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In Ontario, couples with children overwhelmingly live in ground-oriented ownership housing. This form of housing is still the majority for all other households (at least according to 2021 Census data), but apartment rentals make up a much larger share.
Given these figures, it is not surprising that the Missing Middle Initiative has found that family migration patterns within southern Ontario tend to correlate strongly (r = 0.71) with where ground-oriented ownership housing is being built, which largely means outside of the Greater Toronto Area.
This is an important finding if you're worried about Canadians not having enough babies. But this correlation doesn't tell us exactly what's going on. The data suggests that families with children have a clear preference for ground-oriented ownership — even if it means moving farther out — but what other options do they really have?
Three-bedroom apartments remain a relatively elusive housing type because demand is low. But as we have talked about, demand is a function of price, and multi-family buildings are more expensive to construct than low-rise housing. So how much of this perceived consumer preference for ground-oriented housing is actually just people driving until they qualify?
In other words, how many people are simply solving for X amount of space/bedrooms at Y price? And what would happen if we made large three-bedroom apartments in walkable transit-oriented communities the most affordable option? It still wouldn't be for everyone, but I bet that we would see demand adjust.
More importantly, it would give people options.
Charts from the Missing Middle Initiative; cover photo by Jason Ng on Unsplash
4 comments
In order to make 3-bedroom condominiums more affordable, at SFU's University development we created units with lock-off suites which served as 'mortgage helpers in the sky', just like a basement suite in a house. They have now become quite widespread in Vancouver. The banks even recognize the rental income when determining how large a mortgage can be approved. https://gellersworldtravel.blogspot.com/2025/06/lock-off-suites-finally-gaining.html
Sorry for the typos, but it’s next to impossible to proof read any comments given the viewing window
I have had 2 lovely and 1100 sf, a 1/2 floor above ground 3 bedrooms for rent in my Toronto Special multi-residential building for 3 months. We have had 3 showings in total for both units. In the q- years I’ve owned these buildings we have had one family live there for 9 years. The rents are market. The most interest we get is from 3 similar aged adults. We are in a quiet treed residential street, offer a nice yard and parking and a 5-minute walk to College and Ossington. A 5-minute walk to the subway. There is no market for 3 bedrooms in Toronto. This article, your post and all the woke punching for the missing miss doe is utter garbage.
What are the asking rents?