Business

1.9 million Canadian households live in condos, census data shows

According to data from the 2016 census released Wednesday, 13.3 per cent of Canadian households live in a condominium — a ratio that has increased by 1.2 percentage points from the last census five years ago.

Just over two-thirds of people living in condos in 2016 were owners, Statistics Canada says

Condominiums are an increasingly popular choice of a place to live for many Canadians. (Pawel Dwulit/Canadian Press)

According to data from the 2016 census released Wednesday, 13.3 per cent of Canadian households live in a condominium — a ratio that has increased by 1.2 percentage points from the last census five years ago.

Statistics Canada says almost 1.9 million Canadian households were living in condominiums as of 2016. Among that group, just over two-thirds were owners, while 616,570 Canadians rented them.

As is to be expected, there is wide variety across the country when it comes to the popularity of condos as a choice of places to live.

In Vancouver, for example, more than 30 per cent of the population lives in condos, the highest percentage in Canada by far. Condos are home to 21.8 per cent of Calgarians, followed by Abbotsford-Mission, Kelowna and Toronto, all of which have more than one out of every five households living in a condominium.

In other cities, meanwhile, condos barely rate as a living option. In Greater Sudbury, Ont., Saint John, Thunder Bay, Ont. St. John's, Peterborough, Ont. and Belleville, Ont. less than one out of every 20 people live in a condo.