A new study by the Canadian Housing Statistics Program (CHSP) revealed the percentage of property investors across five Canadian provinces. Unsurprisingly, city centers and tourist areas in Ontario and British Columbia saw some of the highest rates of landlord-owned homes.
Condominium apartments were the most popular property type used for investment purposes. According to the CHSP, 39.4 percent of investment properties across the five surveyed provinces were condominium apartments.
Ontario and British Columbia had the highest portion of investment condos, as well as the highest numbers of non-resident investors.
Unsurprisingly, city centres and downtown cores in Toronto and Vancouver were hotspots for these types of investment properties. In both cities, property investors owned over one-third of all condominium apartments.
Single-family detached homes were less popular for investment purposes in busy urban areas, but those numbers increased regionally. Cottage country in Ontario and rural areas across other provinces were popular locations for vacation homes and second properties.
According to the CHSP, more than one in five Canadian homeowners is considered an investor. That number fluctuates on a provincial basis, with Nova Scotia and New Brunswick reporting the highest proportions of investors at 31.5 percent and 29 percent respectively.
Higher concentrations of landlords in the Atlantic provinces was mostly due to the larger amount of vacant land – a type of property owned in addition to the owner’s primary residence. Removing vacant land owners from the data set cuts Nova Scotia’s rate down to 24.8 percent and New Brunswick’s to 21.3 percent.
British Columbia reported a 23.3 percent investor rate, while Manitoba and Ontario reported 20.4 and 20.2 percent respectively.
