Latest news with #populationgrowth
Globe and Mail
9 hours ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Business Brief: Canada's great population adjustment
Good morning. A monumental economic issue in Canada that has been overshadowed by the trade war is the reshaping of Canada's immigration system. After an influx of temporary residents flooded labour markets and sent rents soaring, cuts to immigration rates are taking effect. In fact, Canada's population is now growing at the slowest pace in a decade, outside of the COVID-19 pandemic. More on that below. But first, today's headlines: Energy: Saskatchewan is extending the life of its coal-fired power plants, saying Ottawa has no jurisdiction to stop it. Rates: The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady yesterday and slowed the overall pace of expected future rate cuts in the face of the Trump administration's tariff plans Regulation: Convicted husband and wife fraudsters David and Natasha Sharpe must pay more than $27-million for their role in the Bridging Finance Inc. investment scheme, the Ontario Capital Markets Tribunal ruled For reasons that have never been entirely made sense, the Trudeau government dispensed with Canada's enviable immigration system and opened the door to a torrent of temporary workers and international students. In 2023 alone, Canada added 1.3 million people, which represented the highest rate of population growth since the 1950s. After the strains on infrastructure, housing and social services became apparent, the government set out a plan to course-correct the system. Prime Minister Mark Carney now aims to reduce immigration to 'sustainable levels' by capping the total number of temporary workers and international students at less than 5 per cent of Canada's population by the end of 2027. Those policy changes are starting to bring about some major demographic shifts. The national population was essentially flat in the first quarter, with growth of 0.05 per cent clocking in as the slowest non-pandemic reading since 2015. In a country with low birth rates that has long relied on immigration as an economic stimulant, these policy changes are bound to have some major knock-on effects throughout the Canadian economy. I discussed some of the moving parts with Robert Kavcic, senior economist at Bank of Montreal. You frame this as one of the biggest economic stories in Canada right now. Why? It's just a major policy change that touches on a lot of the issues that policymakers have been trying to figure out for a long time, like rent, inflation, affordability. Population growth is at the root of a lot of that. How much did immigration policies contribute to these problems? The population explosion we had put too much demand in a short amount of time that we couldn't match on the supply side. The rental market was extremely tight, and the minute somebody steps foot in Canada, they need a place to stay. But it takes years to actually put that supply through the pipeline. Same thing with transportation. It's very inflationary in the short run until we can build out to meet that demand. You also see Canada's productivity problems as linked, correct? I don't think it's a coincidence that as non-permanent resident inflows exploded, the productivity numbers really fell off. On an economy-wide basis, there was just more leaning on low-cost labour at the expense of capital investment. It doesn't speak to our long-standing productivity underperformance. It just made it a lot worse over the last two or three years. How much does Canada rely on immigration to shore up our economy? Very much. The labor supply pipeline that it brings in is absolutely necessary because Canadians don't really have babies anymore. It's just part of the system went off the rails. Is this a tough time to undergo such a big demographic adjustment while the Canadian economy is under such pressure? The question we got a lot is: Is the economy going to fall into recession because you're cutting population growth to zero? No, because you're taking a lot of stress off of things like service and rental inflation. That is going to allow the Bank of Canada to cut interest rates, which is a tide that lifts the whole economy. I think this actually rebalances the economy and makes it healthier. We're seeing rents come down, which is good for affordability, but is that going to deter investment in new housing units? I think so. We will see construction back off now. Toronto is probably ground zero of this where rents are falling and pre-construction activity is basically non-existent. Are there other pressure points? There are pockets of the economy that are going to feel it. Stuff like telecom subscriptions, university enrollment. It's just going to take some time to get the system back to normal. This interview has been edited for length and clarity The publicly traded company is a species in long-term decline. Since 2002, the number of operating companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange has declined by more than 40 per cent – a problem that has been masked by the boom in exchange-traded funds. Who's to blame? The big banks, according to finance professor J. Ari Pandes and Senator Colin Deacon. Pensions: The decline of the defined benefit pension has hit men hardest. Savings: For many Canadians, a rainy day looms. How to make an emergency fund work for you. Investing: Four tricks to help you keep your composure when financial markets turn ugly. Global stocks slid while investors took cover in safe havens as financial markets were on edge over the possible entry of the United States into the week-old Israel-Iran air war. TSX futures edged lower, while U.S. markets were closed for the Juneteenth holiday. Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.3 per cent in morning trading. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.29 per cent, Germany's DAX dropped 0.3 per cent and France's CAC 40 gave back 0.6 per cent. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei closed 1.02 per cent lower, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng tumbled almost 2 per cent. The Canadian dollar traded at 72.91 U.S. cents.
News.com.au
12 hours ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Aussies exit NSW, WA hits 3 million population milestone
More people are fleeing NSW than any other state in Australia. Population data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics this week shows 28,118 people left NSW in 2024. Western Australia tipped over three million people for the first time as the resource-rich state recorded the highest nationwide growth rate. At the end of 2024, 27.4 million people called Australia home, an increase of 445,900 on the previous year and representative of a 1.7 per cent increase. Commonwealth Bank economist Lucinda Jerogin said population growth had slowed quicker than anticipated on the back of the post-pandemic peak. 'A slowdown in natural increase continues to place a drag on Australia's population growth,' she said 'Cost-of-living pressures, rising female workforce participation and broader uncertainty are likely driving this downward trend. 'Growth in deaths are outpacing births leading to the decline in natural increase.' The data shows NSW lost more than 28,000 people to net interstate migration, with 112,763 people leaving for elsewhere in the country. Queensland picked up more than 106,000 people from other states for a result of nearly 26,000 fresh faces. Nearly 40,000 Aussies moved to WA for a net increase of about 12,500 people. While Queensland and Victoria's total populations grew by 1.9 per cent, WA's grew 2.4 per cent. The population of every state and territory grew by at least 1.1 per cent, except Tasmania, which recorded a 0.3 per cent increase. 'Within Australia, people are continuing to leave NSW, and to a lesser extent Victoria and the smallest jurisdictions, and head into Queensland and WA,' Housing Industry Association economist Tom Devitt said. 'But even the jurisdictions losing residents interstate are absorbing enough overseas arrivals to see their populations expand.' State governments needed to do more to stimulate housing construction, he said. 'Foreign capital is highly liquid. State governments have forced institutional investors into building apartments in other countries,' Mr Devitt said. 'As a consequence, multi-unit construction volumes in Australia have halved, likely costing state governments tax revenue.'
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Albanese's immigration promise undermined by rising numbers
Immigration levels are soaring under Anthony Albanese - with almost two-thirds of new arrivals moving to Sydney and Melbourne and putting pressure on housing, water and transport infrastructure. Australia took in 340,800 migrants last year, higher than Treasury's pre-election Budget forecast of 335,000 net arrivals for the 2024-25 financial year and 76 per cent higher than the pre-pandemic intake of 194,000. The new figures were released on Thursday, a day after Treasurer Jim Chalmers admitted Australia would struggle to build 1.2million more homes in the five years to 2029 to accommodate the population explosion. 'The 1.2million homes is a very ambitious target, deliberately so and it will be hard to get there, but it's not impossible to get there but everyone needs to do their bit,' he told the National Press Club in Canberra. While immigration levels are down from the record-high intake of 548,800 seen two years ago, the population influx from overseas migration is overwhelmingly flowing to Australia's two biggest cities, Sydney and Melbourne - with NSW and Victoria having to house 207,233 new overseas residents. That's more than 60 per cent of the net intake of 340,800 permanent and long-term arrivals into Australia. Sydney has become so expensive that large numbers of the Australian-born population are moving elsewhere, with 28,118 people leaving New South Wales last year for another state, new Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed. This exodus from NSW - while 106,730 new overseas migrants moved in - is putting pressure on other states in terms of infrastructure and services, and could potentially see the GST broadened so the states and territories have more money to spend. Queensland took in 25,940 new residents from other states and 56,877 from overseas, leading to population growth at a slightly above-average level of 1.9 per cent. Victoria also reported a higher population growth rate of 1.9 per cent with only 3,203 people leaving for another state as 100,503 new migrants arrived, mainly to Melbourne. Western Australia had the strongest population growth of 2.4 per cent as 12,612 people entered from other states and 45,124 people moved in from overseas. Australia's overall population grew by 1.7 per cent in 2024, with overseas migration making up 76 per cent of the 445,900 increase factoring in births and deaths. Below-average population growth was recorded in New South Wales (1.3 per cent) due to a large interstate exodus, along with South Australia (1.1 per cent), Tasmania (0.3 per cent), the Australian Capital Territory (1.4 per cent) and the Northern Territory (1.2 per cent). Broader GST possible to help states Chalmers on Wednesday declined to rule out broadening or increasing the 10 per cent GST so the Commonwealth Grants Commission could distribute more funds to the states and territories that have to house the soaring population. Items like fresh fruit and vegetables, bread, cooking oil, meat and unflavoured milk were exempted from the Goods and Services Tax under a political deal reached in 1999 between former Liberal prime minister John Howard's government and the Australian Democrats in the Senate. The big overseas influx is particularly putting pressure on utilities. Sydney Water had proposed to increase its customers' bills by 18 per cent from October 1, under its 2025 to 2030 plan, citing population growth. A Sydney Water board meeting last year warned of the strain on infrastructure in the city's outer suburbs, which house a higher proportion of new migrants. 'The biggest drivers behind Sydney Water's planned investments are growth and renewing existing infrastructure,' the meeting minutes said. 'Most of this investment will support growth in both new and established areas – especially in western Sydney, where development is booming and where population growth is pushing existing water and wastewater systems to their limits.' To cope with the population surge, Sydney Water had expected the average bill to rise by $226 during the next financial year, and by $111 every year until 2029-30.
ABC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
WA the fastest growing state or territory in Australia, as population tips over three million
The population of Western Australia has officially tipped over three million people, with the state having the fastest growth rate of anywhere in the country last year. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has put Australia's population at 27,400,013 as of the end of 2024, with 445,900 people added to the tally in the year. The ABS releases population data about six months behind, with the latest set of numbers showing the annual natural increase — considering births and deaths — was 105,200 and net overseas migration was 340,800. There were a total of 292,400 births in Australia in 2024, an increase of 2.6 per cent on the previous year. That was offset by 187,300 deaths, an increase of 3 per cent on 2023. The ABS said all states and territories had positive population growth over 2024. WA had the fastest rate of growth at 2.4 per cent and recorded a major milestone, with 3,008,697 people now living in the west. Tasmania posted the slowest growth rate, although it still recorded an incremental uptick in population. The island state added just 1,600 people to its population, mainly through net overseas migration, while 2,447 moved away from Tasmania to elsewhere. The ABS noted net overseas migration was the "major contributor" to change in all states and territories, with most people moving to New South Wales (106,730) and Victoria (100,503). There was also a significant amount of internal migration between the states and territories, with Queensland adding another 25,940 people via net interstate movements. More people moved away from New South Wales in 2024 than anywhere else, with the state losing 28,118 people to other places. The data estimates resident population based on all people who usually live in Australia, regardless of nationality, citizenship or visa status.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Immigration soars ahead under Anthony Albanese despite key promise - as migrant surge overwhelms two major cities
Immigration levels are soaring under Anthony Albanese with almost two-thirds of new foreigners moving to Sydney and Melbourne. Australia took in 340,800 migrants last year - a level higher than Treasury's Budget forecast of 335,000 for the 2024-25 financial year. While immigration levels are lower than the record-high levels of 2023, the population influx from overseas migration is overwhelmingly flowing to Australia's two biggest cities, with NSW and Victoria between them having to house 207,233 new residents. Sydney, Australia's most expensive city, is so unaffordable people are leaving in droves, with new 28,118 people leaving New South Wales last year for another state, Australian Bureau of Statistics data released on Thursday showed. This big exodus from NSW is putting pressure on other states. Queensland received 25,940 new residents from other states last year, having a population growth pace of 1.9 per cent - a level above the national average of 1.7 per cent.
