With population growth continuing to soar and shelter costs rising, the size of Canadian households is growing too, according to research from National Bank Financial Inc. (NBF).
In a new report, economists at NBF point out that the latest census data from Statistics Canada indicated that “the population grew at a staggering rate of 3.0% in 2024.” At the same time, the number of households rose by just 2.3%.
As of July 1, the estimated number of private households rose to 16.6 million, up from 16.2 million at the same point in 2023, StatCan reported.
This represents “the largest gap” between the growth rates for population and households since this kind of data began to be collected in 2006, NBF noted.
“The ratio between the absolute change in the population and that of the number of households has been above its historical average for the past three years and has grown steadily,” the report said. “As a result, the number of people per new household created during the year has doubled since 2021, rising from 1.6 to a record level of 3.2 individuals in the face of the challenges arising from the lack of housing supply.”
This sharp increase in the number of people per household represents a stark turnaround from the 2016–2021 period, when the trend was toward smaller households, as people were increasingly living alone.
“However, since 2021, there has been a significant imbalance between the strong increase in population and the absence of a significant rebound in construction,” the report said. “This has contributed to a deterioration in affordability in both the rental and resale markets, and has led to a reversal in the trend in household size.”