Monday, October 10, 2022

At a glance (2 minute read)

  • Home ownership rates are decreasing, while rentership rates are increasing.
  • Construction is shifting to rental housing.
  • Metro Vancouverites are spending a higher percentage of their income on housing.

Statistics Canada has released housing data collected for the May 11, 2021 census.

The data highlights housing ownership trends, changes in housing affordability, and housing needs across generations.

Here’s a summary for Metro Vancouver.

Homeownership rate falls

In 2021, 62.1 per cent of Metro Vancouver residents owned their own home, a decline from 63.7 per cent in 2016 and 65.5 per cent in 2011.

Owning compared to renting

Homeownership by age

Younger households are less likely to own homes and their homeownership rate declined the most among all age groups in past 10 years.

Homeownership costs

Renters

Renter households grew 28.3 per cent – more than double the 11 per cent growth in owner households since 2011.

New dwellings

New construction in Metro Vancouver shifted to more rental housing in the five years ending at the 2021 census.

Of the total dwellings built in those five years, 42.6 per cent were rental, up from 34.6 per cent from the 2016 census. 

Close to one-third (32.5 per cent) of households in Metro Vancouver lived in a condominium, the highest share among all census metropolitan areas in Canada.

Read the census release on housing.