B.C. population drops by 41,000, first decline in 150 years cools housing demand | Daily Hive

B.C. population drops by 41,000 residents, first decline in 151 years cools housing demand

Construction crane for a new Vancouver residential building. (Lijuan Guo/Shutterstock)

British Columbia’s population declined by more than 41,000 people in 2025 — marking only the second annual decrease in the province’s history.

This is based on a new housing market report by Vancouver-based real estate and marketing firm Rennie that links the drop directly to shifting immigration policy and a cooling housing market. There has been a dramatic reversal after years of rapid population growth and intensifying housing demand across the province.

After adding hundreds of thousands of residents in recent years, B.C.’s population decline signals a major turning point. The report notes that the province’s only previous population drop occurred 151 years ago in 1874, when it lost 2,000 residents. This makes the 2025 decrease an exceptionally rare event.

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The primary driver is the federal government’s policy shift aimed at reducing the number of non-permanent residents in Canada, especially international students and temporary workers. While B.C. still welcomed more than 35,000 new immigrants last year, that growth was more than offset by a net outflow of over 80,000 temporary residents.

B.C. accounted for a highly disproportionate share of 2025’s national population decline, with Canada losing over 102,000 residents throughout the year. Last year was also Canada’s largest population decrease for the first time on record.

Some of these outflows are also driven by a renewed surge in British Columbians relocating to Alberta, for reasons such as better housing affordability and employment and economic opportunities.

This overall trend in B.C. is expected to continue, with further population declines anticipated through 2026 and beyond.

Moreover, the population drop is already having ripple effects across B.C.’s housing market — particularly in the rental housing sector.

Non-permanent residents, who make up a large share of renters, have historically driven demand for rental housing. As their numbers decline, vacancy rates are rising. In Metro Vancouver, the secured purpose-built rental housing vacancy rate climbed to 3.7 per cent in 2025, which is the highest level recorded in decades. This vacancy rate is a full percentage point higher than the previous record high.

At the same time, a surge in new secured purpose-built rental housing construction — nearly 11,000 units completed in 2025 — has added supply just as demand is weakening.

The slowdown in population growth is also contributing to softer conditions in the home sales market.

Metro Vancouver entered 2026 in a buyers’ market territory, with rising inventory and sluggish sales. Prices, particularly for strata market ownership condominiums, have been trending downward since peaking in 2022 — amid the initial pandemic-induced housing rebound — and are expected to decline further this year.

According to a separate recent market bulletin by Vancouver-based real estate and marketing firm MLA Canada, presale home launches for the month of February 2026 reached just 64 units or six per cent of historical trends.

Despite improved affordability driven by lower interest rates and falling prices, many potential homebuyers remain cautious amid economic uncertainty and concerns about job security.

The demographic shift comes against a backdrop of broader economic challenges. Canada’s labour market remains weak, with unemployment still significantly higher than pre-2022 lows, while global instability — including the new U.S.-led war in Iran — is pushing up energy prices and threatening a return of significant inflation.

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