Anna Barone

This article examines homeownership among recent immigrants to Canada and their pathways leading up to homeownership. It combines information from the Canadian Housing Statistics Program on homeowners in seven provinces—Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia—with immigration data for individuals who were admitted as permanent residents from 2017 to 2021. This is the second in a series of articles published in Housing Statistics in Canada that investigate homeownership among newcomers to Canada.

Key findings

• From 2018 to 2021, the homeownership rate increased for recent immigrants and decreased for Canadian-born individuals. In Ontario, the homeownership rate for recent immigrants in the fifth year after admission rose from 35.7% in 2018 to 40.2% in 2021, while it fell from 50.7% to 47.8% for Canadian-born individuals.
• By their fifth year after admission to Canada, economic-class immigrants had homeownership rates comparable to those of Canadian-born individuals. In British Columbia, economic-class immigrants in their fifth year after admission had a homeownership rate of 40.1%, compared with 43.3% for Canadian-born individuals.
• By their fifth year after admission to Canada, recent immigrants in the Maritime provinces and Manitoba had homeownership rates similar to those of Canadian-born individuals. The homeownership gap between recent immigrants and Canadian-born individuals was larger in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.
• Immigrant homeownership rates varied significantly by province and by region of the world in which immigrants were born.
• Recent immigrant homebuyers had lower incomes but purchased more expensive homes than Canadian-born buyers. This difference may be associated with higher mortgage debt and lower retirement savings among recent immigrant homebuyers.

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/46-28-0001/2026001/article/00002-eng.htm