First-Time Homebuyers in Canada, 2018

Release date: January 15, 2020

Infographic: First-Time Homebuyers in Canada, 2018
Description: First-Time Homebuyers in Canada, 2018

First-Time Homebuyers in Canada, 2018

Across Canada, 9% of households (1.3 million out of 14.8 million) bought their first home in the last five years.

Percentage of first-time homebuyer households, by provinces and territories.
Province or territory Percentage of households
Newfoundland and Labrador 7.1
Prince Edward Island 9.4
Nova Scotia 7.2
New Brunswick 7.2
Quebec 8.2
Ontario 8.9
Manitoba 8.9
Saskatchewan 10.8
Alberta 12.1
British Columbia 9.2
Yukon 10.3
Northwest Territories 8.1
Nunavut 3.6

Top 3 reasonsFootnote 1 first-time homebuyers moved

Top 3 reasons first-time homebuyers moved
  Percentage of households
To become homeowners 66.2
To upgrade to a larger dwelling or a better quality dwelling 25.7
To form own household 25.6

First-time homebuyers in different housing marketsFootnote 2

Selected characteristics of first-time homebuyers in different housing markets across Canada and in three largest census metropolitan areas of Toronto, Montréal and Vancouver.
Selected household characteristics Canada Toronto CMAFootnote 3 Montréal CMAFootnote 3 Vancouver CMAFootnote 3
Percentage of households
Are less than 35 years of ageFootnote 4 50.6 41.2 47.6 48.2
Are familiesFootnote 5 74.1 75.5 72.1 69.8
Bought a single-detached house 52.9 26.4 38.1 21.4

Sources: Canadian Housing Survey 2018. Data for Northwest Territories come from the 2019 NWT Community Survey.

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