[Report] Canada's multigenerational and intergenerational households

Released: 2025-08-14

As Canada's population continues to record high life expectancy and a decreasing fertility rate, individuals may increasingly rely upon vertical family ties for support and companionship. Sharing a home with extended family may be a deliberate strategy to overcome challenges such as housing affordability and the rising cost of living, as well as a reflection of shifting lifestyle and cultural preferences.

New studies released today shed light on two emerging trends in living arrangements in Canada: multigenerational households, which include three or more generations of the same family, and intergenerational households, composed of parents and their adult children aged 20 years and older.

These two studies use data from the 2021 Census of Population to examine the sociodemographic and economic characteristics of people living in multigenerational or intergenerational households. Results are presented for each generation residing in these households.

Highlights from the studies

Characteristics of people living in multigenerational households

• Of people living in a multigenerational household in 2021, over half (52.7%) were racialized and two-fifths (40.5%) were born outside of Canada.
• While relatively fewer multigenerational households (11.1%) had unaffordable housing compared with other households (20.8%), a higher proportion of multigenerational households were characterized as crowded (28.3% compared with 4.7%).

Characteristics of co-residing parents and adult children

• Retirement-aged parents living with their adult children may continue to engage in paid employment to support their children financially to some degree.
• Among people aged 50 to 69 years in 2021, employment rates were higher among those who were parents in intergenerational households.
• The largest differences were for people aged 65 to 69 years, among whom 32.0% of parents in intergenerational households were employed compared with 24.6% of people living in other arrangements.