According to data released Wednesday, just 13 per cent of adults in Alberta were living alone in 2021. Ontario was the only province to report a lower share, at 12 per cent. The lowest percentage of adults living alone in Canada was found in Nunavut (eight per cent), while the highest percentage was in Quebec (19 per cent), as has been the case since 1996. Statistics Canada found that single-family housing is on the rise in Canada, with 4.4 million people living alone in 2021, up from just 1.7 million 40 years earlier. “This represented 15 per cent of all adults aged 15 and over in private households in 2021, the highest rate on record,” Statistics Canada said in a post on Wednesday. The government agency notes that despite the increase, the prevalence of one-person households is “relatively low” in Canada from an international perspective, accounting for about three in 10 households (29.3 per cent) in 2021. “Among G7 countries, only the United States had a slightly smaller share (28.5 percent in 2021).”
MORE ALBERTANS LIVING WITH THEIR PARENTS
The data also shows that more young adults in Alberta’s major centers are living with at least one parent than ever before. Most of the cities that experienced the largest increase in the percentage of young adults living with their parents were in Alberta, including Red Deer, Calgary and Edmonton which saw increases of 7%, 5% and 4% respectively between 2016 and 2021. “However, prevalence remained highest in Ontario’s major urban centres, particularly Oshawa, where almost half (49 per cent) of young adults lived with their parents in 2021,” Statistics Canada said. The increase in adults living with one parent in Alberta coincides with some of the biggest declines in economic activity recorded in the first year of the pandemic. “Faced with job loss, fewer job opportunities, or fewer work hours, some young adults may have chosen to stay in the parental home or move back in with their parents for a period of time,” the agency said.
SO WHY LIVE WITH YOUR PEOPLE?
Alberta faces unique short-term forces that have affected living conditions in recent years, says Mount Royal University economics professor Anupam Das. “The Alberta market is changing with a lot of things, one of which is the price of oil. We’re seeing more volatility in the Alberta (housing) market,” Dasaid. He says there is a mismatch between housing supply and demand, which could contribute to young adults choosing to remain living in a family home. “Not only has the demand for rental properties increased over the last six months or so, but at the same time the supply of rental properties has actually decreased.” He adds, the Bank of Canada’s recent rate hike is also causing more expensive mortgages for young adults looking to enter the housing market. Brynna Doucette, 23, has five years of post-secondary education and has not moved out of her parents’ home as a cost-saving measure. She works full-time in the summer to help save for a house, and says her peers and siblings are in no rush to leave for safety reasons. Doucette says the cost of living and rising prices of goods and services will likely keep her at home for the next few years. “In my head, I’m like, ‘Why don’t you live at home if you have the chance and milk it as much as you can?’ Because now I’m saving money,” Doucette said. savings account or in my savings account so I can save so that once I finish school (I can) buy a house or rent an apartment. “It’s too expensive to do anything, so I like living at home.”
