SmartHomeOwners

Statistics Canada reported that, in 2006, Canada's homeownership rate reached its highest level since 1971, according to a detailed analysis of data on housing, homeownership and shelter costs from the 2006 Census.

Of the 12.4 million households in Canada, more than 8.5 million, over two-thirds (68.4%) owned their home, the highest rate since 1971. At the same time, the proportion of Canadian households that rented their home slipped from 33.8% in 2001 to 31.2% in 2006. About 3.9 million households rented their home in 2006.

The increase during the five-year period continues the long-term trend in rising homeownership that picked up in 1991 after a period of low growth during the 1980s.

In 2006, an estimated three million households, or 24.9% of the total, spent 30% or more of their income on shelter, a slight gain from 2001. Among homeowners with mortgages, the proportion was 25.7%, up from 23.6% in 2001. Some of these households may have chosen to spend more than 30% on housing, but the census does not provide information on intentions.

Households in the Atlantic provinces continued to have the highest homeownership rates in the country in 2006. Those in Newfoundland and Labrador had the highest rate, 78.7%. Households in Quebec had the lowest provincial rate at 60.1%.

A separate Statistics Canada study also finds that wealthier people are much likelier to be homeowners. For example, in 1999, the 64% of Canadian households that owned their homes held 91% of total household net worth, while the remaining 36% of households that rent held only 9%. From another perspective, the median net worth of homeowner households was $226,000 in 1999, compared to just $14,000 for renter households.

A new Census will be conducted in 2011 when new trends will be released. It may reveal that homeownership is on the rise again and net worth gap between homeowners and renters  grew even larger.

Sources: Statistics Canada