A recent report shows young adults are increasingly unable to afford even rental housing on their own, never mind homeownership. The Housing Assessment Resource Tool report says that living alone has become a luxury many young adults can’t afford, so many are postponing forming households.
On average, people aged 25 to 34 earn about 25% less than those just a decade older than them (35 to 44). Yet they’re paying the same high rents.
The average rent charged for a one-bedroom apartment in Hamilton in September was $1,787. We don’t have current Hamilton income figures by age, but for Ontario, the median income for 25-34-year-olds was $49,700 in 2023, or $4,142 a month. The median means half of those young adults had incomes below that amount. So let’s do the math. The average asking rent in Hamilton would eat up 43 per cent or more of the income of half of Ontarians in that age group, well above the 30 per cent generally accepted as affordable. It’s likely that not just half but perhaps 60 per cent or more of young adults can’t afford that rent. 
Two young adults, whether a couple or just roommates, would have more income than a single adult. In Hamilton, two young adults earning the median income could afford the average rent for a two-bedroom unit. Sharing a unit introduces potential roommate compatibility challenges, of course.
In Vancouver and Toronto, the average asking rents there would eat up much more than half the median income. Calgary, Ottawa-Gatineau and Montreal are about the same as Hamilton.
Our housing crisis is far from just a problem of poor people. It’s forcing a rising number of young Canadians to give up or at least postpone living on one’s own and gaining financial independence. The chart, based on census data, shows that the proportion of young adults 20 -34 living with their parents has risen from 30.6% in 2001 to 35.1% in 2021, while the proportion living with a spouse, partner or child has fallen from 49.1% to 39.4% over those 20 years. You can read the article here: https://hart.ubc.ca/blog/why-living-alone-is-now-a-luxury-most-young-canadians-cant-afford/ The CBC has reported surveys showing significant numbers of young Canadians either postponing having children because of high rents or deciding against having children period. Postponing affects the number of children and may have health consequences. Read the CBC story here: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/rent-canada-delaying-kids-1.7252926