Canada slashed migration and housing costs dropped.

While rising vacancy rates caused a dip in rents and home prices, it hasn’t solved Canada’s chronically unaffordable property market

Canada’s decision to radically cut migration levels and slash the number of foreign workers and students in the country has delivered on its goal of reducing housing costs, experts say.

In the grip of a post-pandemic surge in overseas migration that was judged to be contributing to unaffordable housing and stretched public services, the Canadian government under former prime minister Justin Trudeau in late 2024 tabled a law that cracked down on foreign arrivals.

The plan for the first time targeted not just the permanent immigration stream, but included caps for new temporary residents, and specifically international students.