The real estate search recently released a report based on data from the last Census (2016) provided by Statistics Canada, detailing the rise and fall of homeownership rates in Canada’s 100 biggest cities.

The study used census data dating as far back as 1971, showing that in the 45 years between 1971 and 2016, homeownership rates in Canada overall have declined for the first time. The highest rate of 69% percent home ownership was observed in 2011 and 2016 showed a 1.2% decrease, going down to 67.8%.

Regardless of the declining homeowners to renters ratio, Brampton ranked 18^th, with a rate of 80%, among the 100 cities that were part of the study, being just above Maple Ridge (79.6%) and Newmarket (79.5%) in the top 20. Caledon has the highest rate (90.8%) whereas Montreal has the lowest (37%). Unfortunately, Brampton is still a part of the 88 out of 100 cities whose rates have declined since 2011. In 2011, Brampton’s homeownership rate was 80%.

Mississauga ranked 35^th in the report with a homeownership rate of 72%. Following the trend of most Canadian cities, this rate is also a decrease from that of 2011. Mississauga’s homeownership rate was 3 percent higher in 2011 (75%).

The homeowners to renters ratio since 2011 have tipped in favor of the latter, going from 31% in 2011 to 32.2% in 2016, numbering at 4.6 million. One possible reason for this increase might be the steady increase of foreign students coming to Canada to pursue higher education studies in various fields.

Comparing with data from the 2001 census, the study showed Canada had an overall increase of 3% in homeownership rates. In this part of the report, Brampton ranked 23^rd with an increase of 3.9% since 2011.

The study also highlighted a few reasons as to why the homeownership rates have decreased since 2011. Real estate prices continue to increase while the general population’s wages continue to go in the opposite direction, forcing people to pick renting houses over buying them. According to the report, Canada’s recession can be traced back to the country’s heavy reliance on exports to China and the decline in oil prices.