When Christopher Mascarenhas arrived in Canada with his wife in 2021, buying a home was not really a decision they could afford to think about. His wife was studying and could work only limited hours. Christopher, who was on a work visa, was getting only a limited number of shifts. Their earnings were enough to cover rent, groceries, transportation, and other essentials. Homeownership could wait.
Almost four years later, Christopher's circumstances have changed. So has the way he looks at renting and buying. “As time passed, we were fortunate to receive opportunities to grow within the company, and our incomes gradually increased,” says the Vancouver resident. Renting, he says, gave them the breathing room they needed to settle into a new country and pay off education loans taken in India.
It also made sense when their future in Canada was uncertain. They did not know when they would receive permanent residency, and buying a home without a PR card in hand could mean fewer financing options and higher costs. “Renting actually helped us financially during those early years,” Christopher says. “It gave us the flexibility we needed.”
His experience captures a dilemma facing many households in Canada today. Buying a home has long been seen as a natural milestone: stop paying rent, build equity, and put your money into an asset of your own. In 2026, though, that choice is not quite as simple.
Canada's housing market has cooled from its highs. The national average home price stood at $696,078 in June, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association, while the MLS Home Price Index was 3.6 per cent lower than a year earlier. Sales have begun to recover after a slow start to the year, but homes remain expensive enough to keep many would-be buyers cautious.
Renters have found some breathing room too. Canada's purpose-built rental vacancy rate rose from 2.2 per cent in 2024 to 3.1 per cent in 2025, helped by more rental supply and slower population growth. Affordability, however, remains a concern, especially in major urban markets. Today, if the numbers worked, Christopher would rather own. “If I have enough money for a down payment and can comfortably manage the mortgage, I would rather put that money toward my own home than spend it helping someone else pay off theirs,” he says.
When Owning Comes with a Price
Kshitij Ahlawat made that move from renting to owning, and his experience shows why getting the keys is only one part of the homeownership story. During the pandemic, Kshitij's landlord told him the rental property was needed for family use. Rather than searching for another place, he decided to buy. His mortgage initially cost around $1,900 a month. It later climbed to about $3,100, and he now puts another $1,000 a month towards the mortgage.
Then came expenses he might never have faced as a renter. His strata fee increased from about $380 to $509 a month. Work on his building resulted in an $18,000 expense, while fencing cost another $3,500. These are the costs that can disappear from the rent-versus-buy debate. A $3,000 mortgage may not look dramatically different from paying $2,500 in rent. Add property taxes, insurance, strata fees, maintenance and an unexpected repair bill, and the picture can change quickly.
When Does Buying Make Sense?
Mayur Arora, owner and realtor at One Flat Fee Real Estate, says looking only at monthly payments can also understate one of the main financial advantages of owning.
His argument is leverage. Take a $1-million home bought with a $200,000 down payment. “You are playing with a million dollars,” he says. The buyer may have invested $200,000, but any appreciation is based on the value of the entire property. The same logic can hurt when prices fall. Mayur says buyers should therefore be prepared to stay invested rather than expect a quick return.
In the current market, he believes buyers should ideally be prepared to hold a property for at least two to three years. Location matters just as much. Mayur sees buying opportunities in Vancouver's Lower Mainland and the Greater Toronto Area, where softer conditions have given purchasers more room to negotiate. Renting may make more sense in parts of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Quebec, depending on local prices and a person's finances.
For first-time buyers, Mayur says the decision should begin before scrolling through listings or walking into an open house. “The first step is mortgage pre-approval,” he says. It tells buyers what they can realistically afford before they become emotionally attached to a home outside their budget. He also recommends speaking to an experienced mortgage broker who can compare options across lenders.
There is also a side to homeownership that numbers cannot fully capture. For many South Asian families in Canada, owning a home carries emotional weight. It can mean stability, permanence, and something tangible to build for the next generation.
Canada's cooler housing market has made the decision more interesting, not necessarily easier. Buyers have more room to negotiate. Renters have more choice. Neither option is automatically the smarter one. Renting can make sense while you are finding your feet. Buying can make sense when your finances, status and future feel more settled.
The real question is not simply whether you can afford the down payment or make the mortgage every month. It is whether the home you buy fits the life you are building, and whether you can comfortably afford to keep it.
