The supply story Canada’s rental market wasn’t telling us
The most dramatic single adjustment came in Q3 2025, where a previously reported decline of 76,068 persons was revised to a gain of 114,941.
Annual population growth from Q1 2025 to Q1 2026, earlier reported as -0.5%, has now been revised to +0.5%.
The driver was net non-permanent residents, adjusted upward by +275,942, representing more than 90% of the total revision. Statistics Canada attributes the correction to additional data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) covering temporary residents with expired permits who remained in Canada while awaiting processing of permit extensions.
Under the previous methodology, these individuals were recorded as outflows at the moment their permit expired, regardless of whether they were still physically present in the country.
The implications for brokers and their investor clients are direct: demand did not collapse. Supply did the heavy lifting.
