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A majority of Canadians believe that owning a home is a critical part of their retirement strategy and the number of them relying on the sale of their home to help them retire continues to rise, according to a major pension plan, even though there are issues with that strategy.

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Sixty-two per cent of people surveyed by the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) said homeownership is “a key part of their retirement strategy, either as a financial investment or a source of stability in retirement.”

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Forty-four per cent of people said they were depending on the sale of their home to put a retirement fund in place, up from 42 per cent last year and 38 per cent in 2023.

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“When people are younger, they have to save for two key assets in life, one being a house and one being retirement,” Jennifer Rook, HOOPP’s vice-president of strategy, global intelligence and advocacy, said. “As the house becomes more expensive, you are kind of forced to choose a little bit more. What we are seeing is people are really still striving for the house and putting stock in (it).”

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One-third of homeowners said they would remortgage their homes to fund their retirement — the first time HOOPP asked that question in the seven years of the survey.

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But the survey uncovered risks associated with relying on selling a house for retirement.

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“If you’re relying on that as your retirement asset, that plan is a lot less certain than it was when you embarked on that path many years prior,” Rook said.

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HOOPP said 65 per cent of homeowners who are working say they are worried that they will still have a mortgage by the time they are ready to retire, up from 51 per cent in 2024 and 45 per cent in 2023.

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On a more positive note, 48 per cent said they worried about being able to afford their current or future mortgage payments, compared to 52 per cent last year.

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But 62 per cent of non-homeowners doubt they will ever be able to purchase a home based on current interest rates, a similar number to last year.

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At the time of last year’s survey, rates were at their most recent peak of five per cent before the Bank of Canada started cutting. Rates now stand at 2.75 per cent.

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The survey said younger generations are more likely to be banking on homeownership to fund their so-called golden years, with 55 per cent of those aged 18 to 34 saying they are going to rely on their home to “set them up for retirement,” compared to half of those aged 35 to 54 and 41 per cent of those aged 55 to 64.

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“When you’re young, you think of things differently than you do as you get a bit older,” Rook said. “But it might also speak to the availability of a pension.”

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Perhaps that’s why 88 per cent of those surveyed by HOOPP said they would be willing to contribute regular instalments to a defined-benefit plan (DB), which is structured to guarantee payments for life.