Toronto was among the fastest growing metropolitan areas in Canada and the US in 2020, adding 92,000 people last year even as immigration declined and some residents moved away to escape high housing costs.
A new Ryerson University comparison of metro areas across both countries showed that Toronto ranked behind Dallas and Phoenix when it came to population growth over the last 12 months ending in July 2020. Because of the time period examined, only part of the pandemic’s impact was captured, but more up-to-date data isn’t available yet from Statistics Canada and the US Census Bureau.
Ryerson’s Centre for Urban Research published the comparison on its blog, with researchers Diana Petramala, Frank Clayton and Ethan Crowe finding that Toronto actually fell in the ranking from 2019 when it topped the list of fastest growing metro areas with 127,575 new residents.
Toronto was the only Canadian metro area to rank in the top 10 for growth in the 2020 list and retained its spot as the top destination for international immigration. Montreal and Calgary also ranked in the top 10 metro areas for international immigration.
It could have been a better year for growth, but like many Canadian and US cities, Toronto has seen a large number of residents move away during the pandemic.
“The net outflow of residents from Toronto is primarily a response to the escalating cost and shortages of ground-related housing, which is driving residents to locations beyond its metropolitan boundaries,” the CUR team wrote in a blog post.
The Toronto region’s consistently high annual population growth numbers have long been a primary source of momentum for the city’s housing market, fuelling steady home price increases, strong resale and new home market activity, and a robust residential construction industry.
