More Canadians Settle to Rent Forever

Almost one-third of Canadians have given up on their dream of homeownership, according to a new survey by Finder.

Of these, more than half — five million of nine million Canadians — expressed they are no longer interested in homeownership. This is a significant 60% increase from when the same question was posed more than two years ago.

For many, years of runaway home prices combined with rising mortgage costs means the barriers to homeownership now appear almost insurmountable. However, a cooling real estate market could potentially improve housing affordability.

According to survey data, women and men are almost on par in their resolve with renting forever, an attitude that hasn’t shifted much over the last few years. But the desire to become a homeowner did dwindle over the same time period, with 17% of women reporting no interest in homeownership in 2022, up from 9% in 2020.

Canadians between the ages of 35 and 44 years old, mostly older millennials and younger Gen Xers, seem to feel the most hopeless about homeownership. Interestingly, Gen Z and younger millennials, those aged between 18 and 34 years old, were least interested in homeownership.

This generation of renters could significantly alter the importance of housing and the impact of the Canadian housing market over the next few years.