Homeownership rates for recent immigrants in Canada grew recently, but it also decreased for Canadian-born individuals, according to a Statistics Canada study released Tuesday.
Homeownership in Ontario among recent immigrants in their fifth year in Canada rose by from 35.7 per cent in 2018 to 40.2 per cent in 2021, recording an increase of over 12 per cent. While Canadian-born individuals saw a five per cent decrease in homeownership rates for the same period from 50.7 per cent to 47.8 per cent.
Recent immigrants saw the highest homeownership rates in the Maritimes and Manitoba, and they held homeownership rates that were similar to Canadian-born individuals in these regions.
“As they spend more time in Canada, recent immigrants are more likely to own residential properties in Canada,” Samuel MacIsaac said, a senior research analyst with Statistics Canada, at the Centre for Housing and Income Statistics.
“While immigrants remain less likely to be homeowners than the average Canadian-born person by their fifth year as immigrants, that gap in ownership reduces substantially,” MacIsaac said.
More than 85 per cent of recent immigrants who owned a home in their first year had already lived in Canada as non-permanent residents and came to the country on work or study permits or asylum claims, before being admitted as permanent residents.
StatsCan found that at least one in 10 refugees became homeowners after five years of settlement in Canada, including nearly one in five in Ontario.
The study uses data from the tax filings of recent immigrants aged 25 to 54, who were in their first five years of admission as permanent residents in Canada, and covers regions including Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia.
Recent immigrants purchased expensive homes, make larger mortgage payments
The study also finds that recent immigrants prioritized property over their registered retirement savings and were more willing to hold larger mortgage debt.
Recent immigrants purchased more expensive homes although they earned lower incomes compared to Canadian-born first-time homebuyers. In 2021, recent immigrants who bought a home were less likely to contribute to a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) than Canadian-born homebuyers.
“One possibility [why] is that immigrants may be more likely to view the primary residence as a form of equity building whereas their Canadian-born counterparts may be more likely to use, say, retirement savings or other tools,” MacIsaac said.
Recent immigrants carried larger mortgage debt and were likely to have been exposed to shifts in the housing market compared to Canadian-born individuals. Those who became homeowners under the age of 35 paid higher monthly mortgages from 2018 to 2021 than Canadian-born households.
Homeownership trends by region of birth
South Asian immigrants in their fifth year in Canada held homeownership rates from 46 per cent in British Columbia and 53.8 per cent in Ontario. While homeownership among Southeast Asians in their fifth year ranged from 23.3 per cent in Ontario and 59.9 per cent in New Brunswick.
Permanent residents from East Asia in 2021 were the most likely to become homeowners in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.
“Where recent immigrants were born could definitely be a factor towards their homeownership and their homeownership trajectories,” MacIsaac said.
“Permanent residents born in Europe, the United States, or Oceania, generally had similar homeownership rates as Canadian-born individuals and that was the general trend across most provinces studied.”
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