Major Wealth Transfer Anticipated as Baby Boomers Age: Statistics Canada

March 29, 2025 TruthUSA

According to a recent report from Statistics Canada, Canadians are poised to experience one of the largest wealth transfers in history as older homeowners pass on gifts and inheritances to their heirs.

“A significant wave of wealth transfers within families is on the horizon as baby boomers age,” stated a report released on March 26 by Statistics Canada (source), as reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.

StatCan highlighted gifts and inheritances as key pathways for younger Canadians to achieve homeownership.

“Inheritances, whether from living or deceased relatives, play a crucial role in helping many individuals enter the housing market,” the report explained.

The report indicated that individuals born in the 1990s whose parents owned homes were “twice as likely to be homeowners in 2021” compared to those whose parents did not own homes.

Authors of the report revealed that in 2019, three in 10 homeowners reported receiving an inheritance with a median value of $67,000, in contrast to two in 10 renters who reported a median inheritance of $33,000.

“The appreciation in home values during the COVID-19 pandemic also saw an increase in inheritances for homeowners,” the report mentioned, pointing out that in 2023, the median inheritance received by Canadian homeowners had risen to $85,100.

The report revealed that 5% of families lived in homes acquired fully or partially through an inheritance or gift.

Nine percent of individuals stated that a portion of the down payment for their home came from a gift or inheritance.

StatCan highlighted that real estate equity accounted for 42% of household wealth in 2023.

This report comes nearly a year after a previous StatCan publication that examined the relationship between parents’ wealth and their adult children’s home values.

In a May 2024 report, StatCan indicated that 17.3% of homeowners born in the 1990s co-owned properties with their parents.

Citing a study by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), the report authors mentioned that 30% of first-time homebuyers in 2021 received financial assistance from their parents, up from 20% in 2015.

The study also revealed that individuals in British Columbia and Ontario were more likely to have a co-ownership arrangement with their parents compared to other regions in Canada. In British Columbia, 20.3% of those born in the 1990s had a co-ownership arrangement with their parents, while in Ontario, the number was 19.8%.

A paper from the Bank of Canada in July 2024 stated that 74% of adult children sharing a mortgage with their parents would not have qualified for the loan without a parent co-signer.

The paper also noted that parental co-signing for first-time homebuyer mortgages increased from 4% in 2004 to 13% in 2022, enabling individuals to enter the housing market approximately five years earlier with a co-signer.

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