A total of 36% of British Columbians said they have given serious consideration to moving away because of housing affordability, according to a poll conducted by the Angus Reid Institute (ARI). Half of British Columbians younger than 35 years old said this is the case for them, according to the Monday poll. The ARI said the area with the largest percentage of people wanting to leave British Columbia was the Lower Mainland/Fraser Valley (42%). However, it said 38% did not want to leave it because of housing affordability and one-tenth were unsure. After the Lower Mainland/Fraser Valley was the BC Interior (41%). This was followed by Metro Vancouver (36%) and Vancouver Island/North Coast (22%). While new housing supply has been a major priority in BC in recent years and it leads Canada in housing starts per capita, the ARI pointed out British Columbians continue to face evident challenges. It said the group most likely to say this was 35-to-54-year-olds, as they are the ones most likely to have children. Compounding these issues is slower economic growth. Investment levels in BC have dropped because of higher interest rates and are not expected by experts to rise high again until 2025. With this as a backdrop and a downgraded credit rating in the news, the ARI found many British Columbians are critical of the BC NDP’s focus on encouraging investment. It said 44% believe the BC government should focus more on this aspect of the economy. More than 55,000 people from other parts of Canada moved to Alberta in 2023, according to April data published by Statistics Canada. READ MORE: Alberta gains 55,000 interprovincial migrants in 2023; BC loses 8,600About 333,000 Canadians moved from one province or territory to another in 2023 — the second highest number since the 1990s and the third straight year it has topped 300,000.At 55,107 newcomers, Alberta topped the list for the second straight year and represented the largest net gain nationally since the data was first recorded in 1972. The poll was conducted online from May 24 to 30 among a representative randomized sample of 1,250 British Columbians who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. It has a margin of error of +/- two percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
A total of 36% of British Columbians said they have given serious consideration to moving away because of housing affordability, according to a poll conducted by the Angus Reid Institute (ARI). Half of British Columbians younger than 35 years old said this is the case for them, according to the Monday poll. The ARI said the area with the largest percentage of people wanting to leave British Columbia was the Lower Mainland/Fraser Valley (42%). However, it said 38% did not want to leave it because of housing affordability and one-tenth were unsure. After the Lower Mainland/Fraser Valley was the BC Interior (41%). This was followed by Metro Vancouver (36%) and Vancouver Island/North Coast (22%). While new housing supply has been a major priority in BC in recent years and it leads Canada in housing starts per capita, the ARI pointed out British Columbians continue to face evident challenges. It said the group most likely to say this was 35-to-54-year-olds, as they are the ones most likely to have children. Compounding these issues is slower economic growth. Investment levels in BC have dropped because of higher interest rates and are not expected by experts to rise high again until 2025. With this as a backdrop and a downgraded credit rating in the news, the ARI found many British Columbians are critical of the BC NDP’s focus on encouraging investment. It said 44% believe the BC government should focus more on this aspect of the economy. More than 55,000 people from other parts of Canada moved to Alberta in 2023, according to April data published by Statistics Canada. READ MORE: Alberta gains 55,000 interprovincial migrants in 2023; BC loses 8,600About 333,000 Canadians moved from one province or territory to another in 2023 — the second highest number since the 1990s and the third straight year it has topped 300,000.At 55,107 newcomers, Alberta topped the list for the second straight year and represented the largest net gain nationally since the data was first recorded in 1972. The poll was conducted online from May 24 to 30 among a representative randomized sample of 1,250 British Columbians who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. It has a margin of error of +/- two percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
