Canada real estate ‘too unaffordable’

Canada’s aspiring property owners overwhelmingly feel they have little or no chance of ever being able to afford buying a home.

Nearly two-thirds of residents in the capital Ottawa say their city is becoming too expensive, but that’s still lower than the average rate reported in a national survey of the affordability of Canadian cities.

In Ottawa, 63 percent of respondents said the city is too costly, still far below the 87 percent of Vancouver residents who say they can’t afford their city and just below the national average of 67 per cent.

Ottawa placed sixth out of the 10 cities surveyed about affordability by pollster Forum Research, behind Vancouver, Toronto (82 percent), Mississauga (77 percent), Calgary (69 percent) and Montreal (68 percent.)

Halifax and Saskatoon (tied at 58 percent), Edmonton (52 percent), and Winnipeg (51 percent) were all considered to be more affordable than Ottawa by their residents.

Perhaps not surprisingly, young people aged 18-34 were the most likely to say Ottawa is too expensive (70 per cent) and also the least likely to own their own home.

The survey showed the average rent in Ottawa is C$1,156 a month. Rents in Mississauga average C$1,669 a month — the highest of any of the 10 cities surveyed — while rent in Winnipeg was the cheapest with an average of just C$876 a month.