The Great Canadian Housing Squeeze

The Canadian dream of home ownership is slipping away for an entire generation. With average home prices exceeding $700,000 nationwide โ€” and over $1 million in Toronto and Vancouver โ€” Gen Z Canadians face a housing market that seems designed to exclude them.

How Did We Get Here

Multiple factors converged to create this crisis. Decades of low interest rates drove prices up as borrowing became cheaper. Foreign investment and speculative buying treated housing as an asset class rather than a place to live. Zoning restrictions limited supply in desirable areas. And immigration targets increased demand without corresponding increases in housing construction.

The result? A median-income Canadian household now needs to save for 20+ years to afford a down payment in major cities. Even with two professional incomes, home ownership is increasingly out of reach.

The Renting Trap

High home prices drive up rents as well. Many Canadians find themselves paying 40-50% of their income on housing, leaving little for savings, retirement, or emergency funds. The cycle becomes self-reinforcing: high rent prevents saving, which prevents buying, which keeps people renting.

What Can Be Done

Solutions exist but require political will: aggressive housing construction, foreign buyer bans with teeth, zoning reform to allow densification, and investment in public housing. For Gen Z facing this reality, the choice is between fighting for change or accepting a lifetime of renting in one of the worlds most expensive countries.