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trtcttc said:
What does the 18-24 and 28-40 mean? I thought it was age at first but that doesn't make sense since there must be people outside of these age ranges that are moving here.
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Good question. I would have assumed age also, but it's missing some groups. The math lines up if the only net migration was from people in those age groups. Maybe a typo?
 
Housing starts August 2024. Edmonton had a strong showing, and Calgary with a solid showing. Vancouver sluggish still, with Montreal and Ottawa really quite sluggish.

CitySFHsemirowapartmenttotal
Toronto5442057910202163
Edmonton6911322228231868
Vancouver1927022712371726
Calgary5971983485521695
Montreal9024611181238
Ott/Gat16328180374745
 
Employment growth seems to have slowed, I wonder when we'll see the population growth drop as well. The lack of rent control, poor public transit (compared to the big 3 cities), and cold winters, it's pretty hard to live here without regular employment.
 
trtcttc said:
Employment growth seems to have slowed, I wonder when we'll see the population growth drop as well. The lack of rent control, poor public transit (compared to the big 3 cities), and cold winters, it's pretty hard to live here without regular employment.
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Jobs are generally the driving force for growth, but for international immigration it's not always job related. We'll see Calgary's population growth start to slow (as it will for the other major metros) as international immigration slows, but lack of rent control or cold winters or good transit won't factor in much. Even with lack of rent control, rents are still cheaper here than 5 of the other 6 metros. Outside of Vancouver's winters, the other 5 metro's winters aren't drastically different enough to make a difference. Transit is lacking compared to the big three, but I rarely meet people from other cities who make their decision based on transit.
Calgary is in enough of a sweet spot, that even though it will lose out in some categories, it usually does well in others. For example.
- Calgary transit lacks compared to the big three, but it's here easier to afford a home that's not far from downtown. It's also easier to drive here, and many people still prefer that mode.
- Calgary is colder on average than Vancouver or Toronto, but gets more sunny days. Calgary beats out Ottawa and Edmonton for Winter weather.
- Calgary accommodation is more expensive than Edmonton, but still cheaper than the other metros. Similar cost compared to Montreal, but higher wages.

I'm not trying to say Calgary is better than those other cities, only that you can't really look at population growth as being determined by public transit or cold winters, and that it's not really any harder to live here than it is anywhere else without regular employment.
 
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Beltline_B said:
Jobs are generally the driving force for growth, but for international immigration it's not always job related. We'll see Calgary's population growth start to slow (as it will for the other major metros) as international immigration slows, but lack of rent control or cold winters or good transit won't factor in much. Even with lack of rent control, rents are still cheaper here than 5 of the other 6 metros. Outside of Vancouver's winters, the other 5 metro's winters aren't drastically different enough to make a difference. Transit is lacking compared to the big three, but I rarely meet people from other cities who make their decision based on transit.
Calgary is in enough of a sweet spot, that even though it will lose out in some categories, it usually does well in others. For example.
- Calgary transit lacks compared to the big three, but it's here easier to afford a home that's not far from downtown. It's also easier to drive here, and many people still prefer that mode.
- Calgary is colder on average than Vancouver or Toronto, but gets more sunny days. Calgary beats out Ottawa and Edmonton for Winter weather.
- Calgary accommodation is more expensive than Edmonton, but still cheaper than the other metros. Similar cost compared to Montreal, but higher wages.

I'm not trying to say Calgary is better than those other cities, only that you can't really look at population growth as being determined by public transit or cold winters, and that it's no harder to live here than it is anywhere else without regular employment.
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As someone that moved here from Toronto, I definitely understand the value Calgary offers. My point was more for people on the margins, with temporary/unstable employment. Without rent control, there's little certainty to your biggest expense, and many newcomers to places like Toronto and Vancouver, start by sharing accommodations, so they benefit from rent control. Good transit takes away the need for a car, which is also a major expense. I think Calgary offers a really good lifestyle for middle class individuals/families, but if employment is constrained, I'm not sure how these newcomers (to Alberta, incl. interprovincial) will be able to afford to live here
 
A lot of us who’ve been here over a decade (me) are severely struggling now, even despite having a kinda sweet deal on rent given how nice my place is. Paying 1495 for my own one bedroom place on the 29th floor with a near panoramic view of the Rockies being a “sweet deal” here seems pretty crazy. But better than the 1900+ they’re charging newcomers.
 
Surrealplaces said:
As mentioned by Urban Warrior, Calgary has been on a higher trajectory than Ottawa and Edmonton for quite a while, since at least the mid 90's. In the early 80's Calgary trailed Ottawa and Edmonton by a significant amount having over 100,000 people less than those two cities. Back in the early 90's Ottawa was the city that was pulling away from Edmonton and Calgary. With the high tech industry booming and the government hiring it was firing on all cylinders, but it started to tamper off after the mid 90's, and outside of increasing the size of their CMA, they haven't really seen much in the way of booming growth, but it's been solid. Edmonton has been similar to Ottawa having seen solid growth over the past 40 years.
Calgary is an interesting one. At one time sitting at 120,000 people less than Edmonton and Ottawa (in 1981), it now sees itself over 100k more than Edmonton and 75K more than Ottawa, and if Ottawa didn't add Carleton Place area to their CMA, Calgary would be about 150K more. And this doesn't even include the 75K to the south of us. For the past 40 years it's been pedal to the metal for Calgary, even with a few downturns , one being especially bad (2015-2019), it's been full steam ahead.

CMA Growth from 1981 to 2023
Calgary 1,056,543
Edmonton 822,689
Ottawa 865,984

View attachment 591066
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I’ve spent the last hour reading in this thread, it’s really interesting.
I learned today is Calgary has a much larger population than Edmonton. My dad who’s from Edmonton has always told me that Calgary is a bigger city, but Edmonton is a bigger metro.
I’m going to text this graph to him lol.
 
Dkeirle said:
I’ve spent the last hour reading in this thread, it’s really interesting.
I learned today is Calgary has a much larger population than Edmonton. My dad who’s from Edmonton has always told me that Calgary is a bigger city, but Edmonton is a bigger metro.
I’m going to text this graph to him lol.
Click to expand...
Send it like it’s hot 👍 lol
On a serious note, Edmonton was bigger than Calgary for almost the entire 20th century, so probably some other older people who still think of Edmonton as the larger metro.
Until recently my grandfather who’s 96 thought Montreal was Canada’s largest city.
 
Mountain Man said:
Wasn't Quebec City bigger than Montreal for a long time?
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I think they were both fairly close in the early days and had a bit of trading back and forth for top spot back in the 1600 and early 1700s, but Montreal emerged as permanent front runner from the late 1700s onward.

But distinctions in size in that era are relatively meaningless - Canadian society was so rural dominated that both were tiny towns by today's standards for the first 2 centuries.
 
trtcttc said:
As someone that moved here from Toronto, I definitely understand the value Calgary offers. My point was more for people on the margins, with temporary/unstable employment. Without rent control, there's little certainty to your biggest expense, and many newcomers to places like Toronto and Vancouver, start by sharing accommodations, so they benefit from rent control. Good transit takes away the need for a car, which is also a major expense. I think Calgary offers a really good lifestyle for middle class individuals/families, but if employment is constrained, I'm not sure how these newcomers (to Alberta, incl. interprovincial) will be able to afford to live here
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Fair points, especially the transit situation. Calgary is definitely geared towards having to own a vehicle.
 
Housing starts Sept 2024. Interesting month as Calgary was tops for Canada. Ottawa with a strong month, but looks to be mainly due to a couple of apartment projects starting. Montreal had a couple of busy months but has been back to sluggish lately.


CitySFHsemirowapartmenttotal
Calgary6601622719972090
Vancouver2098817115151983
Ott/Gat2161427713811888
Toronto554324756721733
Edmonton637902514571435
Montreal10814579321111
 
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