Single-detached homes dominate landscape in all census metropolitan areas

The overall mix of residential property types differs significantly in British Columbia and Ontario. Single-detached houses account for 44.1% of the close to 1.7 million residential properties in British Columbia compared to 64.2% of the close to 4.8 million residential properties in Ontario. Conversely, the proportion of condominium apartments is nearly twice as high in British Columbia as in Ontario (close to 20% versus 10%), while the share of properties with multiple residential units in British Columbia is nearly three times (10.1%) the proportion in Ontario (3.3%).

The Vancouver CMA contains 44.7% of all residential properties in British Columbia, followed by the CMAs of Victoria with 7.2%, Kelowna with 4.2%, and Abbotsford–Mission with 3.0%. In comparison, over one-third (36.0%) of all residential properties in Ontario are in the Toronto CMA, followed by the CMAs of Ottawa–Gatineau (Ontario part) at around 7%, Hamilton with about 5%, and London at almost 4% of all residential properties in the province.

Among the B.C. CMAs, the Kelowna CMA has the highest proportion of single-detached houses in the province (54.1%), followed by the CMAs of Victoria (47.5%), Abbotsford–Mission (45.1%) and Vancouver (36.4%). Similarly, the proportion of single-detached houses in the Toronto CMA is the lowest among the major metropolitan areas at almost 53%, followed by the CMAs of Ottawa–Gatineau (Ontario part) at 55.0%, London at almost 64%, and Hamilton at about 70%.

Over 70% of the respective provincial stock of condominium apartments are in the Toronto and Vancouver metropolitan areas. Almost one-third of Vancouver’s residential properties are condominium apartments, while in the CMA of Victoria they constitute close to 21%, and in the CMAs of Kelowna and Abbotsford–Mission they comprise around 18%. In Ontario, the proportion of condominium apartments is highest in the CMA of Toronto at 20.7%, followed by the CMAs of London at 17.1%, and Ottawa–Gatineau (Ontario part) at 10.0%.

The largest proportion of row houses is in Ottawa–Gatineau (Ontario part), where they constitute 22.3% of all property types. Row houses make up slightly more than 13% of all residential properties in both Vancouver and Abbotsford–Mission. Properties with multiple residential units are more common in B.C. than in Ontario. Abbotsford–Mission and Victoria metropolitan areas each have the highest proportion at nearly 16%, followed by Vancouver at almost 14%.