Demographic dynamics led to the growing number of business and government residential holdings in Canadian cities, agency says
Condo apartments accounted for 45.5% of business and government residential holdings in the Vancouver census metropolitan area in 2020, according to Statistics Canada.
The national statistics agency’s finding was revealed in new data published on businesses and governments that owned residential properties in 2019 and 2020.
Meanwhile, vacant land represented 18.1%. Excluding public administration, the real estate and rental and leasing sector was the most prevalent among business and government owners in Canada, StatCan added.
“The share of properties owned by entities in this sector among businesses and governments ranged from 15.1% in British Columbia to 24.8% in Ontario,” StatCan said. “This proportion varied more substantially in the territories, from 9.1% in Yukon to 42.4% in Nunavut.”
Read more: First-time buyers feeling the squeeze in rising-rate environment
Demographic dynamics contributed to the increasing number of business and government residential holdings in Canadian cities.
“The increase occurred when the population growth of people aged 18 years and older (+3.4%) outpaced the growth in the stock of properties (+2.4%) [from 2018 to 2020],” StatCan said.
In British Columbia, the increase from 2018 to 2020 represented an additional 10,520 properties, “which brought the total of residential properties owned by businesses and governments in British Columbia to 176,390” during the period, StatCan outlined.
