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March 31, 2026CANADIAN HOUSING STATISTICS PROGRAM, 2023 Today, the Canadian Housing Statistics Program has released new data on residential properties and property owners for the 2023 reference year in select provinces. The data covers a range of topics and includes detailed information on property characteristics and owner demographics.
In 2023, single-detached houses were by far the most common type of property owned, with 86.9% of home owners in Nova Scotia owning a single-detached home. Single-detached home ownership was most common in Prince Edward Island, and lowest in British Columbia. Ownership of condominiums, row houses, and residences with multiple units was notably higher in British Columbia.
Most homeowners owned a single property in every province in 2023, with single-property ownership highest in Manitoba, and lowest in Nova Scotia.
Ownership of multiple properties was more common in the Maritime provinces, led by Nova Scotia with 22.1% of homeowners having two or more properties. Nova Scotia had higher rates of multiple property ownership in all categories measured by the Canadian housing statistics program compared to other participating provinces. Manitoba had the lowest rate of multiple property ownership.
Couple families made up the majority of home owners in every province, led by Ontario. Home owners were most likely to be couple families with kids in Alberta, while couple families without children were more common in New Brunswick. The proportion of home owners not in a census family was highest in New Brunswick(followed closely by Nova Scotia), while lone-parent families were more common in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
Older owners made up the majority of home owners in every province except Manitoba and Alberta, with Nova Scotia having the highest proportion of home owners over the age of 55. The highest proportion of owners 35 to 54 years old was in Alberta, and lowest in Nova Scotia. Home owners under the age of 35 were most common in Manitoba, and were less common in Nova Scotia compared to other provinces.
Immigrants made up a notably lower proportion of home owners in the Maritime provinces, with New Brunswick having the lowest proportion of immigrant home owners across the provinces at 5.9%. The highest proportion of immigrant single- and multiple-property owners was in Ontario.
Statistics Canada has also released experimental dwelling estimates at the census sub-division level for 2024.
Among Nova Scotia census sub divisions, the fastest growth in the number of dwellings was in Wolfville, followed by Stewiacke. The largest decline was in Port Hawkesbury.
St. Mary's in Guysborough County had the most dwellings per 1,000 persons with 826.3. The lowest number of dwellings per 1,000 persons was in Halifax with 412.1.
Source: Canadian Housing Statistics Program, 2023
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