Article content

Adrian Rocca, the founder and chief executive of rental provider Fitzrovia, said the biggest question of whether young people will move out is the rent-to-income levels. He added that the condo market with smaller units has also not lent itself to long-term living.

Article content

Fitzrovia has created more two- and three-bedroom units geared to longer-term commitments, and Rocca said this has happened as rents have essentially fallen by 21 per cent from the peak.

Article content

“People know us for brand new stuff, but we have a billion dollars of older assets that have (been renovated) and are affordable,” Rocca said, adding that up to 25 per cent of the renter market can afford to live in one of his buildings based on 30 per cent of shelter costs to income. “The affordability has never been better.”

Article content

Rocca added that even with house prices falling, from a national average peak of about $825,000 in February 2022 to the current $673,000, it is about 25 per cent to 30 per cent cheaper to rent in his portfolio than to own a home.

Article content

Statistics Canada said that, even after accounting for those living with their parents, millennials had a home ownership rate of 49.9 per cent, compared with Gen-Xers at 56.2 per cent and baby boomers at 55.9 per cent when they were aged 25 to 39 years.

Article content

Article content

“It’s always been cheaper to rent but the perception is you are paying someone else’s mortgage,” he said. “There is a stigma around renting, but not as strong as it used to be.”

Article content

Giacomo Ladas, of rentals.ca, said the idea of renting as a “waste of money” is still ingrained in millennials, but much of the reluctance to move still rests simply on affordability.

Article content

Affordability affects younger renters beyond millennials, as well as rental prices in different markets.

Article content

“Youth unemployment is still much higher than the average unemployment rate, and many renters are younger,” he said. “In provinces with higher unemployment, we are seeing rents fall, and in provinces with stronger wage growth, we see rents higher.”

Article content

People are also simply “doubling up” in large part due to affordability, according to a CIBC study.

Article content

“Doubling up is the most common response to deteriorating housing affordability, but also can be seen as shadow demand ready to be utilized in an environment of improved affordability,” said Benjamin Tal, deputy chief economist with CIBC, in a report issued in late 2025.

Article content

Article content

The report found that the number of housing arrangements that can be described as doubling up had reached above 17 per cent of the population by the end of 2021.

Article content

Tal said in the report the economic impact of the softening in housing costs should reduce doubling-up in many cities. “This in turn could absorb new affordable supply coming to the market, reducing the pressure on vacancy rates, while potentially establishing a floor for rent of units that are at the more affordable end of the rental market,” he said.

Article content

Like many, I’m indebted to my parents forever, including a little financially, but I never wanted to live at home forever; I recognize it was a safety net I was lucky to have.

Article content

The softer the market gets, the more millennials will move out. And they should. It took me until 26, including one bounce back after a job loss at 28, but it eventually took. Don’t give up, parents or kids.

Article content

Article content