Internal documents illustrate that federal public servants had warned the Canadian government two years ago that significant increases to immigration could considerably affect housing affordability and services.

Documents which were obtained by The Canadian Press through an access-to-information request indicate that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada studied the potential effects immigration might have on the economy, housing and services as it prepared its immigration targets for 2023 to 2025.

The deputy minister, along with others, was warned back in 2022 that housing construction hadn’t kept up with the pace of the country’s population growth.

Public servants cautioned that rapid increases in population growth would place pressure on health care and affordable housing.

Ultimately, the federal government upped the number of new permanent residents to 500-thousand in 2025, a move that drew considerable attention and scrutiny.

However, focus has now shifted to the flow of temporary residents, which includes international students and migrant workers, who now comprise the the bulk of recent population growth.