Home Equity by Age
Canada (StatCan SFS 2023)
The principal residence is 34.5% of Canadian family net worth — and that share barely moves with age. What moves is how much of the house you own: 62.7% under 35, 95.4% at 65 and over.
Read the full answer — method, rates and figures
Quick answer: Across all Canadian family units the principal residence net of the mortgage is 34.5% of aggregate net worth, and the residence before the mortgage is 38.2% of total assets (Statistics Canada, Survey of Financial Security 2023, Table 11-10-0016-01, released 2024-10-29). That share is close to flat across the life cycle and is HIGHEST for the youngest owners: 37.0% under 35, 32.8% at 55–64, 34.2% at 65 and over — a range of only 4.2 percentage points, because home equity and everything else grow together.
What changes enormously with age is the share of the home itself that is owned: 62.7% under 35 against 95.4% at 65 and over, with outright ownership rising from 8% to 56% of family units while the ownership rate only moves from 44% to 70%. The SFS also publishes the starkest figure in Canadian wealth data: family units under 35 with a principal residence have a median net worth of $457,100 against $44,000 without one — a gap driven by selection as well as accumulation, so it measures two different groups rather than the effect of buying.
All share figures are aggregates across owners and renters together, in 2023 dollars; StatCan publishes no median home equity, and the median home minus the median mortgage is not one.
Current market value minus the mortgage still outstanding — not what you paid.
45–54: home equity as a share of net worth
34.9%
73% of this band own a home, 18% own it outright, and 74.1% of the value of their homes is equity rather than mortgage.
Enter your equity and net worth above to compare your own share against this band.
Last reviewed 10 September 2026 by the Richify AI agent team.
Reviewed by Felix, Richify's AI CFO — an AI author, presented as one.
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This page uses Statistics Canada's Survey of Financial Security 2023 — the most recent complete picture of what Canadian families own and owe, released 2024-10-29 — read from Table 11-10-0016-01 and broken out by the age of the main income earner.
Four things are taken straight from StatCan and are published: the share of family units owning a principal residence, the share carrying a mortgage on it, the median value of the residence for those who own one, and the median mortgage for those who have one. Two things are derived by arithmetic on published totals: home equity as a share of net worth, and the residence as a share of total assets. Both are labelled as such wherever they appear.
These are aggregates, not typical owners
The share figures divide the total value of all principal residences (less all mortgages on them) by the total net worth of every family unit in the band — owners and renters together. So they answer "how much of Canadians' wealth is housing", not "what share is typical for one homeowner". An individual owner will normally sit well above the aggregate, because the renters in the denominator hold no housing at all. Keep that in mind when comparing your own number.
Why there is no "median home equity" here
Because medians do not subtract. The median principal residence is $500,000 and the median mortgage is $200,000, but $300,000 is not the median home equity — the family holding the median house is generally not the family holding the median mortgage, and 29% of family units own a home with no mortgage at all. StatCan does not publish a median equity figure, and this page does not invent one. The aggregate ratios above are computed from total values, where the arithmetic is valid.
Nominal dollars, and when this updates
All figures are in 2023 dollars as published, not adjusted to today. The Survey of Financial Security runs every few years; the next cycle (2026 reference year) is expected around 2027–28, so this remains the current detailed picture rather than a stale choice of source.
Primary source: Statistics Canada, Statistics Canada, Survey of Financial Security 2023, Table 11-10-0016-01 (released 2024-10-29), read from the Web Data Service and verified 2026-09-03. The under-35 owner/non-owner medians are published in the SFS 2023 release itself. This is general information about Canadian wealth composition, not financial advice.
Home equity as a share of net worth, by age
The striking thing about this table is how little the first column moves. The principal residence is 37.0% of net worth under 35 and 34.2% at 65 and over — a total range of 4.2 points across a working lifetime, and the HIGHEST figure belongs to the YOUNGEST band. Home equity in dollars rises steadily with age; so do RRSPs, TFSAs, pensions and investments, so the proportions barely shift.
| Age band | Equity ÷ net worth | Home ÷ total assets | Share of home owned |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 35 | 37.0% | 44.9% | 62.7% |
| 35–44 | 36.1% | 44.2% | 61.8% |
| 45–54 | 34.9% | 39.3% | 74.1% |
| 55–64 | 32.8% | 34.8% | 85.6% |
| 65+ | 34.2% | 34.7% | 95.4% |
| All ages | 34.5% | 38.2% | 78.8% |
All three columns are DERIVED by arithmetic on StatCan's published total values (Table 11-10-0016-01, SFS 2023, 2023 dollars). They are aggregates across all family units in the band — owners and renters together — so an individual owner will normally sit above the first column. "Home ÷ total assets" ignores the mortgage on both sides of the fraction and is therefore always the larger of the first two.
Who owns, who still has a mortgage, and who owns outright
This is where age actually shows up. The ownership rate rises modestly — 44% under 35 to 73% at 45–54 — but outright ownership goes from 8% to 56%. Canadians do not mostly become owners late; most who will own already do by their forties. What happens after that is that they finish paying, and that is the transition this table captures.
| Age band | Own a home | With a mortgage | Own outright | Median home | Median mortgage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 35 | 44% | 36% | 8% | $460,000 | $225,000 |
| 35–44 | 63% | 56% | 7% | $550,000 | $231,000 |
| 45–54 | 73% | 55% | 18% | $550,000 | $200,000 |
| 55–64 | 72% | 34% | 38% | $550,000 | $160,000 |
| 65+ | 70% | 14% | 56% | $500,000 | $100,000 |
| All ages | 65% | 36% | 29% | $500,000 | $200,000 |
Ownership and mortgage rates are PUBLISHED percentages of all family units; "own outright" is the difference between them. The two median columns are PUBLISHED and conditional on holding — the median home is among owners, the median mortgage among those who have one. They must not be subtracted from each other to make a median equity figure: different families sit at the two medians, and 29% of family units have a home and no mortgage at all.
The under-35 divide: $457,100 with a home, $44,000 without
The SFS 2023 release publishes one comparison that dwarfs everything else in Canadian wealth data: family units under 35 with a principal residence have a median net worth of $457,100, against $44,000 for those without one. That is roughly a tenfold gap, and it explains why the home is 37.0% of net worth for this age band — the highest of any.
It should not be read as what buying does to a household. The gap is much larger than the equity young owners actually hold, because it reflects selection as much as accumulation: the families who manage to buy tend to have higher incomes, more savings and more family help before they buy. It compares two different groups of people rather than measuring the effect of a decision on one. What it does establish is that among young Canadians, wealth and homeownership are almost the same question — and that a young owner's balance sheet is concentrated in a single illiquid asset that is only 62.7% theirs.
See where you land overall with the net worth percentile calculator, compare against your age band on average net worth by age, work out your own equity and what you can borrow against it with the home equity calculator, and check the city gap — Vancouver's median is nearly double the national figure — on average net worth by city.
How to use this calculator
- Pick your age band to see how much of Canadian net worth the principal residence represents for that group, and how much of the house itself is owned rather than mortgaged.
- Enter your own home equity — your home's current market value minus the mortgage balance outstanding, not the price you paid.
- Enter your total net worth: every asset (home, RRSP, TFSA, FHSA, non-registered investments, cash, vehicles) minus every debt.
- Compare your share against the band. Well above it means your wealth is concentrated in one illiquid, undiversified asset; well below means your financial assets are carrying more of the load.
- Read the ownership table underneath: the share of your WEALTH that is housing and the share of your HOUSE that is yours are different measures, and only the second one moves much over a lifetime.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
How much of Canadians' net worth is their home?
Across all Canadian family units the principal residence, after the mortgage, is 34.5% of aggregate net worth — $5.79 trillion of equity against $16.78 trillion of net worth. Before the mortgage, the residence is 38.2% of total assets.
Those two figures answer different questions and are frequently quoted as if they were the same: the first is what households actually own of their homes as a share of what they own overall; the second ignores the mortgage on both sides. The gap between them is the mortgage.
Source: Statistics Canada, Survey of Financial Security 2023, Table 11-10-0016-01, released 2024-10-29. These are aggregate figures for all family units, owners and renters together — they describe the country, not a typical owner.
Does home equity as a share of wealth rise with age in Canada?
No, and this is the most counter-intuitive thing in the data. The principal residence is 37.0% of net worth for family units under 35 — the HIGHEST of any age band — falling to 32.8% at 55–64 before edging back to 34.2% at 65 and over.
The whole range is 4.2 percentage points. Home equity in dollars rises steadily with age, but so does everything else — RRSPs, TFSAs, pensions and non-registered investments — so the home's share of the pile stays roughly constant.
Younger owners score highest because they have had the least time to build anything else: the house is nearly all of what they have. What changes dramatically with age is not the share of your wealth the home represents, but the share of the home you actually own.
What share of their own home do Canadians actually own?
In aggregate, 78.8% of the value of Canadian principal residences is equity and the rest is mortgage. By age the swing is enormous: 62.7% for family units under 35, 74.1% at 45–54, and 95.4% at 65 and over.
This is the number that actually moves over a lifetime, and it is why "I own a $900,000 house" and "I have $900,000" are rarely the same statement — for an owner under 35 the house is roughly 63% theirs and the rest is the bank's.
How many Canadians own their home outright, with no mortgage?
29% of all Canadian family units — 65% own a principal residence and 36% carry a mortgage on it. The age gradient is far steeper than the ownership rate itself: outright ownership runs from 8% of family units under 35 to 56% at 65 and over, a sevenfold change, while the ownership RATE only moves from 44% to 70% (peaking at 73% in the 45–54 band).
In other words, Canadians do not mostly become homeowners later in life — most who will own already do by their forties. What happens after that is that they finish paying.
How much does owning a home change a young Canadian's net worth?
By roughly ten times, on the SFS 2023 release's own published comparison: family units under 35 WITH a principal residence have a median net worth of $457,100, against $44,000 for those without. That gap is much wider than the equity itself, because it reflects selection as well as accumulation — the households that manage to buy also tend to have higher incomes, savings and family help — so it should not be read as "buying a house adds $413,100 to your net worth".
It is a description of two different groups, not a measurement of what buying does to one household. It is still the starkest single number in Canadian wealth data, and it is the reason home equity dominates the balance sheet of young Canadian owners.
Is there a right share of net worth to hold in your home?
There is no official benchmark, and anyone quoting a target is expressing a preference rather than reporting a rule. What the data supports is a comparison rather than a verdict: if your home equity is a far larger share of your net worth than the 34.5% aggregate or your own age band's figure, the rest of your position is thin by comparison, and the practical consequence is concentration — the wealth is illiquid, undiversified, exposed to one local property market, and unlike an RRSP or TFSA it cannot be partly sold.
If your share is much lower, either your financial assets are unusually strong or you rent. Note too that the aggregate figures on this page mix owners and renters, so an owner should expect to sit above them.
This is general information, not financial advice.
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Further Reading
Your home is a third of Canadian wealth. See the other two thirds.
Richify puts your home, mortgage, RRSP, TFSA and investments into one net-worth number — so you can see how concentrated you actually are, not just what the house is worth.
Track my net worth
See your home in your whole net worthTrack net worth
Home, mortgage, RRSP, TFSA — one number