Why Canadians in Some Places Feel Less Pressure to Become Homebuyers

Earlier this year, a Wahi survey revealed that Quebec residents feel the least pressure to purchase property. We spoke to several sources in the real estate industry to find out why.

By Josh Sherman | 5 minute read

Views of homeownership vary depending on age and location, Wahi research suggests.

If you ask Canadians whether they’re feeling pressure to purchase a home, many will probably tell you they are.

After all, about two-thirds (66.5%) of Canadians are already homeowners, according to the most recent census count, from 2021. Despite the ownership rate’s steady decline over the past decade (it peaked at 69%, in 2011, and has been falling ever since), ownership undeniably remains the norm in Canada.

A strong desire to own a home is at least partly rooted in long-standing government policies, suggests CIBC Deputy Chief Economist Benjamin Tal. “If you look at the tax system, the tax system is not benefitting renters compared to homeowners,” he says.

For instance, the decision in the ‘70s to eliminate capital gains taxes on principal residences made homeownership the primary investment vehicle for many Canadians. The exemption lets homebuyers purchase property and, so long as they live in it, face zero taxes on their profit when they decide to sell.

However, responses to Wahi’s recent 2025 Homebuying Pressure Point Survey suggest that homeownership attitudes in Canada vary considerably depending on the market.

Nationally, 34% of respondents to the Wahi survey perceived some form of pressure, whether from family and friends or societal expectations. In B.C. and Alberta, that number jumps to roughly 40%, while 35% of Ontarians agree. However, in Quebec, just 26% of respondents reported experiencing the same pressure, the lowest of any province.

So what’s behind the seemingly more laid-back attitude towards buying in Quebec? 

Marc Choko, emeritus professor at the École de design (Design School) at Université du Québec à Montréal, dispels the idea that it’s an ingrained preference for renting or the byproduct of some cultural phenomenon.

In Montreal, at least, it boils down to the type of housing that’s been available historically. “I believe that the offer conditions the demand,” says Choko. Towards the end of the 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, Choko notes that Montreal built and offered a massive number of duplex and triplex apartments for rent. “That distorted the offer in the favour of remaining tenants,” he says.

An abundance of rental units tended to keep rents lower, making it a more attractive option for many. “It was less costly to be a tenant than to be an owner,” he says.

“Now, the situation in our days has changed a lot, because tenants in Montreal have seen the prices really increase,” he continues. 

Another strike against the idea that there’s a pervasive culture of renting in Quebec is the fact that Montreal, like many other cities in the post-war era, experienced suburban expansion. The population centre grew outward as many in Quebec desired more affordable ownership housing. “This is why I pleaded against this concept of a culture of tenancy,” he tells Wahi. “I think it came from the market, from the offer, and from the economic situation,” Choko explains. 

In the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region, about 200 kilometres outside of Quebec City, the desire to own a home is alive and well, says Kevin Potvin, a Realtor with the local brokerage branch of Via Capital. “People pretty much want to own. If they can do so, they will.”

If homebuyers in his region are feeling less pressure to buy, Potvin suggests it may be because they have accepted that it is financially out of reach now. Home prices in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean have more than doubled in the past decade, he says. “A lot of people can’t even fathom buying a house with some of the annual salaries,” Potvin tells Wahi.

Moving forward, Tal, the CIBC economist, suggests Canadians need to reevaluate their attitudes towards homeownership. The country’s focus on owning homes is unsustainable, and more purpose-built rental needs to be constructed.

“We have this dream of homeownership… but it’s definitely changing,” he says. “I want to create a situation in Canada in which you are 35 years old, you are married, you have two kids, and you are renting and nothing is wrong with you — the way it is in Berlin, the way it is in London, the way it is in New York — and we are not there yet,” he says.