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Our latest Housing Market Insight provides data on the increase in migration from Montréal to the suburbs. The pandemic and widespread shift to remote work has influenced where people want to live. This means the housing demand in some geographical zones is changing. The full impact of the crisis on household lifestyles in the coming years isn’t known yet.
Key findings from the report:
Since the start of the pandemic:
- The number of Island of Montréal households that have opted to purchase a single-family home or condominium in the suburbs has increased.
- The vast majority of these households did not come from the city’s most central sectors.
- Some regional county municipalities on the outskirts of Greater Montréal have also seen a sustained increase of housing transactions with buyers from the metropolitan area (Island of Montréal and suburbs).
From 2015 to 2019, between 22 and 24% of the single-detached homes purchased in the suburbs were bought by Montréal Island households per year. By 2020, however, this share was close to 29% (see table). During the period of July – December 2020, the share had reached 31%.
| Period | Number of single-family homes purchased in the suburbs by households* from the Island of Montréal | Proportion (%) of single-family homes purchased in the suburbs by households* from the Island of Montréal |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 5,000 | 22.0 |
| 2016 | 5,500 | 22.4 |
| 2017 | 5,950 | 23.3 |
| 2018 | 6,350 | 24.1 |
| 2019 | 6,700 | 24.2 |
| 2020 | 8,700 | 28.8 |
*Households or other entities.
Sources: JLR, an Equifax company. CMHC calculations.
This analysis is a first step that will help us determine whether this shift is temporary, or whether it means that Greater Montréal will have to deal with new urban dynamics. A change in the dynamics could ultimately change housing demand, prices and residential construction in the Montréal area.
It will be important to continue monitoring migration trends in and around Greater Montréal.
Note: Our last report included data up to 2019, which is the most up-to-date from Statistics Canada for the entire country. In Quebec, we have access to more current data such as the land registry (transactions of people buying homes).
Download the full report (PDF)
The report is part of CMHC’s Housing Market Insight series. Get new reports as soon as they are released, sign up to receive our CMHC Housing Updates.
