3 generation households in Toronto

It was bad weather today temperature - 20 C feel like - 28 C. Snow storm was expected bringing in around 25 cm of snow
throughout the day and night.  Early in the morning Julie and I drove to our daughter 's home and brought the grandchildren to school.  Traffic was not too bad as snow storm did not start then.   We had our quick breakfast  at Golden Horse before we returned home after shopping our food.  A very light lunch with some noodle and a piece of bread before we went to Rouge Woods Community for ping pong.  3 hours of ping pong was indeed a very good workout for the day.

Due to the snow storm warning, we left home a bit earlier picking up the grand kids back to our home.  The kids had dinner with us before they returned home with their parents.  I appreciated their help shoveling the snow on my driveway before they left for home.  We enjoy their company and the pleasure their kids brought us.

It is not uncommon these days to find 3 generations living in the same house.  Among our friends it is a hot topic of our recent conversation.  Is it good or is it bad?  The answer is pretty complicated. The trend is already apparent in Toronto among the new immigrants as well the Canadians. However, among the boomer friends, they are inclined to live by themselves rather than with their children and grand children. To live under one roof is very challenging for young as well as the young in heart. The reason behind is the conflict due to difference of age, value, lifestyle, like and dislike among the 3 generations.  

As we all like to have our own pace and living space, why there is a rise of multi-generational households?   The major factor is the rise of cost of living.  It is brought about by high cost of properties, risen living costs,  price increases of gas, electricity, transportation,  materials and foodstuff as well as taxes. Young generation work people and professionals find difficult to buy their properties.  A condo apartment would cost easily $0.5 million, A townhouse would cost around $1 million. The single house is around $ 1.5 to 2.5 millions.  At such high prices, financing a property is beyond most people 's capability,  even the professionals.   If interest hiked, people with mortgaged properties would be devastated.


More and more younger generation people choose to live with their parents,  though they prefer to live independently. Obviously. it is a financial decision. By living with their parents they can save more money during their stay with mom and dad.  When people have  the financial freedom, they would prefer to live independently.

Julie and I live by ourselves.  We enjoy our freedom and space for being living independently.   Our children and grand children come often as they live very close to our house.   We enjoy their company with us at all time.