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From the outside, this looks like a natural progression: as mobile buyers seek their own family homes, feeding healthy mistakes into housing supply.
But when selling, the reality is a little different, Lebow, who works in the Greater Toronto area, said in an interview.
“Our customers are not always happy customers,” he said. “Almost all seniors don’t want to move.”
Experts say older people who own their homes are eager to cut back their funds to fund pensions, a myth when they are largely left as they are, partly because they don’t like the option to scale down, which makes it harder for young prospective buyers to enter the housing market.
According to data from the 2016 Census, the elderly are actually the least likely to move.
“This is actually rare,” said Mike Moffatt, founding director of the University of Ottawa’s Mid-term Initiative.
When older people move, it’s usually because they face liquidity or money issues, or both, Lebow says.
He admits there is an older Canadian who is eager to cash in in a family home, move into a smaller apartment or apartment and undertake a new way of life. But these are unicorns, he said.
In his work, he usually encounters elderly people in three-bedroom or four-bedroom houses, and fills them up without children at home. There is a good chance that the space is beyond what they need, but there is no motivation to let go.
“Moving is a traumatic experience,” LeBor said, both in the economic cost or the emotional loss of changing addresses and clearing up years of accumulated property.
In addition to typical family performances and paperwork, his work ranges from re-raising a pet dog that cannot be placed in a new residence, and he is the de facto mediator when the prospect of a mom or dad shrinks into a tense family conflict.
Some of his clients are also facing a decline in cognitive abilities, viewing only their real estate agents as the one trying to kick them out of the house, Lebow said.
“Believe me, I’ve already yelled,” Lebow said.
A report from Canadian Mortgage and Housing Company, which began in November 2023, also found that this trend is still limited to a few older families, although as Canadians age.
The report found that as Canadians age, the transfer of apartments or rental properties is also small.
Data from CMHC shows that between 1991 and 2021, the “sell rate” has steadily declined, i.e. the proportion of 75 Canadians cashed out from the housing market.
Canadians live longer and may be financially better as they age, the agency said.
“In order for them to leave, they need something that meets their needs. And usually, that doesn’t exist.”
One of the biggest factors that motivate or hinder is cost and lifestyle, he said.
He said many seniors still want gardens and host families during the holidays, which creates one or two bedroom apartments in the heart of downtown.
Moffat said many older Canadians are keen to stay in their existing communities, but smaller options are not easily accessible.
In older residential communities, modern filling units for street-level access are a variety of options that many seniors need to reconsider.
Moffat noted that the six-unit partition, which was recently debated at Toronto City Council, would create that kind of unit that is right for many possible downward measures.
Toronto finally decided to expand the Sixplex partition to only a few wards last month, and others would choose if they chose.
Mobile homes are also expensive when it comes to hiring porters, installment costs, and countless taxes and fees for real estate agents and attorneys.
Moffat said measures to reduce the tax burden faced by older people when moving can help encourage more family housing turnover.
The Liberal Government introduced legislation in May to abandon federal GST for new homes, but only for first-time home buyers.
Moffatt said if the policy is extended to downsized seniors, it will “absolutely” help improve the supply of the housing market. Such a move could offer the deal for older people who are willing to enter smaller apartment units but don’t see the financial value of the move.
This could spur a positive domino effect in the market: Moffat explained that when relocated home buyers were able to leave their entry-level homes to take on larger properties for older people, this opened up more supply at the bottom of the home for first-time home buyers.
Canadian media contacted Finance Minister François-Philippe to ask if the federal government would consider expanding the GST return to the elderly.
A Canadian Financial spokesman did not mention the elderly in his response, saying in an email that the GST discount is intended to help first-time home buyers enter the housing market by reducing the upfront costs of buying a home and promoting new homes across Canada.
“The barriers to motivating or reducing the entire building benefit everyone,” Moffat said.
“It’s an irony that one of the best things we can do is help first-time home buyers and make it easier for older people to enter new homes.”
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Last modified: July 25, 2025
