Housing crisis leaves younger Canadians falling behind
Canada’s housing crisis has shifted from a market story to a wellbeing story for younger Canadians, with new research drawing a direct line between shelter costs, delayed homeownership and a sharp drop in life satisfaction.
A University of Alberta study using the Canadian sample of the Gallup World Poll tracked adults aged 20 to 34 between 2008 and 2025. It found a steep decline in how they rated their lives on the Cantril Ladder, alongside worsening perceptions of housing affordability, living standards and job prospects.
The researchers interpreted the evidence as “indicating that the happiness crisis among young Canadians is, to a large degree, an economic crisis”.
About one in five Canadians aged 20 to 34 reported shelter insecurity between 2023 and 2025, compared with roughly one in thirteen seniors, according to the study.
Since 2004, entry‑level home prices climbed about 265%, while young dual‑income households saw earnings rise only 76%, according to a February 2026 report by the Missing Middle Initiative.
According to analysis from Rachel Battaglia, an economist at RBC, the disconnect between wealth and income for younger Canadians reveals a market built on temporary supports rather than earnings growth.
"Young household wealth gains since 2020 came despite stagnant incomes, suggesting factors beyond earning capacity—such as pandemic government transfers, asset appreciation, and potentially family support—played a meaningful role in driving wealth accumulation," Battaglia said.
Statistics Canada data showed that in 2024, 51% of young adults aged 20 to 35 had moving plans affected by rising prices, compared with 25% of older adults, and more than eight in 10 young Canadians faced at least one housing challenge.
Moreover, new data from the Angus Reid Institute found that more than two-thirds of Canadians say Carney’s government has fell short on addressing housing affordability (67%) and the high cost of living (70%).
According to Ratehub.ca’s latest home affordability report, ten cities saw affordability worsen, two cities saw improvement, and one saw no change.
Similarly, younger Canadians are particularly affected, with 41% of those aged 18–29 and 39% of those aged 30–44 citing housing as a top issue, according to Abacus Data in partnership with the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).
A growing number of Canadians aged 18 to 44 are also giving up on the dream of homeownership, with many no longer viewing it as a realistic goal in their lifetimes, according to a survey by Easy Home Renovation.
Reframing housing as a system
Rather than another round of narrow first-time buyer incentives, the Missing Middle Initiative called for Ottawa to treat housing as an interconnected system.
“Policies that increase rental supply can reduce rents, making it easier for existing renters to save for a down payment,” the authors said, adding that measures to help seniors downsize and growing families upsize could “free up units for the next generation of homebuyers.”
To guide that shift, the report set out four national goals: build homes for real families, rebuild the pathway to home ownership, right-size housing for existing families, and shift the market from portfolios to families by moving investors from buying existing homes into financing new purpose-built rentals.
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