Housing tenure

Refers to whether some member of the household owns or rents the dwelling, or whether the dwelling is band housing (on an Indian reserve or settlement).
For owned dwellings, also indicates if the dwelling is part of a condominium development.

Presence of mortgage

Indicates whether or not household members who own their dwelling have paid off the mortgage or are still making payments.

Refers to the proportion of average monthly 2005 total household income which is spent on owner's major payments (in the case of owner-occupied dwellings) or on gross rent (in the case of tenant-occupied dwellings).

It should be noted that not all households spending 30% or more of incomes on shelter costs are necessarily experiencing housing affordability problems. This is particularly true of households with high incomes. There are also other households who choose to spend more on shelter than on other goods. Nevertheless, the allocation of 30% or more of a household's income to housing expenses provides a useful benchmark for assessing trends in housing affordability.

The relatively high shelter cost to household income ratios for some households may have resulted from the difference in the reference period for shelter cost and household income data. The reference period for shelter cost data (gross rent for tenants, and owner's major payments for owners) is 2006, while household income is reported for the year 2005. As well, for some households, the 2005 household income may represent income for only part of a year.

It should be noted that not all households spending 30% or more of incomes on shelter costs are necessarily experiencing housing affordability problems. This is particularly true of households with high incomes. There are also other households who choose to spend more on shelter than on other goods. Nevertheless, the allocation of 30% or more of a household's income to housing expenses provides a useful benchmark for assessing trends in housing affordability.

The relatively high shelter cost to household income ratios for some households may have resulted from the difference in the reference period for shelter cost and household income data. The reference period for shelter cost data (gross rent for tenants, and owner's major payments for owners) is 2006, while household income is reported for the year 2005. As well, for some households, the 2005 household income may represent income for only part of a year.

Household type
Part A - Plain language definition
Category to which a person living alone or a group of persons occupying the same dwelling belong. There are two categories: non-family households and family households.
A non-family household consists either of one person living alone or of two or more persons who share a dwelling, but do not constitute a family.
Family households are divided into two subcategories: one-family households and multiple-family households.
A one-family household consists of a single family (e.g., a couple with or without children). A multiple-family household is made up of two or more families occupying the same dwelling.
Part B - Detailed definition
Refers to the basic division of private households into family and non-family households. Family household refers to a household that contains at least one census family, that is, a married couple with or without children, or a couple living common-law with or without children, or a lone parent living with one or more children (lone-parent family). One-family household refers to a single census family (with or without other persons) that occupies a private dwelling. Multiple-family household refers to a household in which two or more census families (with or without additional persons) occupy the same private dwelling.
Non-family household refers to either one person living alone in a private dwelling or to a group of two or more people who share a private dwelling, but who do not constitute a census family.

Refers to households that consist solely of one census family without additional persons. In 2001, this category was called 'One-family households' and also included census families with additional persons.

Refers to households with opposite-sex or same-sex couples.

Refers to one-census family households with additional persons and to multiple-census family households, with or without additional persons. In 2001, this category was called 'Multiple-family households' and did not include one-census family households with additional persons.