How Housing Costs & Policies are Reshaping Canada
Cleanlist identified 53,616 new movers in Canada in January 2025. This resulted in a notable 21.5% decrease in new movers from January 2024 to January 2025 and a greater 36% decrease month-over-month from December 2024 to January 2025. This is remarkably different from last year’s jump from December 2023 to January 2024, considering we saw a 46.8% increase in new movers.
Inconsistency in new mover patterns year over year
Many economic and demographic factors often influence year-over-year patterns. Fluctuations in interest rates, housing affordability and availability can have a large impact on the number of people willing to move each year.
It’s not news that rising housing costs play a big role in mover mobility. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation recently mentioned that since 1990, the percentage of households moving annually has declined from nearly 17.8% to just 10.1% in 2020, with rising costs playing a major role.
Another factor to consider is the recent immigration policy changes. In 2024, the Canadian government announced a reduction in both permanent and temporary immigration levels to alleviate some of the housing market pressures. This should have a large impact on the 2025 market.
These factors, among others, may contribute to the year-over-year inconsistencies and could play a large role in the housing climate in 2025.
January 2025 Data Highlights:
- Each province except 2 saw a decrease in new movers from January 2024 to January 2025. The only provinces to see an increase year over year were Nova Scotia (14.3%) and British Columbia (10.2%).
- The provinces that saw the biggest decrease in new movers from January 2024 to January 2025 were Newfoundland (-45%), Ontario (-30.9%), and Saskatchewan (-29.2%).
- Every province saw a decrease in new movers from December 2024 to January 2025. The provinces that saw the biggest decrease in new movers month over month were Newfoundland (-79.7%), New Brunswick (-70.1%) and P.E.I. (-42.3%).
The continued housing crisis in Atlantic Canada
At the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025, Atlantic Canada faces a significant housing crisis characterized by escalated home prices and limited housing availability. Housing prices in certain Atlantic provinces have soared post-pandemic as many Canadians moved East to explore a new slower-paced way of life. As a result, homelessness is becoming much more common in these provinces. Factors contributing to this crisis include a shortage of affordable housing and rising construction costs. Even though there are many government initiatives aimed at helping increase the housing supply, this problem is expected to persist for years to come.
Why Mover Activity Data Matters
Consumer spending drives sales across many industries and data sources gathered that spending accelerates significantly for consumers on the move. Some studies report that new movers increase their spending on a product or service by as much as 10x during the move cycle which lasts between two and six months. Savvy marketers and sales teams understand this behaviour and put their marketing dollars to work to reach new movers and win more business.
In addition to the obvious packing and moving costs, new movers spend money in three main areas: home improvement, household management, and neighbourhood integration.
Money spent on home improvements typically includes renovations, furniture and appliances, paint, flooring, window coverings, decorating, alarm and security systems, decks, landscaping, roofing and siding, and HVAC systems.
Money spent on household management decisions is less obvious, but also important to new movers. They tend to review and reconsider their spending on things like insurance, financial planning and investments, internet and communication services, energy consumption, and even new vehicles.
And finally, money is spent on neighbourhood integration. New movers tend to change their shopping and entertainment habits while seeking out new stores and services in the neighbourhood for groceries, household supplies, landscaping and snow removal, child care, restaurants and entertainment venues.
Build Lead Lists Of New Movers For Competitive Advantage
If the buyer persona of consumers moving to a new home or office sounds like your ideal customer profile, Cleanlist’s New Mover Data can provide high-quality leads based on a list of new movers. This list of ideal prospects with unique pain points for sales reps to address can give marketing teams a competitive advantage.
