Housing Demolitions | Metro Vancouver

It is important to monitor the number of demolitions as they affect the net unit additions to the Metro Vancouver region’s housing inventory. This is especially important for rental housing stock, as the demolition and redevelopment of older rental buildings can result in the loss of much needed affordable rental units.

The demolition data below is from a custom request to Statistics Canada and includes 2021 Census data. Municipalities may have additional data available through their own internal administrative records. Although it is difficult to compare demolitions in different member jurisdictions due to differences in housing stock composition and development conditions, standardizing demolitions as percentages of total private dwellings can illustrate the local magnitude of housing stock removals.

Trends in housing demolitions of ground-oriented dwellings and apartment units

Demolitions in 2023 as a percentage of total private dwellings

Historical trend in residential unit completions, demolitions, and net change

Residential unit completions, demolitions, and net change in Metro Vancouver

Key observations

Demolitions on a unit basis have decreased over the past 10 years (-18.4%), while residential completions have increased at a similar magnitude (17.3%) — resulting in an average annual net change in residential units of 24.0%.
In 2023, the total number of residential unit demolitions in Metro Vancouver decreased to 2,304 after a recent high in 2021 (of 3,856).
Apartment demolitions have dropped to 338 units in 2023 from the recent historical high of 1,164 units in 2021. A decrease of 27%.
Vancouver, Surrey, and Burnaby had the highest number of total unit demolitions in 2023.
The municipalities with the most apartment unit demolitions were Vancouver, Burnaby, and the District of North Vancouver in 2023.

Residential unit demolitions in Metro Vancouver

Notes

The glossary provides definitions of each technical term, ensuring consistent interpretation.
Data is based on Census counts and does not include undercount estimates.
Jurisdiction and Metro Vancouver totals may not equal the sum of individual values due to rounding, data suppression, or the omission of smaller data points to maintain visual readability. If a geography is not listed or appears missing, the associated data was either unavailable or did not meet reporting thresholds.
Proportion percentages are calculated using available data and may exclude instances of missed or suppressed data.
Electoral Area A includes UBC/UEL (University of British Columbia / University Endowment Lands).
Secondary suite demolitions are included in the "apartments" group.
Ground oriented dwellings include single detached, cottages, mobiles, duplexes, semi-detached, and row house..

Source
This information is from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Starts and Completions Survey as well as a custom data request from CMHC, and Statistics Canada census data.

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