A new Statistics Canada study reveals that millennials are twice as likely to live with their parents as baby boomers were at the same age, a trend particularly pronounced in expensive cities but not solely attributed to affordability challenges.
Based on the most recent census data, the study found that 16.3 percent of millennials aged 25 to 39 were living with their parents in 2021, up from 8.2 percent of baby boomers at the same age in 1991. In Toronto and Vancouver, where housing costs are exceptionally high, the figures were 26.1 percent and 19.3 percent, respectively.
Homeownership Rates Decline
After accounting for those living with parents, the study found a lower homeownership rate among young adults in 2021. While 55.9 percent of baby boomers in 1991 and 56.2 percent of Generation Xers in 2006 owned a home when aged 25 to 39, only 49.9 percent of millennials did.
Millennial homeowners were also less likely to live in detached homes compared to previous generations. In Toronto and Vancouver, the proportion of young people living in detached homes dropped to 19.4 percent and 12.2 percent in 2021, respectively, from 32.7 percent and 36.3 percent in 1991.
Factors Beyond Affordability
The erosion of housing affordability for young people became a major political issue in Canada after the COVID-19 pandemic, when home prices peaked in 2022 at nearly double their 2015 levels. Although prices have since cooled and other issues like the U.S. trade war have gained prominence, homeownership remains out of reach for many youth.
However, the report notes that generational differences can be largely explained by changes in living patterns among those in their late 20s and early 30s, including delayed marriage and parenthood, as well as increased racial diversity. Later family formation and longer periods of post-secondary study have likely contributed, along with cultural patterns across different demographic groups.
Among Canada-born millennials, nearly 40 percent of racialized individuals lived with their parents, compared to just 14 percent of non-racialized, non-Indigenous people. Interestingly, homeownership rates remained stable across generations for those who were married or in a common-law relationship.
Statistics Canada is currently conducting its 2026 census.
