Skip to content

B.C. shift from single-family homes continues: census

Residents are moving to large apartment buildings and duplexes, Stats Can figures show
web1_170503-BPD-M-Duplex-Wiki

The proportion of B.C. residents living in detached homes is continuing to shrink, according to Stats Canada numbers released Tuesday.

In 2016, 44.1 per cent of British Columbians lived in single-family homes, down from 47.7 per cent in 2011 and 49 per cent in 2006. The number of people living in multi-family dwellings grew to make up for it; however, most of the growth was found in apartments with more than five storeys and in duplexes. The proportion of B.C. residents living in smaller apartments stayed stagnant, as did single-attached houses, mobile homes, semi-detached houses and row houses.

READ: Lower Mainland residents shift to condos, duplexes, says 2016 census

Stikine, an unincorporated area lacking any cities, had the highest proportion of detached single-family homes. In incorporated regional districts, detached homes made up three-quarters of all houses in the Central Coast, Kootenay-Boundary, Sunshine Coast, Powell River, Bulkley-Nechako and the Central Kootenays.

On Vancouver Island, the Cowichan Valley and Alberni-Clayoquot regional districts had the highest proportion of detached homes at 73.4 and 73.3 per cent, respectively.

More to come.