Renewing a mortgage is nearly as stressful as buying a first home for more than a third of Quebec homeowners, according to RBC’s latest Home Ownership Poll.
The survey found that 35% of Quebec homeowners said the process of renewing their mortgage rivals the stress of a first-time purchase. Among those surveyed, 38% expected their upcoming renewal to add pressure to household finances, while 35% said they wished they had started planning for it sooner.
Concerns about borrowing costs were widespread, with 56% of Quebec respondents saying they were worried about interest rate increases over the next year.
Weighing the Risks of Waiting
The poll also pointed to broader affordability anxieties shaping decisions around when to buy. When asked which scenario worried them more, 66% of Quebec respondents said they feared waiting to buy and being priced out if home prices continue to rise, compared with 34% who said they were more concerned about buying now only to see prices decline afterward.
Janet Boyle, RBC’s senior vice-president of home equity finance, said Quebecers are navigating one of life’s biggest financial decisions in a market she described as complex and genuinely difficult.
Multigenerational Living Gains Interest
The survey also found growing openness to shared living arrangements as a way to manage housing costs. Nearly half of Quebec respondents, 46%, said they would consider living in a multigenerational home.
Among current homeowners in the province, 37% said they would be willing to sell their existing property and purchase a multigenerational home together with their child in order to help that child enter the housing market.
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