Non-Permanent Residents Play Small Role In Canada Homeownership

Non-permanent residents play a small role in Canada homeownership, i.e., a new report from Statistics Canada shows that non-permanent residents (NPRs) have a very small presence in Canada’s housing market. This comes at a time when immigration and housing affordability are often discussed together in public debates.

The report was released on December 11, 2025. It shows that at the start of 2022, less than 1% of all homeowners in Canada were non-permanent residents. This suggests that NPRs are not a major factor in homeownership levels across the country.

In this report, non-permanent residents include people who held valid temporary permits, such as work permits or study permits, as well as people who had made a refugee claim as of December 31, 2021.

The data comes from the Canadian Housing Statistics Program (CHSP) and is based on 2022 figures. It includes all provinces except Newfoundland and Labrador, Saskatchewan, and Quebec. Statistics Canada did not release data for the territories because the sample sizes were too small.

How Many Homeowners In Canada Are Non-Permanent Residents?

At the beginning of 2022, non-permanent residents made up a very small share of homeowners in Canada.

While the percentage differed slightly by province, it stayed below 0.5% in every province that was studied.

Prince Edward Island (PEI) had the highest share of NPR homeowners, while Alberta had the lowest.

You can view the table below to see the percentage of homeowners who are NPRs, by province:

The report also found that NPR homeowners are usually concentrated in the largest city in each province. Examples include Charlottetown in PEI and Calgary in Alberta.

Even in provinces with the highest shares, non-permanent residents still make up only a very small portion of homeowners. This supports the report’s conclusion that NPRs play a minimal role in Canada’s homeownership market.

The report also notes that homeownership rates among NPRs are lower than their share of the total population in every province listed above.

How Many Non-Permanent Residents Own Homes In Canada?

The report also looks at homeownership from the point of view of NPRs themselves. It finds that very few non-permanent residents own homes.

Among people who held a valid temporary permit at the start of 2022, only a small number were homeowners.

Statistics Canada highlighted Ontario and British Columbia as examples.

In Ontario, only 1.64% of non-permanent residents owned a home. In British Columbia, the figure was even lower at 1.41%.

For comparison, 40.3% of recent permanent residents (those who became permanent residents within the last five years) owned homes in Ontario. Among Canadian-born individuals, the rate was 47.8%.

These numbers show a clear gap between temporary residents and other groups when it comes to owning a home in Canada.

Why Non-Permanent Residents Rarely Buy Homes?

Statistics Canada says these results are expected because non-permanent residents usually stay in Canada for a limited time. This can make them less likely to make long-term financial decisions like buying a home.

Other reasons mentioned in the report include:

• Many international students can only work a limited number of hours, which reduces income
• NPRs often have little or no Canadian work or credit history, making it harder to get a mortgage
• Non-permanent residents are generally younger, giving them less time to save for a down payment

All of these factors help explain why non-permanent residents are rarely homeowners in Canada.

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