- Housing affordability is much more acute among younger residents, with one third of Gen Z in Canada currently unable to find an affordable place to live for themselves.
- Housing affordability is less acute in Quebec, where just 31% of residents are either currently unable to find an affordable place to live or know somebody who is, the lowest in the country.
July 12, 2023
To better understand the current state of the Canadian market for housing, we asked Canadians whether they knew of anybody currently unable to find an affordable place to live. The results showed that nationwide 13% of Canadians are personally struggling to find affordable housing, 38% know somebody who is, while 55% do not know of anybody. In total, 45% of Canadians are either themselves unable to find an affordable place to live and/or know someone in that position.
The research results indicate that housing affordability is a bigger problem for younger Canadians. One third (33%) of Gen Z said they are personally unable to find somewhere affordable to live compared to 19% of millennials, 12% of Gen X and just 5% of Boomers.
Nationwide, Quebec residents are the least likely to know somebody currently struggling to find affordable housing (25%) while BC (50%), Ontario (43%), and Atlantic Canada (40%) see the highest rates. Meanwhile, Ontario (17%), the prairies (17%), and Atlantic Canada (14%) see the highest numbers for people personally struggling compared to BC (4%) and Quebec (7%).
“Traditionally, Toronto and Vancouver have been the focus of conversations on housing affordability in Canada, but that is no longer the case,” says Margaret Chapman, COO & Partner of Narrative Research. “The last few years have seen increased inter-provincial migration, as well as new immigrants and Canadian residents moving to less-populated parts of the country, putting a strain on local housing and rental markets. Until construction can catch up to demand, we should expect housing affordability to continuing growing from a local issue into a national one.”
Results are from a survey conducted in partnership between Narrative Research and the Logit Group. The survey was conducted online between June 6th and June 8th with 1,234 Canadians, 18 years of age or older from the Logit Group’s Canadian Omnibus. Data were weighted based on the 2016 Census, by gender, age, and region to reflect actual population distribution. As a non-probability sample a margin of error is not applied.
The question asked was:
Do you know of anybody currently unable to find an affordable place to live? (Select all that apply)
– Me
– Somebody I know
– No (Exclusive)
For more information, please contact:
Margaret Chapman, COO & Partner, Narrative Research – 902.493-3834, mchapman@narrativeresearch.ca
OR
Sam Pisani, Managing Partner, Logit Group – 416.629.4116, sam.pisani@logitgroup.com
Narrative Research (www.narrativeresearch.ca), is a leading public opinion and market research company headquartered in Canada. The company is certified as a WBE (Women Business Enterprise). As a non-partisan, 100% Canadian-owned research company, Narrative Research is dedicated to providing clients with state-of-the-art research and strategic consulting services.
The Logit Group (https://logitgroup.com/) is a leading North American data collection and market research execution company headquartered in Toronto, conducting large-scale projects for a variety of well-known research agencies and brands. Logit employs industry-best technologies across an array of methodologies, and is independent, experienced and quality-oriented.
Follow us on Twitter at @EveryNarrative and @LogitGroup
