I've stated many times before that immigration has long-term multi-decade impacts but in my opinion little relevence to short-term real estate cycles. Meaning, if you don't plan to hold your property for more than 10 years population numbers don't matter.
That said I was wondering about those published Globe and Mail numbers. Clearly permanent residents (does this mean immigrants?) are decreasing in Ontario but where are they going, or is the total number coming to Canada dropping? Looking at the graph there are small upticks in permenant residents settling in Alberta and the Prairies, but they don't make up for the losses in Ontario. Or are we missing something.
Also, I think a large portion of the increase in demand is a reflection of the decrease in household size. What I mean is that much of the new housing stock is burned up by the fact that more and more people live alone or with less other people. This trend is a demographic irregulatity and might also have played it's course. Cost of living matters because as the costs of both purchasing and maintaining property in the region increase, the ability of people to live alone or with less other people will also start to decrease.