Prospective homebuyers in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Toronto, Ontario, needed an annual income of over 200,000 Canadian dollars in 2023 to qualify for the average priced home. In Vancouver, this figure was approximately 237,000 Canadian dollars. British Columbia and Ontario, are Canada's most expensive provinces for housing. According to a January 2023 forecast by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), the housing market is expected to cool down in the next two years, which is likely to improve home affordability.

Portugal, Canada, and the United States were the countries with the highest house price to income ratio in 2023. In all three countries, the index exceeded 130 index points, while the average for all OECD countries stood at 117.5 index points. The index measures the development of housing affordability and is calculated by dividing nominal house price by nominal disposable income per head, with 2015 set as a base year when the index amounted to 100. An index value of 120, for example, would mean that house price growth has outpaced income growth by 20 percent since 2015. How have house prices worldwide changed since the COVID-19 pandemic? House prices started to rise gradually after the global financial crisis (2007–2008), but this trend accelerated with the pandemic. The countries with advanced economies, which usually have mature housing markets, experienced stronger growth than countries with emerging economies. Real house price growth (accounting for inflation) peaked in 2022 and has since lost some of the gain. Although, many countries experienced a decline in house prices, the global house price index shows that property prices in 2023 were still substantially higher than before COVID-19. Renting vs. buying In the past, house prices have grown faster than rents. However, the home affordability has been declining notably, with a direct impact on rental prices. As people struggle to buy a property of their own, they often turn to rental accommodation. This has resulted in a growing demand for rental apartments and soaring rental prices.

The house price ratio in Canada peaked in the second quarter of 2022, followed by three quarters of decline and a slight rebound in 2023. The ratio measures the development of housing affordability and is calculated by dividing nominal house price by nominal disposable income per head, with 2015 set as a base year when the index amounted to 100. Canada's index score in the third quarter of 2024 amounted to 136.8, which means that house price growth has outpaced income growth by almost 37 percent since 2015. Canadian home prices are fallingAfter several years of steady increase, Canadian house prices were forecast to fall slightly in 2023. This was also the case in British Columbia, which has consistently been the most expensive province for housing. This is likely because Vancouver, Canada's most expensive city, is located there. Canadian incomes on the riseIncomes in Canada have steadily risen since 2000 and show no signs of slowing down in the near future. This should improve housing affordability, as long as home price growth slows down.

Data on resident buyers who are persons that purchased a residential property in a market sale and filed their T1 tax return form: number of and incomes of residential property buyers, sale price, price-to-income ratio by the number of buyers as part of a sale, age groups, first-time home buyer status, buyer characteristics (sex, family type, immigration status, period of immigration, admission category).

Income of individuals by age group, sex and income source, Canada, provinces and selected census metropolitan areas, annual.

Canadian Internet use survey, household access to the Internet at home, by household income quartile for Canada and provinces from 2010 and 2012.

The average mortgage payment across all Canadian metros declined in 2023. In the third quarter of the year, Vancouver and Toronto topped the ranking of highest mortgage payment costs. Homebuyers in Vancouver had to pay, on average, 2,410 Canadian dollars monthly, while in Toronto, the average monthly scheduled mortgage payment was 2,318 Canadian dollars. Canada’s housing market House prices in Canada vary widely across the country. In 2023, the average sales price of detached single-family homes in Vancouver was nearly three times as expensive as the national average. Vancouver is undoubtedly considered the least affordable housing market: In 2021, the cost of buying a home with a 25-year mortgage in Canada was approximately 45 percent of the median household income, whereas in Vancouver, it was nearly 64 percent. Development of house prices The development of house prices depends on multiple factors, such as availability on the market and demand. Since 2005, house prices in Canada have been continuously growing. According to the MSL composite house price index, 2021 measured the highest house price increase.

Data on total family income and characteristics of resident owners who are persons occupying one of their residential properties and filed their T1 tax return form: sex, age, family type and size, employment status, claimant status of the home buyers' amount for the purchase of a home and the total assessment value of residential properties owned.

Home affordability has worsened substantially in Canada since 2021. In January 2023, the monthly single-family mortgage payment amounted to approximately 66 percent of a household's income, on average. In 2021, when affordability had improved slightly, the average mortgage payment constituted 47 percent of a household's income.

Shelter-cost-to-income ratio by tenure including presence of mortgage payments and subsidized housing for Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions. Includes residence on or off reserve, and household type including census family structure.

Average and median market, total and after-tax income of individuals by visible minority group, Indigenous group and immigration status, Canada and provinces.

Note: The data release is complete as of August 14th, 2023. 1. (Added April 4th) Canada and Census Divisions = Early April 2023 2. (Added May 1st) Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta Census Subdivisions (CSDs) = Late April 2023 3a. (Added June 8th) Manitoba and Saskatchewan CSDs 3b. (Added June 12th) Quebec CSDs = June 12th 2023 4. (Added June 30th) Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia CSDs = Early July 2023 5. (Added August 14th) Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut CSDs = Early August 2023. For more information, please visit HART.ubc.ca. Housing Assessment Resource Tools (HART) This dataset contains 18 tables which draw upon data from the 2021 Census of Canada. The tables are a custom order and contains data pertaining to core housing need and characteristics of households. 17 of the tables each cover a different geography in Canada: one for Canada as a whole, one for all Canadian census divisions (CD), and 15 for all census subdivisions (CSD) across Canada. The last table contains the median income for all geographies. Statistics Canada used these median incomes as the "area median household income (AMHI)," from which they derived some of the data fields within the Shelter Costs/Household Income dimension. Included alongside the data tables is a guide to HART's housing need assessment methodology. This guide is intended to support independent use of HART's custom data both to allow for transparent verification of our analysis, as well as supporting efforts to utilize the data for analysis beyond what HART did. There are many data fields in the data order that we did not use that may be of value for others. The dataset is in Beyond 20/20 (.ivt) format. The Beyond 20/20 browser is required in order to open it. This software can be freely downloaded from the Statistics Canada website: https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/public/beyond20-20 (Windows only). For information on how to use Beyond 20/20, please see: http://odesi2.scholarsportal.info/documentation/Beyond2020/beyond20-quickstart.pdf https://wiki.ubc.ca/Library:Beyond_20/20_Guide Custom order from Statistics Canada includes the following dimensions and data fields: Geography: - Country of Canada, all CDs & Country as a whole - All 10 Provinces (Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island (PEI), Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia), all CSDs & each Province as a whole - All 3 Territories (Nunavut, Northwest Territories, Yukon), all CSDs & each Territory as a whole Data Quality and Suppression: - The global non-response rate (GNR) is an important measure of census data quality. It combines total non-response (households) and partial non-response (questions). A lower GNR indicates a lower risk of non-response bias and, as a result, a lower risk of inaccuracy. The counts and estimates for geographic areas with a GNR equal to or greater than 50% are not published in the standard products. The counts and estimates for these areas have a high risk of non-response bias, and in most cases, should not be released. - Area suppression is used to replace all income characteristic data with an 'x' for geographic areas with populations and/or number of households below a specific threshold. If a tabulation contains quantitative income data (e.g., total income, wages), qualitative data based on income concepts (e.g., low income before tax status) or derived data based on quantitative income variables (e.g., indexes) for individuals, families or households, then the following rule applies: income characteristic data are replaced with an 'x' for areas where the population is less than 250 or where the number of private households is less than 40. Source: Statistics Canada - When showing count data, Statistics Canada employs random rounding in order to reduce the possibility of identifying individuals within the tabulations. Random rounding transforms all raw counts to random rounded counts. Reducing the possibility of identifying individuals within the tabulations becomes pertinent for very small (sub)populations. All counts are rounded to a base of 5, meaning they will end in either 0 or 5. The random rounding algorithm controls the results and rounds the unit value of the count according to a predetermined frequency. Counts ending in 0 or 5 are not changed. Universe: Full Universe: Private Households in Non-farm Non-band Off-reserve Occupied Private Dwellings with Income Greater than zero. Households examined for Core Housing Need: Private, non-farm, non-reserve, owner- or renter-households with incomes greater than zero and shelter-cost-to-income ratios less than 100% are assessed for 'Core Housing Need.' Non-family Households with at least one household maintainer aged 15 to 29 attending school are considered not to be in Core Housing Need, regardless of their housing circumstances. Data Fields: Note 1: Certain data fields from the original .ivt...

This table contains 516 series, with data for years 1996 - 1996 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years), and is no longer being released. This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography (173 items: Canada; Newfoundland and Labrador; Health and Community Services St. John's Region, Newfoundland and Labrador; Health and Community Services Eastern Region, Newfoundland and Labrador; ...);  Occupancy status (3 items: Total, households; Renters; Owners).

Data on the income, age, sex, employment status and marital status of residential property owners and other tax filers who do not own property, for the provinces of Nova Scotia, Ontario and British Columbia, their census metropolitan areas and associated census subdivisions.

This dataset includes one dataset which was custom ordered from Statistics Canada.The table includes information on housing suitability and shelter-cost-to-income ratio by number of bedrooms, housing tenure, status of primary household maintainer, household type, and income quartile ranges for census subdivisions in British Columbia.

The dataset is in Beyond 20/20 (.ivt) format. The Beyond 20/20 browser is required in order to open it. This software can be freely downloaded from the Statistics Canada website:
https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/public/beyond20-20 (Windows only).
For information on how to use Beyond 20/20, please see:
http://odesi2.scholarsportal.info/documentation/Beyond2020/beyond20-quickstart.pdf
https://wiki.ubc.ca/Library:Beyond_20/20_Guide

Custom order from Statistics Canada includes the following dimensions and variables:

Geography:
Non-reserve CSDs in British Columbia - 299 geographies
The global non-response rate (GNR) is an important measure of census data quality. It combines total non-response (households) and partial non-response (questions). A lower GNR indicates a lower risk of non-response bias and, as a result, a lower risk of inaccuracy. The counts and estimates for geographic areas with a GNR equal to or greater than 50% are not published in the standard products. The counts and estimates for these areas have a high risk of non-response bias, and in most cases, should not be released. All the geographies requested for this tabulation have been cleared for the release of income data and have a GNR under 50%.

Housing Tenure Including Presence of Mortgage (5)
1. Total – Private non-band non-farm off-reserve households with an income greater than zero by housing tenure
2. Households who own
3. With a mortgage1
4. Without a mortgage
5. Households who rent
Note: 1) Presence of mortgage - Refers to whether the owner households reported mortgage or loan payments for their dwelling.

2015 Before-tax Household Income Quartile Ranges (5)
1. Total – Private households by quartile ranges1, 2, 3
2. Count of households under or at quartile 1
3. Count of households between quartile 1 and quartile 2 (median) (including at quartile 2)
4. Count of households between quartile 2 (median) and quartile 3 (including at quartile 3)
5. Count of households over quartile 3
Notes: 1) A private household will be assigned to a quartile range depending on its CSD-level location and depending on its tenure (owned and rented). Quartile ranges for owned households in a specific CSD are delimited by the 2015 before-tax income quartiles of owned households with an income greater than zero and residing in non-farm off-reserve dwellings in that CSD. Quartile ranges for rented households in a specific CSD are delimited by the 2015 before-tax income quartiles of rented households with an income greater than zero and residing in non-farm off-reserve dwellings in that CSD.
2) For the income quartiles dollar values (the delimiters) please refer to Table 1.
3) Quartiles 1 to 3 are suppressed if the number of actual records used in the calculation (not rounded or weighted) is less than 16. For cases in which the renters’ quartiles or the owners’ quartiles (figures from Table 1) of a CSD are suppressed the CSD is assigned to a quartile range depending on the provincial renters’ or owners’ quartile figures.

Number of Bedrooms (Unit Size) (6)
1. Total – Private households by number of bedrooms1
2. 0 bedrooms (Bachelor/Studio)
3. 1 bedroom
4. 2 bedrooms
5. 3 bedrooms
6. 4 bedrooms
Note: 1) Dwellings with 5 bedrooms or more included in the total count only.

Housing Suitability (6)
1. Total - Housing suitability
2. Suitable
3. Not suitable
4. One bedroom shortfall
5. Two bedroom shortfall
6. Three or more bedroom shortfall
Note: 1) 'Housing suitability' refers to whether a private household is living in suitable accommodations according to the National Occupancy Standard (NOS); that is, whether the dwelling has enough bedrooms for the size and composition of the household. A household is deemed to be living in suitable accommodations if its dwelling has enough bedrooms, as calculated using the NOS.
'Housing suitability' assesses the required number of bedrooms for a household based on the age, sex, and relationships among household members. An alternative variable, 'persons per room,' considers all rooms in a private dwelling and the number of household members.
Housing suitability and the National Occupancy Standard (NOS) on which it is based were developed by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) through consultations with provincial housing agencies.

Shelter-cost-to-income-ratio (4)
1. Total – Private non-band non-farm off-reserve households with an income greater than zero
2. Spending less than 30% of households total income on shelter costs
3. Spending 30% or more of households total income on shelter costs
4. Spending 50% or more of households total income on shelter costs
Note: 'Shelter-cost-to-income ratio' refers to the proportion of average total income of household which is spent on shelter costs.

Household Statistics (8)
1. Total – Private non-band non-farm off-reserve households with an income greater than zero1
2. Average household income in 2015 ($)2
3. Median household income in 2015 ($)3
4. Quartile 1 of household income in 2015 ($)4
5. Quartile 2 (median) of household income in 2015 ($)4
6. Quartile 3 of household income in 2015 ($)4
7. Average monthly shelter costs ($)2,5
8. Median monthly shelter costs ($)3,5
Notes: 1) All households statistics are calculated based on the distribution of private households in non-farm off-reserve non-band occupied private dwellings with a before-tax household income greater than zero.
2) The average is suppressed if the number of actual records used in the calculation (not rounded or weighted) is less than 4.
3) The median is suppressed if the number of actual records used in the calculation (not rounded or weighted) is less than 8.
4) Quartiles 1 to 3 are suppressed if the number of actual records used in the calculation (not rounded or weighted) is less than 16.
5) Shelter costs for owner households include, where applicable, mortgage payments, property taxes and condominium fees, along with the costs of electricity, heat, water and other municipal services. For renter households, shelter costs include, where applicable, the rent and the costs of electricity, heat, water and other municipal services.

Status of Primary Household Maintainer (11)
1. Total – Private households by Aboriginal identity of the primary household maintainer
2. PHM is Aboriginal2
3. PHM is not Aboriginal
4. Total – Private households by immigration status of the primary household maintainer
5. PHM is a non-immigrant3
6. PHM is an immigrant or a non-permanent resident
7. PHM is a non-permanent resident4
8. PHM is an immigrant5,6
9. Officially landed in Canada between 2011 and 2016 7
10. Officially landed in Canada between 2006 and 2010
11. Officially landed in Canada before 2006

Notes: 1) The Primary Household Maintainer is the first person in the household identified as someone who pays the rent or the mortgage, or the taxes, or the electricity bill, and so on, for the dwelling.
In the case of a household where two or more people are listed as household maintainers, the first person listed is chosen as the primary household maintainer.
2) 'Aboriginal identity' includes persons who are First Nations (North American Indian), Métis or Inuk (Inuit) and/or those who are Registered or Treaty Indians (that is, registered under the Indian Act of Canada) and/or those who have membership in a First Nation or Indian band. Aboriginal peoples of Canada are defined in the Constitution Act, 1982, section 35 (2) as including the Indian, Inuit and Métis peoples of Canada.
3) 'Non-immigrants' includes persons who are Canadian citizens by birth.
4) 'Non-permanent residents' includes persons from another country who have a work or study permit or who are refugee claimants, and their family members sharing the same permit and living in Canada with them.
5) 'Immigrants' includes persons who are, or who have ever been, landed immigrants or permanent residents. Such persons have been granted the right to live in Canada permanently by immigration authorities. Immigrants who have obtained Canadian citizenship by naturalization are included in this category. In the 2016 Census of Population, 'Immigrants' includes immigrants who landed in Canada on or prior to May 10, 2016.
6) Immigrants may not have a complete year of applicable income. The income data for the 2016 Census of Population are for the year 2015.
7) Includes immigrants who landed in Canada on or prior to May 10, 2016.

Original file name: CRO0163850_CT.5 (BC_Cultural),ivt

Persons in core housing need (including persons whose housing falls below one, two or all three standards for affordability, suitability and condition of dwelling) and persons not in core housing need, by tenure and other selected sociodemographic characteristics: gender; age group; immigrant status; visible minority group; Indigenous identity; Veteran status; first official language spoken; highest certificate, diploma or degree; main activity; household income quintile; household type of person; size of household of person; and population centres and rural areas.

Housing stock in units is an economic estimate of the number of housing units in Canada, the provinces and territories by institutional sector, dwelling occupation, dwelling type, and tenure type. These data are used to estimate gross domestic product by income and expenditure. The units are benchmarked to dwelling data from the census at the national, provincial and territorial levels. Dwelling type and tenure type are also aligned with census data.

Data on resident owners who are persons occupying one of their residential properties: sex, age, total income, the type and the assessment value of the owner-occupied property, as well as the number and the total assessment value of residential properties owned.

Household income statistics by structural type of dwelling (single-detached house, apartments, other attached dwelling) and household type (couple family, lone-parent family, non-census family households) for Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations.

If you’re a senior with low income, you may qualify for monthly Guaranteed Annual Income System payments.

Maximum payment and allowable private income amounts:

The guaranteed income levels for July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025 are:

• $87 monthly for single seniors (maximum monthly payment amount), your annual private income must be less than $4,176
• $174 monthly for senior couples (maximum monthly payment amount), your annual private income must be less than $8,352

The data is organized by private income levels. GAINS payments are provided on top of the Old Age Security (OAS) pension and the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) payments you may receive from the federal government.

Learn more about the Ontario Guaranteed Annual Income System

This data is related to The Retirement Income System in Canada