How are Canada's urban Millennials negotiating the ideology of homeownership in an unaffordable housing market?

This paper presents the preliminary findings from a mixed-method study examining homeownership among young people (the “Millennial generation”) in urban Canada. Canada is predominantly a homeowner nation, with... [ view full abstract ]

This paper presents the preliminary findings from a mixed-method study examining homeownership among young people (the “Millennial generation”) in urban Canada. Canada is predominantly a homeowner nation, with homeownership rates consistently around 60-70% since World War II. While this rate is about 10-20 percent lower in Canada’s urban centres, homeownership nevertheless remains the most common and idealized form of housing tenure – one to which many young people aspire. However, since 2010, a housing boom in Canada’s largest cities (Toronto and Vancouver) has resulted in exponential increases in the cost to purchase a home. The Millennial generation (those born after 1980) are particularly disadvantaged: most of them are entering the market for the first time, and do not have a substantial amount of resources or equity with which to purchase a home. Further, young people are more likely to be precariously employed or have lower incomes, resulting in financing options that are more expensive or nonexistent. This paper explores how young people negotiate their aspirations of homeownership in this housing context. Data from two cross-sectional surveys collected by Statistics Canada are analyzed to determine how housing aspirations have shifted between 2008 and 2014, and how these aspirations are conditioned by income. Results of the quantitative analysis are explored in detail through semi-structured interviews with young adults living in Toronto, Canada. Overall, this paper illustrates how the housing aspirations of Millennials continue to reflect an ideology of homeownership; however, their lived experiences in contemporary housing and employment markets are forcing a renegotiation of these aspirations. I conclude by considering the implications of these findings for patterns of urban homeownership, urban housing policy, and more broadly, social justice.