Small individual investors own about 10% of housing stock in Ontario and B.C., study finds
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- Statistics Canada found small-scale individual investors (up to five properties) owned 8.9% of Ontario's housing stock by assessed value in 2022, with medium-scale investors holding another 1.3%.
- In British Columbia, small-scale individual investors held 9.6% of the housing stock and medium-scale investors owned 1.9%, according to the Canadian Housing Statistics Program report.
- Institutional investors — including pension funds, family offices and REITs — owned only 4.9% of Ontario's housing inventory and 4.3% in B.C., versus 3.2% and 4.5% for businesses.
- Nova Scotia had the largest overall investor share at nearly 30% of housing stock, followed by PEI at 27%, with Ontario at 22% and B.C. at 25%.
- Small-scale individual investors dominated Ontario's rental market at 52.6% of rental stock, while institutional investors held 23.6% — a similar pattern held in B.C. (49.4% small investors, 20.3% institutional).
- London, Ontario bucked the trend, with institutional investors holding the largest share of rentals at 46.5%.
- The study did not cover Alberta, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador or the territories, leaving a gap in the national picture.
Why it matters: The data undermines the common political narrative blaming institutional investors for Canada's housing affordability crisis: in Canada's two most expensive provinces, mom-and-pop landlords — not pension funds or REITs — hold the majority of rental units. Policy aimed at institutional buyers would leave largely untouched the 49–53% of rental stock controlled by small individual investors in Ontario and B.C.
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