New data from Statistics Canada shows Alberta is the province with the second-lowest percentage of residents living alone.
According to data released Wednesday, just 13 percent of Alberta adults lived alone in 2021. Ontario was the only province to report a lower share, at 12 percent.
The lowest percentage of adults living alone in Canada is found in Nunavut (eight percent), while the highest share is in Quebec (19 percent), as has been the case since 1996.
Statistics Canada found that detached housing in Canada is on the rise, with 4.4 million people living alone in 2021, up from just 1.7 million 40 years ago.
“This represents 15 per cent of all adults aged 15 and over in private households in 2021, the highest share on record,” Statistics Canada said in a release 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 percent) in 2021.
“Among G7 countries, only the United States has 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 with the largest growth in the share of young adults living with their parents were in Alberta, including Red Deer, Calgary and Edmonton, which saw increases of seven per cent, five per cent and four per cent respectively between 2016 and 2021.
“However, prevalence remains highest in Ontario’s major urban centres, particularly Oshawa, where almost half (49 per cent) of young adults lived with their parents in 2021,” said Statistics Canada.
The jump in adults living with a 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 hours worked, some young adults may have chosen to stay in their parents’ home or move back in with their parents for a period of time,” said the agency.
SO WHY LIVE WITH YOUR RELATIVES?
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 Alberta’s (housing) market,” Dasaid.
He says there is a mismatch between housing supply and demand, which may contribute to young adults choosing to stay in a family home.
“Not only has the demand for rental properties increased over the past six months, but at the same time the supply of rental properties has actually decreased.”
He adds that the Bank of Canada’s recent interest rate hike is also making mortgages more expensive for young people looking to enter the housing market.
Brynna Doucette, 23, is five years out of high school and hasn’t moved out of her parents’ house as a cost-saving measure.
She works full-time during the summer to save for a home, and says her peers and siblings are in no rush to move out for security reasons.
Doucet says the cost of living and rising prices for goods and services will likely keep her at home for the next few years.
“In my mind, I’m like, ‘why don’t you live at home if you can and milk it as long as you can?’ Because now I’m saving money, too,” Doucette said. “I earn money for my job, I put it into a tax-free savings account or my savings account, and that way I can save so that after 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.”
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