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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →More than half of Canadian non-homeowners surveyed by Habitat for Humanity International said they do not expect to own a home at any point in their lives. The 56% result was the highest among 22 countries in the organization’s 2026 global housing survey. It measures people’s expectations, not a confirmed decision to abandon ownership or a prediction of who will actually buy. The same survey found that 66% of Canadian respondents had cut at least one expense in the previous year to afford housing.
What the 56% Canadian figure actually measures
Habitat for Humanity International’s 2026 survey asked people who did not currently own a home about their expectation of owning one at some point in their lives. In Canada, 56% said they did not expect that to happen. Habitat reported this as the highest share among all 22 countries included in the survey. Across the full international sample, the corresponding share was 23%. Read Habitat’s release and results.
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That denominator matters. The 56% does not mean that 56% of all Canadians have given up on homeownership. It excludes people who already own a home and does not establish what any individual will do in the future. It describes the outlook of surveyed non-homeowners at the time they answered.
The headline phrase “give up” is therefore a shorthand for a pessimistic expectation, not the wording of a documented lifetime decision. A precise reading is: 56% of Canadian non-homeowners surveyed did not expect to own a home someday.
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Housing costs are forcing spending trade-offs
The ownership outlook appeared alongside evidence that housing is competing with other household needs. Seventy-five percent of respondents across the 22 countries said they had cut at least one expense during the previous year to afford housing. In Canada, the reported share was 66%. These are self-reported actions, not records from bank accounts or tax returns.
Habitat’s research page describes the broader issue this way: “Our research reveals that the full cost of housing includes not only what people pay each month, but also what they are forced to give up.” The statement appears on Habitat for Humanity International’s Home at What Cost research page.
The survey also shows that the burden was not evenly distributed across the international sample:
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| Respondent group | Share reporting at least one cutback to afford housing | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| All respondents in 22 countries | 75% | Reported cutting at least one expense in the prior year |
| Canadian respondents | 66% | Canadian result from the same survey |
| People in informal housing arrangements | 89% | International subgroup result |
| Lower-income respondents | 85% | International subgroup result |
| Gen Z and Millennial respondents | 81% | International age-group result |
The available results do not list every expense people reduced, the dollar value of those reductions, or how long the changes lasted. “Cutting back” could describe a temporary deferral, a recurring cancellation or a reduction in discretionary spending; the published summary does not distinguish among them.
How the global survey was conducted
Habitat for Humanity International commissioned the study in collaboration with Edelman Insights. The official release says it is based on nationally representative surveys of 30,000 people in 22 countries. Habitat’s research page dates fieldwork from April 10 through June 30, 2026. The release provides the commissioning and fieldwork details.
“Nationally representative” means the sampling approach was designed to reflect each participating country’s population; it does not turn responses into a census of every household. The published material available for these results does not provide Canada’s country-level sample size, the margin of error, weighting details or the exact questionnaire wording. Those omissions limit how finely the percentages can be analyzed.
Because the findings are survey responses, they capture what people believed and remembered. They do not directly measure the number of homes available, sale prices, rents, mortgage approvals, household balance sheets or the probability that a particular respondent will become an owner. The 2026 field dates also matter: expectations can change as incomes, prices, interest rates and public policy change.
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What Canadian affordability data show separately
Statistics Canada provides a different lens in its results from the 2024 Canadian Housing Survey. In that release, 33.7% of renters and 17.4% of owners lived in unaffordable housing. Statistics Canada defines unaffordable housing for this measure as a household spending 30% or more of its income on shelter costs. See the Statistics Canada Housing affordability in Canada, 2024 release.
These figures are useful context, but they are not a cross-check of Habitat’s 56% result. They come from a separate official survey, cover a different year and use a spending threshold rather than a question about expected future ownership. The renter and owner percentages also describe housing affordability status, not whether someone wants to buy or believes buying is possible.
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| Measure | Population and date | Reported result | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Expectation of ever owning | Canadian non-homeowners, Habitat 2026 | 56% did not expect to own a home | It is not a forecast of actual ownership or a share of all Canadians |
| Expense cutbacks for housing | Canadian respondents, Habitat 2026 | 66% reported at least one cutback in the prior year | It does not state which expenses were cut or by how much |
| Unaffordable housing | Canadian renters, Statistics Canada 2024 | 33.7% spent 30% or more of income on shelter | It does not measure ownership expectations |
| Unaffordable housing | Canadian owners, Statistics Canada 2024 | 17.4% spent 30% or more of income on shelter | It does not show how owners financed their homes or their future plans |
Why an expectation is not the same as an outcome
A person can be unable to buy today yet purchase later, or expect to buy and ultimately remain a renter. The survey records the person’s assessment at one point in time. It cannot separate every influence behind that assessment, such as household income, debt, savings, local prices, family support, immigration timing, relationship changes or a preference for renting.
The result is still financially meaningful. An expectation of never owning may affect how someone saves, chooses a location, evaluates a job or plans for retirement. But those are possible consequences, not findings that Habitat measured. The responsible conclusion is that a large share of surveyed Canadian non-homeowners currently view ownership as out of reach, while the survey does not identify a single cause or guarantee a future result.
Three housing questions that should not be confused
Can I afford my current housing?
This is an immediate cash-flow question. Add rent or mortgage payments, property taxes, utilities, insurance and required fees, then compare the total with reliable after-tax household income. A household can have a manageable monthly payment but still face pressure from transportation, childcare, food or debt costs that are not captured by a single housing ratio.
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Is my housing secure?
Security concerns the risk of displacement, a rent increase, a renewal problem, a job loss or a major repair bill. Ownership does not automatically remove those risks: owners can face mortgage resets, taxes, insurance increases and maintenance costs. Renters can have stability through a long tenancy, while others may face frequent moves. The survey does not rank one tenure as safer than the other.
Do I expect to own someday?
This is the forward-looking question measured by Habitat. It is a belief, not a budget calculation. Treat it as a prompt to examine assumptions—income growth, savings capacity, location and time horizon—rather than as a verdict on your financial future.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.A practical way to assess your own trade-offs
- Build a complete housing-cost baseline. Include recurring shelter costs and irregular items such as repairs, moving expenses, deposits or property-tax changes. Use actual statements where possible instead of a rough headline payment.
- List every cutback made to keep housing affordable. Mark each as essential, discretionary, temporary or recurring. This shows whether the current arrangement is absorbing money that would otherwise fund food, healthcare, debt repayment, education or savings.
- Separate a purchase goal from a purchase deadline. A goal can remain valid even if the date changes. Setting a deadline that depends on an uncertain price, income or interest-rate assumption can create unnecessary pressure.
- Stress-test more than one scenario. Consider a job interruption, a higher renewal payment, a rent increase, a required move or a large repair. The purpose is to see which risk would break the budget first, not to predict market prices.
- Compare security and flexibility as well as cost. A lower monthly payment may come with a longer commute, less space or a less stable lease; a purchase may build equity but require a larger cash reserve and ongoing maintenance. The right comparison depends on the household’s priorities and constraints.
- Use qualified, situation-specific advice for a decision. A licensed financial professional, accredited housing counsellor or local tenant and homeowner service can review documents and rules that a broad survey cannot address. Verify credentials and fees before relying on advice.
What the figures can—and cannot—tell policymakers and readers
The combination of a high non-homeowner pessimism rate and widespread reported cutbacks signals a perceived affordability problem that extends beyond the monthly payment. It suggests that many people are evaluating housing through the consumption they must surrender to keep a roof over their heads. Habitat explicitly frames those foregone expenses as part of housing’s full cost.
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However, the percentages do not identify whether the binding constraint is supply, prices, credit, income, transportation, household formation or another factor. Nor do they show which intervention would improve outcomes. Any policy or personal strategy should therefore use the survey alongside local price and rent data, income information, tenure conditions and household-level budgets.
How to quote the Canadian result accurately
- Say “56% of Canadian non-homeowners surveyed did not expect to own a home at some point in their lives.”
- Identify Habitat for Humanity International’s 2026 global survey and note that Canada’s share was the highest among the 22 countries surveyed.
- Keep the denominator—non-homeowners—in the sentence or immediately beside the figure.
- Describe 66% as the share of Canadian respondents who reported cutting at least one expense in the previous year to afford housing.
- Do not rewrite the statistic as “56% of Canadians have abandoned homeownership,” and do not present it as a measured probability of future ownership.
The bottom line
Habitat’s 2026 findings show an unusually negative ownership outlook among surveyed Canadian non-homeowners: 56% did not expect to own a home, compared with 23% across the countries surveyed. They also show that 66% of Canadian respondents had reduced at least one expense to afford housing. Those results describe expectations and reported trade-offs, not a census, a price index or a forecast. Statistics Canada’s separate 2024 affordability measure adds context by showing a higher unaffordability rate for renters than owners, but it answers a different question. For an individual household, the useful next step is to measure actual costs, identify which trade-offs are sustainable and test future plans against realistic risks rather than treating a population-level expectation as a personal destiny.
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