Time for your cheat sheet on this week’s top stories.
Canadian Real Estate
Canadians Are Leaving At The Fastest Pace In 74 Years
Canadians are leaving the country at a pace unseen in 74 years of StatCan data. An estimated 30,092 citizens or permanent residents left in Q1 2026—the largest Q1 outflow on record. It’s not a seasonal blip: 120,916 Canadians left in the 12 months ending Q1 2026, also a record. That’s before counting temporary resident outflows.
Canadian Home Prices Hit Record Highs In Most Provinces, BC & ON Drag
Canadian real estate prices are down nationally—but most of the country would disagree. The price of a typical home in Canada remains 20.6% (-$173.6k) below its March 2022 peak. A steep drop, but 5 of 9 provinces with a CREA HPI hit record highs last month, and two more sit within 3% of theirs. The national index is dragged down by just two provinces: BC, off 14.9% from its peak, and Ontario, down 24.8%. Only one province is actually lower than the national index—meaning the sales volumes behind those “highs” in other provinces deserve more scrutiny.
Canada’s Population Drops 230k, Temporary Resident Target Slips
Statistics Canada’s latest estimates show Canada’s population fell by over 230,000 in Q2 2026. It marked the third straight quarterly decline, pushing the count to its lowest since Q3 2024. Most of the drop comes from temporary resident outflows, with the group shrinking 17% from last year. That’s a sharp contraction, but it follows a period where temporary residents more than doubled between 2021 and 2024. The math reads as a correction, not a crisis.
Canadian Real Estate Just Flashed A Sign Not Seen Since The 90s Crash
Existing home prices rose 0.23% to $667,700 in May, a fourth consecutive monthly gain, according to CREA. Despite higher prices, sales fell to a 20-year low for the month while new listings remained near record highs. The sales-to-new-listings ratio (SNLR) dropped to its lowest since the early 1990s real estate crash. Prices are climbing, but the demand picture isn’t improving—it’s deteriorating.
Canadian Household Wealth Climbs, Housing Boosts Net Worth Again
Real estate is back—at least as a driver of household wealth, according to StatCan. The agency estimates household net worth climbed 1.3% to $18.6 trillion in Q1 2026, a record, and 4.9% higher than last year. Housing wealth made its first positive contribution in over a year, rising 1.3% to $8.47 trillion—though financial assets drove the majority of the overall gain. Not all of it tracked positive: debt is rising faster than incomes, and households are saving less. While the averages look solid, wealth gains at this scale tend to concentrate at the top.
