Affordability crisis not driving young people from Vancouver: RBC

What happened: Vancouver added 16,000 young people to its population last year amid a housing affordability crisis, according to new report

Why it matters: Migration from other provinces and countries making up for cohorts leaving for cheaper housing in other cities

Vancouver’s notoriously high housing costs aren’t preventing young people from making the city their home, according to RBC Economics.

An April 25 study from the bank reveals the city added 16,000 residents aged 20-34 last year, representing growth of 2.4% in that cohort.

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“Concerns that high and rising housing costs might gut the Millennials’ ranks in Canada’s most expensive cities have been greatly exaggerated,” RBC senior economist Robert Hogue said in the report.

His research found the population of young people in Toronto swelled by 58,000 (+4.1%) and by 22,000 (+1.4%) in Montreal during that same period.

“It’s also true that more young individuals are leaving these cities for nearby areas, and we can presume that housing costs are a big factor,” Hogue said.