Real estate

The buying, selling and management of real estate in Canada is big business. At the end of 2003, individuals and unincorporated businesses held more than $1.6 trillion in residential structures and land—about one-third of all assets held by individuals. Some 271,000 people were employed in real estate and leasing.

In 2001, the revenues declared by more than 219,000 lessors of residential property and dwellings and 10,000 property managers combined with the rental revenues of 42,000 non-residential leasings generated $41.6 billion dollars.

Nearly all Canadians have some sort of relationship with the real estate industry. In 2002, Canadian renters spent an average of $2,460 in rent per household for a total of over $27.6 billion dollars. However, rental accommodations have been declining in popularity. As more people purchased their own homes, the proportion of households paying rent fell from 42% in 1986 to 35% in 2002. Mortgage interest costs averaged $3,409 per household in 2002.