Only 18% of Canadians Under 35 Feel Confident Handling a Home Purchase, Versus 50% of Older Adults: Survey

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For many younger Canadians, buying a home is no longer simply a question of finding a property and qualifying for a mortgage. It means navigating down payments, borrowing limits, closing costs, tax-advantaged savings accounts and years of financial preparation — often while everyday expenses are competing for the same savings.

New Canadian data released on October 28 reveals just how wide that confidence divide has become. Only 18% of adults aged 18 to 34 say they feel confident navigating every financial aspect of buying a home. Among Canadians aged 55 and older, that figure reaches 50%. The difference suggests that the country’s housing affordability problem is not only changing who can buy, but also how prepared different generations feel when facing one of the largest financial decisions of their lives.

The Confidence Gap Is Larger Than It First Appears

The age breakdown is striking. The 2026 Zown Homeownership & Financial Confidence Survey found that only 18% of Canadians aged 18 to 34 felt confident navigating all the financial aspects of purchasing a home. Confidence increased to 35% among those aged 35 to 54 and reached 50% among Canadians aged 55 and older. Put differently, 82% of the youngest group did not report complete confidence across every financial area covered by the research.

The distinction matters because the findings measure self-reported confidence, rather than testing respondents on mortgage or financial knowledge. A person who feels uncertain may actually understand many parts of the process, while confidence among an experienced homeowner does not automatically guarantee better financial decisions. The research was conducted from October 14 to 16 among 1,500 Canadian adults in the Angus Reid Forum and was offered in English and French. For comparison purposes, a probability sample of that size would have a margin of error of about 2.53 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Down Payments Are Only One Part of the Confusion

Saving enough cash to get through the front door remains a major source of uncertainty, but younger Canadians identified several other areas where they lack confidence. Among respondents aged 18 to 34, 19% identified saving and planning for a down payment as an area where they felt least confident. Another 19% pointed to understanding the ongoing costs that arrive after a purchase, while 18% were uncertain about determining how much home they could realistically afford.

The smaller details also matter because they can add thousands of dollars to a transaction. Fourteen per cent of younger respondents lacked confidence about which homebuyer incentives and programs they qualified for, while 10% identified closing costs. Federal consumer guidance recommends budgeting roughly 1.5% to 4% of a property’s purchase price for closing costs, which can include legal expenses, inspections, property-tax adjustments and title insurance. That means a buyer focused exclusively on assembling a down payment can reach the final stages of a transaction and still discover that a sizeable amount of additional cash is required.

Previous Homeownership Creates a Major Confidence Advantage

The gap is not limited to age. Among Canadians who have never owned a home but have not ruled out buying, just 13% said they were confident handling all the financial components of a purchase. Among existing homeowners, the figure was 46%. That difference points to the value of experience: someone who has already negotiated financing, paid closing costs, dealt with property taxes and carried a mortgage has encountered many of the concepts a first-time buyer must learn from scratch.

For Canadians without previous ownership experience, the biggest weak spot was again the down payment. Thirty per cent identified saving and planning for it as an area of low confidence, while 18% cited understanding how much home they could afford and 14% pointed to ongoing ownership costs. Those numbers help explain why a first purchase can feel more complicated than simply comparing mortgage rates. A prospective owner must calculate the purchase price, qualification amount, cash required before closing and the household budget that will remain after the keys are handed over.

Savings Are Being Asked to Do Two Jobs at Once

Building a down payment becomes considerably harder when savings are also functioning as an emergency fund. Zown’s findings show that 40% of Canadians tapped long-term savings during the previous year to cover expenses or unexpected costs. Among those who did so, 29% used the money for emergencies or unforeseen expenses, 22% used it for groceries and everyday purchases, and 13% used savings for regular housing costs such as rent or mortgage payments.

The pressure appeared across every region measured. Alberta had the largest share of respondents drawing from long-term savings, at 48%. Saskatchewan and Manitoba combined followed at 44%, while Ontario and British Columbia were both at 41%. The rates were 35% in Atlantic Canada and 34% in Quebec. For an aspiring homeowner, withdrawals can have a compounding effect: money originally intended for a down payment disappears while the target itself may continue moving. It also leaves less financial cushioning for the repairs, moving costs and other expenses that frequently arrive soon after ownership begins.

Housing Costs Make the Learning Curve More Punishing

The confidence problem is unfolding against a backdrop of considerable housing-cost pressure. Statistics Canada’s latest Canadian Housing Survey data found that 23.2% of households were spending at least 30% of their income on shelter in 2024, the agency’s threshold for unaffordable housing. That was up from 22% in 2022. Renters were particularly exposed, with 33.7% living in unaffordable housing compared with 17.4% of homeowners overall.

Owning with a mortgage, however, was far from inexpensive. Statistics Canada found that 26.1% of homeowners carrying mortgages were in unaffordable housing in 2024, up from 23.6% two years earlier. More than one-quarter of households also reported experiencing financial difficulty during the previous year because their rent or mortgage payments had increased. For a young renter trying to accumulate a down payment, those numbers illustrate the dilemma: current shelter expenses can absorb the income needed to prepare for ownership, yet successfully buying a property does not automatically eliminate affordability pressures.

Younger Canadians Enter the Market From a Different Starting Line

The confidence difference also reflects a genuine generational gap in housing experience. Statistics Canada reported in May 2026 that, after adjusting for young adults who continue living with their parents, millennials aged 25 to 39 had a 49.9% homeownership rate in 2021. Comparable Gen X adults had a 56.2% rate in 2006, while baby boomers at the same stage of life had a 55.9% rate in 1991.

Living arrangements have changed as well. Among millennials aged 25 to 39 in 2021, 16.3% lived in a census family with at least one parent, nearly twice the 8.2% recorded among comparable baby boomers in 1991. In Toronto the millennial share living with parents reached 26.1%, while Vancouver stood at 19.3%. These differences do not mean every younger Canadian faces the same circumstances, but they help explain why older adults are more likely to have direct experience with mortgages, property taxes and equity. Confidence can accumulate alongside years of actual homeownership.

Canada’s Mortgage Rules Add Another Layer to Learn

A buyer must understand more than the advertised price of a property. Under current federal rules, the minimum down payment is 5% for a home priced at $500,000 or less. Between $500,000 and $1.5 million, buyers generally need 5% on the first $500,000 and 10% on the portion above it. Borrowers also encounter mortgage-qualification requirements designed to determine whether their finances could withstand higher borrowing costs.

For uninsured mortgages at federally regulated lenders, OSFI’s current minimum qualifying rate is the greater of the contract mortgage rate plus two percentage points or 5.25%. First-time buyers must then weigh savings tools alongside borrowing rules. The First Home Savings Account permits eligible Canadians to contribute up to $8,000 annually, subject to a $40,000 lifetime contribution limit, with contributions generally deductible and qualifying home-purchase withdrawals tax-free. Each policy can help a buyer, but taken together they create a vocabulary of contribution room, insurance, qualifying rates and debt-service calculations that newcomers to the market must absorb.

Family Assistance Is Increasingly Part of the Purchase Equation

CMHC’s 2026 Mortgage Consumer Survey gives a clearer picture of how people who actually completed transactions managed to get there. First-time buyers took an average of 4.7 years to save their down payments. More than half identified personal savings as the largest component, but 27% of first-time buyers received a financial gift. Across all homebuyers who received gifts, the median amount was $30,000, and 26% said they could not have purchased a home meeting their needs without that assistance.

Support does not end with gifts. CMHC found that 28% of first-time buyers needed a co-signer other than a spouse or partner, and parents represented 54% of the co-signers identified by those respondents. First-time buyers also reported renting for an average of 7.6 years before purchasing. These figures help put the 18% confidence rate among younger Canadians into perspective. For many households, reaching homeownership now involves years of saving, family assistance and coordination among lenders, advisers and relatives rather than one straightforward financial decision.

Confidence Can Improve Once the Numbers Become Concrete

Uncertainty does not disappear once someone becomes a buyer. CMHC found that 47% of homebuyers in its 2026 research experienced concerns or uncertainty during the buying process. Nearly one-third, 32%, encountered unexpected expenses, with moving expenses, lawyer or notary fees and immediate repairs among the leading surprises. Savings were used by 52% of buyers who needed to cover unexpected costs, while 31% relied on a credit card or line of credit.

At the same time, the CMHC results show what greater familiarity can look like. Among recent mortgage consumers, 79% said they understood what they could afford, 77% felt they had the right tools to manage their debt and 74% described the mortgage process as easy. Federal guidance says total monthly housing costs generally should not exceed 39% of gross household income, while total debt payments should remain around 44% or less. Understanding those limits, alongside closing costs and post-purchase expenses, can turn an intimidating housing target into a series of financial decisions that are easier to evaluate individually.

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