Newly Released Ipsos Polling Shows 72% of Young Ontarians Plan to Leave GTA Due to Affordability 

In response to the ongoing housing affordability crisis, the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) is launching a bold new campaign— Fair Taxes on Ontario Homes —to demand lower taxes and help bring homeownership back within reach for Ontarians. 

The campaign launch comes as newly released Ipsos polling reveals that the housing crisis is driving young Ontarians out of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), with 72 per cent of residents aged 18-34 planning to leave in the next five years due to affordability concerns. Meanwhile, 75 per cent of respondents believe the next generation of GTA residents will have a lower quality of life than the current one, painting a bleak picture of Ontario’s housing future. 

“Ontario is in a housing affordability crisis, and unfair taxes are a major part of the problem,” said TRREB President Elechia Barry-Sproule. “With one-third of a new home’s price going to government taxes and fees, we are overtaxing housing to the point where new construction is slowing, affordability is worsening, and young families and individuals are being pushed out of their communities. All levels of government must act now to reduce these tax burdens.” 

The Tax Problem: A Barrier to New Homes 

According to a 2024 Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis (CANCEA) report, 36 per cent of the purchase cost of a new home is made up of government taxes and fees. On an average priced new home, a buyer will pay over $380,000 in taxes and fees. Thanks in large part to the high tax burden on homes, Ontario is lagging other provinces on housing starts – making our affordability problem even worse.

“We should not treat housing like a high-end luxury good to be taxed, instead a home should be treated like a human right,” said TRREB CEO John DiMichele. “Housing taxation policy in Ontario needs a major reform so we can bring affordability back to the market and get more homes built faster.” 

Housing affordability has emerged as a top concern across Ontario. In Toronto, 89 per cent of residents—along with 89 per cent in Peel and 80 per cent in Simcoe— are concerned about the cost of housing. Only 1 in 5 Ontarians believe governments at all levels are doing enough to address the housing supply crisis (22 per cent municipal, 20 per cent federal, 18 per cent provincial). 

TRREB’s Fair Taxes on Ontario Homes campaign calls on governments to take three immediate actions to unlock housing supply and lower costs for homebuyers: 

• Cut Development Charges (DCs) – Across the GTA, DCs have increased significantly in recent years, adding as much as $139,000 to the cost of a new home in some GTA municipalities. TRREB is urging the provincial and federal government to increase funding for municipalities to reduce their reliance on these excessive fees. 
• Reform the Land Transfer Tax (LTT) – Homebuyers in Toronto now pay over $36,000 in LTT on an average-priced home. TRREB is calling for an increase in the first-time homebuyer rebate and for both the provincial and local government to consider eliminating the tax for first-time buyers entirely. 
• Review Municipal Taxation –TRREB is pushing for a comprehensive review of municipal revenue tools (e.g. DCs and property taxes) to reduce housing-related tax burdens. 

Show Support for Fair Housing Taxes 

TRREB’s campaign is rallying homebuyers, renters, and industry professionals to demand change from policymakers. “We are also calling all political parties in the Ontario election to commit to lowering taxes on Ontario homes,” said Barry-Sproule. 

Ontarians can add their voices to our Fair Taxes on Ontario Homes campaign by visiting FairHomeTaxes.ca and adding their name to a call for all three levels of government to take action. 

About TRREB: 

The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board is Canada’s largest real estate board with over 74,000 residential and commercial professionals connecting people, property and communities. 

About the Study 

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between October 17 – 30, 2024. For this survey, a sample of 1700 Ontarians aged 18 years and over was interviewed. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ±2.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Ontario adults been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.  

About  Ipsos 

Ipsos is the world’s third largest market research company, present in 90 markets and employing more than 18,000 people. Our passionately curious research professionals, analysts and scientists have built unique multi-specialist capabilities that provide true understanding and powerful insights into the actions, opinions and motivations of citizens, consumers, patients, customers or employees. We serve more than 5000 clients across the world with 75 business solutions. Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos is listed on the Euronext Paris since July 1st, 1999. The company is part of the SBF 120 and the Mid-60 index and is eligible for the Deferred Settlement Service (SRD). ISIN code FR0000073298, Reuters ISOS.PA, Bloomberg IPS:FP www.ipsos.com