Danielle Demerino, Toronto Real Estate agent here. Recently I was speaking with my sister-in-law who lives in California and it put something into perspective about living where we do. Though we have suffered inflated housing prices and interest rate peaks, we don’t have to think twice about purchasing a home that is susceptible to natural disasters.
You hear it time and time again, real estate prices are inflated. Many people believe that the cost of housing has become unaffordable and unattainable for the new generations (Millennials and Gen Zers). There is one factor people are not considering when looking for value, one thing people avoid thinking about because it’s scary to think about, and that is Climate Change.
Climate Change and Where You Want to Live
My sister-in-law, Rubina, lives in California, she’s a doctor and regularly speaks of finding land elevated from places that will likely flood. She dreams about purchasing real estate in cooler climates to be safe. She knows what smart people globally know, the earth is warming and you must think ahead if you want to survive.
In her new book, Nomad Century, Gaia Vince breaks down what the world would look like if the global temperature were to rise 4 degrees Celsius. She provides evidence to show that billions of people would be forced to migrate to places like Canada to enjoy a comfortable life.
The perfect location for “booming growth” is right above the 45 N parallel. Ontario lay right smack dead in this region (only 15% of the world does). Places with a current average of 13 degrees Celsius are the most desirable.; vast bodies of water keep this area cool for us. We have two million lakes and our world wars will be waged over water one day because Canada is full of liquid gold.
Canada is the second largest country in the world and the second least dense. We have more sq km (9.9m sq km) than 193 countries in the world and we have fewer people per sq km than 193.
Our country, Vince notes, is incredibly well run, stable, and treats its humans with respect and dignity. Canada is almost always at the top of the best countries to live in and people who are planning to migrate know how to read between the lines when making the decision to immigrate.
The one hang-up people have about Canada is that it’s cold, but the cold won’t be so-cold one day.
Immigration and Where They Want to Go
To further support the claim that hundred of millions would migrate to Canada is our immigration policy. Our willingness to weave foreign cultures into our own is unmatched. In 2023 we plan on inviting 450k people alone.
For instance; have you ever been to a city where Pakistani people are regularly seen out eating with Chinese and Australians or the like? Toronto is a special place where people (not all) embrace cultural differences and fuse them with their own. Ask most immigrants if they feel welcome in Canada, they do.
Let’s talk about the reasons for people immigrating Canada. In 2019, 58% of immigrants were “economic immigrants” meaning they came here through a federal skilled worker program and 15% came from a combination of humanitarian and refugee status. The remaining percentage were family sponsored.
Below is a graph showing the number of new immigrants arriving to Canada in 2019 by country of Origin.
People coming here have money OR they are coming to build lives that will make them GOOD money. These people have enough money to continue purchasing real estate therefore values will continue to rise.
Interest rates might be higher than they have been in the last 5 years and the headlines are likely triggering you; don’t let them! The combination of climate stability, land mass, lack of housing, immigration policy, and lower Canadian dollar will continue to support the value of our real estate market.
It is always a good time to buy a home here if you have a long-term plan. ALWAYS!
