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Canadian immigrants are narrowing the homeownership gap with their Canadian-born counterparts, according to the latest real estate trends report released Thursday by Scotia Economics. According to 2006 census data, almost 72% of immigrants lived in a home owned by a household member, up from 68% in 2001. The comparable share for the Canadian-born population rose modestly to 75% from 73% in the same period. The report found that homeownership by immigrants increased among all immigrant groups, regardless of how long they had lived in Canada. However, the biggest increases were among those living in the country for less than 10 years. Adrienne Warren, a senior economist at Scotia Economics said, "As recent immigrants to Canada make the transition from renter to owner, they will increasingly drive housing demand." According to the report, increased home ownership has been driven in part by stronger labour markets. The employment rate for recent working-age immigrants rose 3.5% to 67%, faster than the 1.5% increase among their Canadian-born counterparts. The employment rate for all immigrants increased modestly to 77.5%. The report said of the more than one million immigrants that came to Canada between 2001 and 2006, 69% settled in the metropolitan regions of Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. A growing proportion, however, settled in smaller areas, including Calgary, Ottawa, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Hamilton and Kitchener. Less than 3% chose to live in a rural area.
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