RESEARCH: BC now building 3.6 times more housing per person than Ontario

April building permits approved a record 9,961 housing units in BC, surpassing Ontario's 7,814

The number of housing units receiving building permit approval in British Columbia soared in April, according Statistics Canada data released Tuesday, June 11.

A recording-breaking 9,961 units received building permit approval in the month, data shows.

On a per person basis, BC’s residential construction industry last month had plans approved to build 3.6 times the number of housing units as given building permit approval in Ontario.

For 23 of the past 24 month, BC has had more housing units approved than Ontario, on a per person basis.

But in April, British Columbia’s burst of approvals for the first time surpassed Ontario in absolute numbers, not just when adjusted for size. While Ontario’s April building permits show a planned 7,814 units, BC’s permits plan to build 9,961 housing units.

Ontario has a population of 15.9 million. British Columbia’s population is 5.6 million, about 35 per cent of Ontario’s.

The number of Ontario units approved this April is higher than April 2023, when 6,817 units received approval. It’s down from the 8,437 units approved in April 2022.

The Housing Affordability Task Force established by Ontario premier Doug Ford in 2022 found the province needs to start work on 15,000 housing units every month to balance market pressures and prevent the massive price hikes central to the province’s affordability crisis. Since the report, Ontario has never started 15,000 housing units in any month.

BC premier David Eby’s success in spurring the residential building industry to create much-needed housing comes despite headwinds from high interest rates and adds to other economic successes in the province.

BC has had the fastest-growing per person GDP over the past five years, and now has the highest average wage in Canada. Upcoming research from Data Shows will report the province’s legislative changes appear to have reversed the two decade decline in BC’s union membership and the province now has the fastest-growing union membership in Canada.

British Columbians are scheduled to go to the polls in October. Eby’s social democratic NDP leads the BC Conservatives by 41 per cent to 30 per cent, according to the most recent public poll, released by Angus Reid.