housing policies and urban planning strategies. By analyzing their housing use, valuable insights are gained into how Canada’s housing market adapts to demographic shifts, helping to anticipate future pressures on housing supply and affordability.

Despite the importance of this topic, a gap exists in the literature regarding the distinct and quantifiable housing use of immigrants and NPRs, especially in comparison with Canadian-born residents. This study seeks to address this gap by examining the housing use of immigrants and NPRs, focusing on the ownership and rental markets. Drawing on 2021 Census data, the study estimates housing use per 1,000 individuals, providing a nuanced view of how immigrants and NPRs engage with the housing market compared with Canadian-born individuals. In this study, “housing use per 1,000” represents the number of housing units required to maintain the observed level of housing unit occupancy from the 2021 Census. These housing use patterns are influenced by factors such as financial constraints, living preferences and the availability of supply at the time of the census.

The analysis in this study is structured around four primary research questions. First, what is the housing use per 1,000 individuals for owned and rental units among immigrants, NPRs and Canadian-born individuals? Second, how do these housing use patterns vary across communities of different population sizes? Third, how does housing use differ across dwelling types, such as single-detached homes, semi-detached or row housing, and apartments? Finally, how do the housing use patterns of immigrants evolve with longer residency in Canada?

By addressing these questions, this study not only sheds light on the current state of housing use by immigrant status but also provides a foundation for projecting future housing requirements as new immigrants and NPRs continue to settle across the country. Additionally, by distinguishing between the rental and ownership markets, the study quantifies the housing trajectories that immigrants typically experience in Canada, often beginning in the rental market before transitioning to homeownership as they establish themselves economically.

The structure of this paper is as follows: Section 2 introduces the data and definitions used in this study, Section 3 presents the analysis that addresses the four primary research questions, and Section 4 concludes with a discussion of the findings and implications.

Data and measures

This analysis is based on data collected from the long-form questionnaire in the 2021 Census of Population and focuses on individuals living in private households.^Note  To identify immigrant status, the census uses both administrative data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and responses to the census question on the place of birth. This information distinguishes individuals as non-immigrants, immigrants or NPRs (Statistics Canada, 2023).

In this study, an immigrant is defined as a person who is or who has ever been a permanent resident. An NPR is a person from another country with a usual place of residence in Canada and who has a work or study permit or who has claimed refugee status (asylum claimants, protected persons and related groups). Family members living with work or study permit holders are also included unless these family members are already Canadian citizens, permanent residents or NPRs themselves.

Housing occupancy is measured at the household level. In the census context, a household is defined as either a single individual or a group of individuals living in the same dwelling, meaning the total number of households equals the total number of occupied dwellings. Consequently, the number of dwellings occupied by a specific group, such as new immigrants, is equivalent to the number of households within that group.

A household’s immigrant status is represented by the immigrant status of the primary household maintainer. The primary household maintainer is the first person identified as responsible for paying the rent, mortgage, taxes or utility bills. In households with members of different immigrant statuses, only the primary maintainer’s status is considered at the household level.

In Canadian-born households, 94% of members are born in Canada. Among immigrant households, the percentage of households with only immigrant members ranges from 70% for first-year immigrant household maintainers to 51% for longer-term immigrant maintainers. In these immigrant households, non-immigrant members are primarily Canadian-born children of immigrants, particularly in longer-term immigrant households. Among NPR households, the proportion with only NPR members varies from 69% for asylum claimants to 84% for study permit holders.

At the individual level, 91% of immigrants live in identified immigrant households, with the remainder primarily residing in Canadian-born households. Similarly, about 77% of NPRs live in identified NPR households, with most of the remainder residing in immigrant households. Approximately 88% of Canadian-born individuals live in identified Canadian-born households, while the rest predominantly live in households whose primary maintainer is an immigrant.

In this study, housing use for a group is defined as the number of owner-occupied and rented dwellings that are primarily maintained by individuals in that group. It is calculated as housing units per 1,000 individuals.^Note  This measure estimates housing occupancy, reflecting the housing units required to maintain the observed occupancy levels by immigrant status in the 2021 Census. It does not consider the suitability or affordability of housing.

Results

Housing use per 1,000 individuals across immigrant status groups

The analysis of housing use reveals notable differences across immigrant status groups, including Canadian-born individuals, immigrants, recent immigrants and NPRs. These variations highlight distinct use patterns for both ownership and rental housing.

Immigrants exhibit higher housing use compared with Canadian-born individuals. Immigrants occupy, on average, 310 owned units and 151 rental units per 1,000 people, totalling 461 housing units (Table 1). By contrast, Canadian-born individuals occupy 271 owned units and 126 rental units per 1,000 people, with a combined total of 397 housing units. Thus, on a per capita basis, immigrants use more owned and rental housing units than Canadian-born individuals.

The above result appears inconsistent with the general trend that immigrants, on average, have larger households than the Canadian-born population. A group with a larger average household would use fewer housing units. However, this apparent inconsistency arises from how a group’s aggregate housing use is calculated—based on the number of households whose primary maintainer belongs to the group. For example, the total housing units for immigrants correspond to the number of households whose primary maintainer is an immigrant. Notably, many households with immigrant primary maintainers (46%) also include Canadian-born members, primarily the children of immigrants. The housing use of Canadian-born members in households with an immigrant primary maintainer is directly tied to immigration. Therefore, when estimating housing units per 1,000 immigrants, Canadian-born members in households with an immigrant primary maintainer are excluded from the base population. This methodology aligns with the study’s objective of estimating the housing units needed to “absorb” a specific number of immigrants.

Relative to immigrants, NPRs, including work or study permit holders and asylum claimants, demonstrate distinct housing use patterns. NPRs have a significantly lower per capita use of owner-occupied units but a much higher use of rental housing than immigrants and Canadian-born individuals. As shown in Table 1, for every 1,000 NPRs, 41 housing units are owned and 316 units are rented, totalling 357 housing units. This heavy reliance on rental housing reflects NPRs’ transitional status and limited access to homeownership.

Notably, work permit holders have a higher housing use per 1,000 individuals compared with Canadian-born individuals, while other NPR categories exhibit lower per capita use. Study permit holders have the lowest housing occupancy rate. These findings underscore the diversity of housing use patterns across immigrant and NPR groups, highlighting the critical role of rental housing in meeting their needs.

Housing use by municipality size

As municipality size decreases, immigrants and NPRs are more likely to live in owned homes and less likely to rent. This trend likely reflects the declining cost of homeownership in smaller municipalities, which increases affordability for these groups. Table 2 shows that immigrants consistently own more homes per 1,000 population than Canadian-born individuals across all municipality sizes. NPRs, by contrast, exhibit a much lower use of owned homes than other groups, regardless of the size of the municipality, as their housing use remains focused on the rental market.

In terms of rental housing, immigrants display different patterns based on municipality size. They rent more housing units per 1,000 population in either very large cities (populations over 500,000) or small towns (populations under 10,000) compared with Canadian-born individuals. NPRs, on the other hand, exhibit consistently the highest rental use across all municipality sizes.

Housing use by dwelling type

As shown in Table 3, immigrants tend to prefer single-detached homes when owning and apartments when renting. NPRs, however, overwhelmingly target rental apartments, reflecting their temporary resident status and potentially limited financial capacity for homeownership.

By immigrant status, immigrants demonstrate lower per capita use of single-detached homes compared with Canadian-born individuals. However, immigrants exhibit higher use of semi-detached or row houses and apartments in the ownership and rental markets.

NPRs, by contrast, show a high use of rental apartments, with minimal participation in the ownership market. Their use of rental apartments is significantly higher than that of immigrants or Canadian-born individuals. These findings indicate that an increase in the number of NPRs is likely to intensify the need for rental apartments, while an inflow of immigrants may especially increase demand for single-detached homes in the ownership market and for apartments in the rental market.

Trends in housing use by years since immigration

Chart 1 illustrates how immigrants’ housing use differs by years since admission. There is an upward trend in homeownership and a downward trend in renting with immigrants’ increased length of residency.^Note  During the first five years following admission, these shifts balance each other out, keeping overall housing use stable at just above 300 housing units per 1,000 individuals.^Note  However, after these first five years, the use of owned houses becomes more pronounced, leading to an overall increase in housing use. By the 10th year after admission, immigrants’ housing use reaches 367 units per 1,000 individuals, significantly higher than that of recent immigrants. By the 15th year after admission, immigrants’ housing use reaches 409 per 1,000 individuals, surpassing the average level of Canadian-born residents.^Note 

These trends can be understood by examining household composition. Newcomers tend to have larger households, often living with extended family members such as parents and grandparents, to reduce costs and address economic constraints. As immigrants settle, household sizes typically decrease because of children moving out, increased economic stability and adaptation to Canadian norms of nuclear families. Over time, these changes increase housing use per capita as immigrants transition from renting to homeownership.

Data table for Chart 1

Data table for Chart 1
Table summary
The information is grouped by Years since admission (appearing as row headers), Rented units per 1,000, Total units per 1,000 and Owned units per 1,000, calculated using housing units occupied units of measure (appearing as column headers).

Years since admission	Owned units per 1,000	Rented units per 1,000	Total units per 1,000
	housing units occupied
Source: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population.
0	52	269	321
1	70	236	306
2	89	216	305
3	125	202	327
4	146	186	332
5	147	170	317
6	177	164	341
7	195	160	355
8	197	154	351
9	211	147	358
10	218	150	367
11	233	145	379
12	242	142	383
13	246	141	387
14	252	144	396
15	267	143	409
16	282	137	418
17	290	138	428
18	304	135	439
19	311	133	445
20	321	132	454

Conclusions

This study provides a comprehensive analysis of housing use among Canadian-born individuals, immigrants and NPRs, revealing key trends with significant implications for housing policy and urban planning.

First, the analysis shows that immigrants typically exhibit higher housing use in the ownership and rental markets compared with Canadian-born individuals. NPRs, by contrast, demonstrate significantly lower use of owned housing units but higher use of rental units. The 2021 Census data indicate that, on average, immigrants occupy 310 owned units and 151 rental units per 1,000 people, totalling 461 housing units, compared with 397 housing units for Canadian-born individuals. NPRs occupy 41 owned units and 316 rental units per 1,000 people, for a total of 357 housing units. Among NPRs, study permit holders have the lowest housing use, while work permit holders exhibit the highest use, particularly in the rental market.

Second, the size of a municipality significantly influences housing use patterns. In smaller municipalities, immigrants and NPRs are more likely to own homes and less likely to rent. This trend is likely driven by the lower cost of homeownership and relatively smaller rental stock in smaller municipalities (Allen, et al., 2009). These results suggest that increased immigration and NPR inflows could create greater pressure on rental markets in larger municipalities and on ownership markets in smaller ones.

Third, the use of different dwelling types varies by immigrant status. Immigrants are more likely to occupy single-detached homes in the ownership market and apartments in the rental market, whereas NPRs predominantly use rental apartments. This indicates that increased immigration is likely to drive demand for owned single-detached homes and rental apartments, while a rise in NPRs would primarily escalate the demand for rental apartments.

Finally, the study highlights how immigrant housing use evolves over time. As immigrants spend more years in Canada, their reliance on the rental market decreases, while their use of owned homes increases. Beyond the initial years, total housing use increases significantly, driven by a rise in homeownership. This emphasizes the long-lasting impact of immigration on the ownership market. Future research will aim to forecast these trends for incoming immigrants.

The findings of this study have important implications for housing policy and urban planning in Canada. They provide valuable insights into the immediate and long-term effects of immigration and NPR flows on rental and ownership housing markets, particularly across municipalities of varying sizes. The growing demand for homeownership among established immigrants underscores the need to ensure an adequate supply of affordable ownership housing, especially in smaller municipalities. Meanwhile, NPRs’ strong reliance on rental apartments highlights the importance of maintaining a robust rental housing stock in larger cities. These trends and their regional variations offer critical guidance for developing targeted strategies to address the evolving housing needs of immigrants and NPRs.

References

Allen, J., Amano, R., Byrne, D. and Gregory, A. (2009). Canadian city housing prices and urban market segmentation. The Canadian Journal of Economics, 42 (3) 1132-1149.

Statistics Canada. (2023). Place of Birth, Generation Status, Citizenship and Immigration Reference Guide, Census of Population, 2021.