A multigenerational home is a residence or household where there are multiple generations of adults living there. It’s not to be confused with the terms “single-family home” or “multifamily unit,” which refer to types of real estate. Common examples of these households include those where grandparents and grandchildren live together or adult children live with their parents. According to the Vanier Institute of the Family, the number of multigenerational homes in Canada has increased by over 50% in the past 20 years, with rising costs and aging populations being two of the biggest factors. Here are some things to consider about sharing a residence with multiple generations.
What’s Great About Multigenerational Households
Multigenerational homes provide certain advantages. From immigrant families establishing roots in a new country to adult children looking for a place to land after college or a divorce, there are benefits to this household that are worth considering:
Shared Expenses: When you live with other adults who earn income, you can divide up certain living expenses and save money. While an increase in household members may increase monthly bills associated with energy and water usage, things like mortgages, taxes, and insurance aren’t based on occupancy.
Savings on Child or Adult Care: Daycare is a significant expense for most Canadians, especially those with children who are too young for school. Assisted living facilities can also be very expensive. Multigenerational homes help families defray or eliminate these costs as other adults can help take care of children or the elderly.
Improved Relationships: There are mutual benefits when grandparents and grandchildren are a part of each other’s lives. The presence of children can help with feelings of isolation and loneliness. Being around older relatives helps children with speech development, learning, and empathy.
What’s Not So Great About Multigenerational Households
Sharing a home with adult children, adult relatives, and other parents also comes with challenges you should consider.
Lack of Privacy: More people in the home increases the difficulty of finding time and space for solitude. Where do you go when you need some time to yourself? You have to be more intentional about “alone time.”
Establishing Boundaries: Respect is a critical element of a successful multigenerational household. If you’re an adult and living with your parents, you may get unsolicited feedback about your choices. Sometimes parents forget that you’re an adult and need a gentle reminder that you’re entitled to your own opinions and decisions, especially when it comes to raising kids and taking care of a home.
More Disruption: Living with more people in your home means a potential increase in noise and clutter. Horseplay, loud music, and video games may be uncomfortable for older adults. Toys and other objects can take over certain living spaces. Separating rooms with drapes or noise-reduction devices can be useful in homes shared by multiple generations.
What You Should Consider
If you’re contemplating a multigenerational household, think carefully about the things that an existing or future residence will need for a better experience. Some home builders now offer multigenerational or next-gen floor plans that accommodate other relatives. This can include basement apartments, exterior buildings, multiple kitchens and living areas, separate entrances, and more. Before you commit to this living situation, it’s important to have an honest conversation with your spouse and current household members about the changes needed for a healthy and happy home life.
For Canadian couples old and new, multigenerational living offers several advantages. For many families, these households are the new normal, providing tangible and intangible benefits for everyone involved. But such a household is not without its challenges, especially when it comes to respect, boundaries, and relationships. Consider these plusses and minuses before you make a decision.
Have you thought about making Canada home? Married life is a journey, not just a destination. When you’ve decided to share forever with the love of your life, you’re embarking on a grand voyage for a major new phase in your life. There’s much to anticipate about this next great chapter, whether it’s starting a family or living together. This new milestone in your lives together will come with many decisions that you’ll have to make as a couple. One of these is where you’ll live. You may have many options when it comes to finding a home. Here’s what you should know about living in Canada.
Immigrating Here
The immigration process to Canada can be quite involved. There are many steps to apply and secure approval for immigration. Be aware that the process can take several months and even a few years in some cases. For citizens of other countries seeking permanent residence in the Great White North, there are several programs for entry:
Express Entry Program: Designated for skilled immigrants to live and work here
Federal Skilled Worker: Intended for individuals immigrating to Canada based on their own credentials
Business Immigration: Designed for foreign nationals seeking to establish or invest in a business enterprise in Canada
Provincial Nominee Program: Set aside for certain provinces to use their own criteria and eligibility requirements to nominate persons for permanent residence
Family Class Sponsorship: Specified for people who will be sponsored by family members who are Canadian citizens, Indians or permanent residents
Canadian Experience Class: Intended for foreign students and temporary workers with at least one year of employment experience
Visiting Canada is one thing, but living here will require attainment of permanent resident status.
Getting Medical Care in Canada
Having access to adequate healthcare is important wherever you choose to live. In Canada, healthcare is provided by the government through tax funds. Care is administered through private providers. While basic care is essentially free, not everything is covered, like certain prescriptions or dental care. It is recommended that you purchase third-party medical insurance to offset some of the high costs for care not included with basic coverage. It could take you a while to receive public benefits even as a permanent resident, so having coverage through an international provider before you move here is worth considering.
Adjusting to the Climate in Canada
Immigrants from certain parts of the United States and Europe may feel at home with the weather up here. Describing Canada as cold would be quite an understatement. Most parts of the country have average winter temperatures that are well below zero degrees Celsius (or Fahrenheit)! As a resident, it’s possible to experience four seasons, but your understanding of “winter” may be redefined or reshaped up here. If you’re moving from somewhere warm, you probably don’t have enough winter clothes.
Embracing Diversity
Within Canada’s population there are over 200 nationalities and 250 ethnicities represented, including indigenous people. Currently over 20% of the population was born elsewhere, and that percentage is expected to reach almost 50% by 2031. You and your partner may not feel social pressure to fit a particular cultural mold, as many different cultures are present and represented here. This diversity is reflected not just in the general populace but also in government as well.
Loving Freely
Since 2005, all provinces have recognized same-sex marriages. In Canada, marriage falls under federal jurisdiction, but marriage solemnization falls under provincial regulations. Ceremonies can be either civil or religious, but you should know that clergy cannot be compelled to perform same-sex marriages. When it comes to building a life together, there are many places for you and your spouse or spouse-to-be to start this phase. There’s a lot to see and be in Canada. As with any location, think carefully about the type of life you want for you and your family.
First and foremost, cohabitation means figuring out how to organize your shared space and store your personal belongings.
The decision to move in with your partner is a big one. Outside of what this means for the next step of your relationship, cohabitation can also create a number of new and unusual obstacles that need to be overcome. Above all, you need to figure out what to do with all of your stuff. These days, it is more common for couples to rent a space together than purchase a home. If you’re in this situation, it means you’ll need to be both practical and creative when it comes to finding sensible storage solutions. Consider these tips to develop your own strategy.
Cohabitation 101: Eliminate in Advance
There is no getting around the need to condense and get rid of a lot of stuff before you and your partner share a space. Whether you’re moving into a new spot or you’re making room for your partner’s arrival, you definitely want to eliminate a lot of clutter in advance. Take a look at your possessions and ask yourself what items will serve a purpose in the future. Should you be holding onto old mementos or photos of exes now that your space is shared with someone new?
Getting rid of items from your past can be both painful and liberating. While you don’t have to completely erase what has come before to make the transition to cohabitation, you’ll find that tossing out the junk frees and invigorates your spirit in exciting ways.
Include Personal Space
Personal space is vital to the health and longevity of a relationship. It doesn’t matter that you live in a shoebox apartment in Manhattan, you need to learn how to divide the space in an even way. While most of your home will be shared spaces, you can easily find spots to dedicate to personal pursuits. If you like to read and write, put a desk in the corner of the bedroom where you can go to engage in your passions. When your partner prefers using her Saturday morning for meditation, try and give her time and distance.
There will be some trial and error involved in this part of cohabitation. Don’t be surprised if you both feel restricted in some ways at first. As you learn each other’s rhythms, it will become much easier to figure out how to best give personal space when needed.
Consider Decor Before You Store
Helping a partner feel welcomed in a new space can also be challenging. If you’ve lived in your apartment for years, it is going to undoubtedly feel like “your” space. To change this, work on the decor before you start packing things away. Take down whatever you have hanging on the walls and discuss what you both think would look best moving forward. This will help your partner feel a sense of ownership over the space and offer a few practical places to store items in the open before you pack them away.
Tackle a Project Together
Every home is unique when it comes to storage. Maybe your apartment is lacking in closets or your house doesn’t have an attic, basement, or garage. A great way to discover sensible storage solutions is by tackling an improvement project together after your partner moves in. Dedicate a weekend to building shelves or expanding an existing closet. This can offer you an array of new options for where to place items and bring you closer together in the home you will now be sharing.
Cohabitation can be scary and exhilarating. Though you probably have a number of concerns about the future, it is best to remember you can accomplish great things when you approach the tasks as a team. With time and patience, you’ll both learn how you can make a shared space feel like a home you are building together.
A multigenerational home is a residence or household where there are multiple generations of adults living there. It’s not to be confused with the terms “single-family home” or “multifamily unit,” which refer to types of real estate. Common examples of these households include those where grandparents and grandchildren live together or adult children live with their parents. According to the Vanier Institute of the Family, the number of multigenerational homes in Canada has increased by over 50% in the past 20 years, with rising costs and aging populations being two of the biggest factors. Here are some things to consider about sharing a residence with multiple generations.
What’s Great About Multigenerational Households
Multigenerational homes provide certain advantages. From immigrant families establishing roots in a new country to adult children looking for a place to land after college or a divorce, there are benefits to this household that are worth considering:
Shared Expenses: When you live with other adults who earn income, you can divide up certain living expenses and save money. While an increase in household members may increase monthly bills associated with energy and water usage, things like mortgages, taxes, and insurance aren’t based on occupancy.
Savings on Child or Adult Care: Daycare is a significant expense for most Canadians, especially those with children who are too young for school. Assisted living facilities can also be very expensive. Multigenerational homes help families defray or eliminate these costs as other adults can help take care of children or the elderly.
Improved Relationships: There are mutual benefits when grandparents and grandchildren are a part of each other’s lives. The presence of children can help with feelings of isolation and loneliness. Being around older relatives helps children with speech development, learning, and empathy.
What’s Not So Great About Multigenerational Households
Sharing a home with adult children, adult relatives, and other parents also comes with challenges you should consider.
Lack of Privacy: More people in the home increases the difficulty of finding time and space for solitude. Where do you go when you need some time to yourself? You have to be more intentional about “alone time.”
Establishing Boundaries: Respect is a critical element of a successful multigenerational household. If you’re an adult and living with your parents, you may get unsolicited feedback about your choices. Sometimes parents forget that you’re an adult and need a gentle reminder that you’re entitled to your own opinions and decisions, especially when it comes to raising kids and taking care of a home.
More Disruption: Living with more people in your home means a potential increase in noise and clutter. Horseplay, loud music, and video games may be uncomfortable for older adults. Toys and other objects can take over certain living spaces. Separating rooms with drapes or noise-reduction devices can be useful in homes shared by multiple generations.
What You Should Consider
If you’re contemplating a multigenerational household, think carefully about the things that an existing or future residence will need for a better experience. Some home builders now offer multigenerational or next-gen floor plans that accommodate other relatives. This can include basement apartments, exterior buildings, multiple kitchens and living areas, separate entrances, and more. Before you commit to this living situation, it’s important to have an honest conversation with your spouse and current household members about the changes needed for a healthy and happy home life.
For Canadian couples old and new, multigenerational living offers several advantages. For many families, these households are the new normal, providing tangible and intangible benefits for everyone involved. But such a household is not without its challenges, especially when it comes to respect, boundaries, and relationships. Consider these plusses and minuses before you make a decision.
Have you thought about making Canada home? Married life is a journey, not just a destination. When you’ve decided to share forever with the love of your life, you’re embarking on a grand voyage for a major new phase in your life. There’s much to anticipate about this next great chapter, whether it’s starting a family or living together. This new milestone in your lives together will come with many decisions that you’ll have to make as a couple. One of these is where you’ll live. You may have many options when it comes to finding a home. Here’s what you should know about living in Canada.
Immigrating Here
The immigration process to Canada can be quite involved. There are many steps to apply and secure approval for immigration. Be aware that the process can take several months and even a few years in some cases. For citizens of other countries seeking permanent residence in the Great White North, there are several programs for entry:
Express Entry Program: Designated for skilled immigrants to live and work here
Federal Skilled Worker: Intended for individuals immigrating to Canada based on their own credentials
Business Immigration: Designed for foreign nationals seeking to establish or invest in a business enterprise in Canada
Provincial Nominee Program: Set aside for certain provinces to use their own criteria and eligibility requirements to nominate persons for permanent residence
Family Class Sponsorship: Specified for people who will be sponsored by family members who are Canadian citizens, Indians or permanent residents
Canadian Experience Class: Intended for foreign students and temporary workers with at least one year of employment experience
Visiting Canada is one thing, but living here will require attainment of permanent resident status.
Getting Medical Care in Canada
Having access to adequate healthcare is important wherever you choose to live. In Canada, healthcare is provided by the government through tax funds. Care is administered through private providers. While basic care is essentially free, not everything is covered, like certain prescriptions or dental care. It is recommended that you purchase third-party medical insurance to offset some of the high costs for care not included with basic coverage. It could take you a while to receive public benefits even as a permanent resident, so having coverage through an international provider before you move here is worth considering.
Adjusting to the Climate in Canada
Immigrants from certain parts of the United States and Europe may feel at home with the weather up here. Describing Canada as cold would be quite an understatement. Most parts of the country have average winter temperatures that are well below zero degrees Celsius (or Fahrenheit)! As a resident, it’s possible to experience four seasons, but your understanding of “winter” may be redefined or reshaped up here. If you’re moving from somewhere warm, you probably don’t have enough winter clothes.
Embracing Diversity
Within Canada’s population there are over 200 nationalities and 250 ethnicities represented, including indigenous people. Currently over 20% of the population was born elsewhere, and that percentage is expected to reach almost 50% by 2031. You and your partner may not feel social pressure to fit a particular cultural mold, as many different cultures are present and represented here. This diversity is reflected not just in the general populace but also in government as well.
Loving Freely
Since 2005, all provinces have recognized same-sex marriages. In Canada, marriage falls under federal jurisdiction, but marriage solemnization falls under provincial regulations. Ceremonies can be either civil or religious, but you should know that clergy cannot be compelled to perform same-sex marriages. When it comes to building a life together, there are many places for you and your spouse or spouse-to-be to start this phase. There’s a lot to see and be in Canada. As with any location, think carefully about the type of life you want for you and your family.
First and foremost, cohabitation means figuring out how to organize your shared space and store your personal belongings.
The decision to move in with your partner is a big one. Outside of what this means for the next step of your relationship, cohabitation can also create a number of new and unusual obstacles that need to be overcome. Above all, you need to figure out what to do with all of your stuff. These days, it is more common for couples to rent a space together than purchase a home. If you’re in this situation, it means you’ll need to be both practical and creative when it comes to finding sensible storage solutions. Consider these tips to develop your own strategy.
Cohabitation 101: Eliminate in Advance
There is no getting around the need to condense and get rid of a lot of stuff before you and your partner share a space. Whether you’re moving into a new spot or you’re making room for your partner’s arrival, you definitely want to eliminate a lot of clutter in advance. Take a look at your possessions and ask yourself what items will serve a purpose in the future. Should you be holding onto old mementos or photos of exes now that your space is shared with someone new?
Getting rid of items from your past can be both painful and liberating. While you don’t have to completely erase what has come before to make the transition to cohabitation, you’ll find that tossing out the junk frees and invigorates your spirit in exciting ways.
Include Personal Space
Personal space is vital to the health and longevity of a relationship. It doesn’t matter that you live in a shoebox apartment in Manhattan, you need to learn how to divide the space in an even way. While most of your home will be shared spaces, you can easily find spots to dedicate to personal pursuits. If you like to read and write, put a desk in the corner of the bedroom where you can go to engage in your passions. When your partner prefers using her Saturday morning for meditation, try and give her time and distance.
There will be some trial and error involved in this part of cohabitation. Don’t be surprised if you both feel restricted in some ways at first. As you learn each other’s rhythms, it will become much easier to figure out how to best give personal space when needed.
Consider Decor Before You Store
Helping a partner feel welcomed in a new space can also be challenging. If you’ve lived in your apartment for years, it is going to undoubtedly feel like “your” space. To change this, work on the decor before you start packing things away. Take down whatever you have hanging on the walls and discuss what you both think would look best moving forward. This will help your partner feel a sense of ownership over the space and offer a few practical places to store items in the open before you pack them away.
Tackle a Project Together
Every home is unique when it comes to storage. Maybe your apartment is lacking in closets or your house doesn’t have an attic, basement, or garage. A great way to discover sensible storage solutions is by tackling an improvement project together after your partner moves in. Dedicate a weekend to building shelves or expanding an existing closet. This can offer you an array of new options for where to place items and bring you closer together in the home you will now be sharing.
Cohabitation can be scary and exhilarating. Though you probably have a number of concerns about the future, it is best to remember you can accomplish great things when you approach the tasks as a team. With time and patience, you’ll both learn how you can make a shared space feel like a home you are building together.
