The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, Feb. 22, edition that CIBC economist Benjamin Tal warns that the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation has significantly underestimated the number of new homes required in Canada due to the growth of the population from temporary residents. The Globe's Marie Woolf writes that CMHC has not taken this into account in its forecast. Mr. Tal says CMHC's forecast for how many homes will be required by the end of the decade falls 1.2 million short. CMHC estimated in September that an extra 3.5 million homes would be needed by 2030 to meet demand, but CIBC notes this assessment is already obsolete. "This projection assumes a base population of 38.9 million -- no less than 1.2 million short of the actual official population," CIBC says. Even the agency's "high growth scenario of 44.15 million would be significantly below the actual population count." The CIBC report says the housing shortage is largely a planning issue with "official planning targets falling notably short of actual population growth." If not corrected, the forecasts could lead to a significant housing planning gap, it warns. The CMHC report found that most demand for new homes is in Ontario and British Columbia.