Seniors staying put is fuelling Canada’s housing crunch for first-time buyers

Across Canada, a growing number of seniors are choosing to age in place, and their decision to stay in family-sized homes is tightening the already strained supply of housing available to first-time buyers.

The Canadian Press reports that homeowners aged 75 and older are listing their homes far less often than they did in previous decades. Since the early 1990s, the sell rate among this group has declined by about six percentage points. That slowdown means fewer larger homes are hitting the market, a shift that’s placing additional strain on younger Canadians trying to break into homeownership.

Why seniors aren’t leaving family homes — even when they want to

Barry Lebow, a longtime Toronto realtor who specializes in working with older clients, says the hesitation isn’t just emotional — it’s logistical. “Almost all seniors do not want to move,” he told CTV News. Many are still living in three- or four-bedroom homes, long after their children have moved out. The issue, he says, isn’t only about sentimentality. Seniors often lack viable alternatives.

Mike Moffatt, founding director of the University of Ottawa’s Missing Middle Initiative, agrees. “In order for them to leave, they would need something that met their needs as much. And often that doesn’t exist,” he told CTV. Seniors aren’t necessarily looking to cash out. They’re looking for something smaller, more accessible, but still functional for their lifestyles. That could mean space to host family, garden or age without stairs, features that are not common in today’s condo stock.

Even if the right property exists, the cost of moving can be prohibitive. Fees for staging, legal services, real estate commissions and taxes can significantly reduce the financial benefit of downsizing. As a result, many older homeowners find it easier, and cheaper, to stay put.

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The clock is ticking on Canada’s housing demographics

Canada’s aging population adds urgency to the situation. In 2016, seniors aged 65 and older made up 16.9% of the population. By 2036, Statistics Canada projects that number will rise to 24%. And unlike younger households, seniors are far less likely to move: only 5.5% of seniors aged 65–74 and 4.% of those 75 and older changed residences in 2016 — compared to 13% of the general population.

Data from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation shows that sell rates among seniors are on a downward trend. Between 1996 and 2001, about 38% of Canadians over 75 sold their homes. Between 2016 and 2021, that figure dropped to 36%.

CMHC deputy chief economist Aled ab Iorwerth highlights a major consequence: under-used housing. Many of these properties now have one or two occupants in homes with multiple empty bedrooms. With zoning rules in many cities limiting multi-unit development, these oversized homes are sitting dormant while demand for smaller units surges.

Young buyers are paying the price for inaction

At the other end of the housing spectrum, first-time buyers face mounting obstacles. Starter homes, once considered the natural first step onto the property ladder, are becoming harder to find, and are more expensive when they do appear. Seniors who stay in larger homes inadvertently block the flow of properties that would traditionally cycle back into the market for younger families.

Homeownership rates among young Canadians are already slipping. According to Statistics Canada, 66.5% of Canadians owned their home in 2021 — down from 69% in 2011. The sharpest drop was among those aged 25 to 39, whose homeownership rate fell from 57.9% to just 51.7% over the same period.

Increasingly, young buyers are turning to family support to bridge the affordability gap. CIBC and Statistics Canada data show nearly 18% of homeowners under 35 used a gift or inheritance to fund part of their down payment — a number that continues to rise.

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Lack of supply means everyone loses

The result of these parallel trends — seniors staying put and first-time buyers locked out — is a gridlocked housing system. With more older homeowners in properties they no longer need and younger families unable to access appropriately sized homes, both ends of the market suffer.

Mark Rosenberg, Canada Research Chair in development studies, says the situation calls for a reimagining of urban design. “Communities need to change and need to be made much more age‑friendly,” he told CTV News. That includes increasing housing diversity, especially for aging residents who want to stay in their neighbourhoods but no longer require a detached house.

Without such changes, the market remains trapped in a feedback loop. Young buyers are stuck at the bottom of the ladder. Seniors remain in homes that no longer suit them, not because they want to stay forever, but because they have no better option.

A call for policy that supports all generations

As Canada’s population ages and its housing stock grows older with it, the country faces an intergenerational challenge. Unlocking more housing supply may depend not just on building new homes, but on removing the barriers that prevent older Canadians from transitioning into the next stage of housing.

Some policy experts, including Moffatt, suggest expanding the federal GST rebate to include seniors downsizing to new, more suitable homes. Others argue for reforms to zoning laws that would make it easier to build “missing middle” options like duplexes, fourplexes or low-rise apartments in established neighbourhoods.

Without bold changes, the squeeze on first-time buyers will only get tighter — and the homes they’re waiting for will remain out of reach, even as they sit half-empty.

Sources

1. CTV News: Seniors rarely downsize — here’s why that’s hurting first-time homebuyers (July 25, 2025)

2. Statistics Canada: Report on housing needs of seniors

3. CityNews: More seniors choosing to age in home instead of downsizing: CMHC report (November 15, 2023)

4. Globe and Mail: Unable to downsize, more seniors are living in larger homes with empty bedrooms (July 5, 2023)

5. Statistics Canada: The homeownership rate in Canada is beginning to decline from its peak in 2011