Home equity no longer retirement plan for most Canadians: survey
Home equity no longer seen as a retirement guarantee
For a generation of Canadians who treated their house as a retirement plan, that finding marks a shift. The survey found 65% would consider switching jobs for a better pension, and nearly two-thirds of those under 35 said they would relocate to a remote community for one.
That anxiety echoes an RBC Economics report on Canadian housing affordability hitting a four-year best, where price gains have slowed even as ownership costs stay elevated in Vancouver and Toronto.
The trade-off isn’t happening in isolation. Nearly four in ten Canadians say they are falling behind financially, up eight points from 2025, while 56% rank having enough money in retirement among their top personal concerns.
Robert Hogue and Rachel Battaglia of Royal Bank of Canada say affordability reached its best level since early 2022, with Toronto and Vancouver leading the recovery while regional markets continue to see mixed results.https://t.co/eUrQr438Ex
— Canadian Mortgage Professional Magazine (@CMPmagazine) June 30, 2026
What the shift means for brokers now
An earlier HOOPP-Abacus dataset in the context of mortgage debt carried into retirement found that 44% of homeowners planned to sell their homes to fund their later years and a third expected to remortgage for additional cash.
Tracy Valko, founder and chief vision officer at Valko Financial, told Canadian Mortgage Professional that many clients are exhausted by carrying debt rather than unable to manage it.
