Canadians are moving less than they did a decade ago with the Toronto area experiencing the most dramatic decline in mobility, according to a new study that shows a 6.3 per cent drop in changes of address between 2006 and 2016.

The finding, based on Census data, shows Calgary and Vancouver experienced a 5.7 per cent and a 3.8 per cent reduction in moves, respectively, followed by Ottawa, Montreal and Edmonton.

Although tenants are typically more mobile than homeowners, and are also moving less often, owners rather than renters showed the greatest change in moving habits, according to a “rudimentary” study by the Ryerson University Centre for Urban Research and Land Development (CUR).

There was a 7.6 per cent drop in moves among Toronto-area homeowners, compared to 3.9 per cent fewer moves among tenants.

People are staying in their homes longer due to the shortage of new detached, semi-detached and town homes, says the study’s co-author Frank Clayton, who wrote the report with research fellow John Clinkard.

“In the last decade compared with the early 2000s we were building a lot more low-density housing, particularly single-detached housing. In 2002 we built 22,000 units and in 2016, the peak in the last 10 years, we built 11,000 units,” Clayton said.

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Because new homes are usually more expensive — including rentals — many buyers who might have chosen to upgrade have instead chosen to renovate. That, in turn, adds to the value of those properties.

“That’s quite a fundamental factor that helps explain the decline in mobility rates because it just blocks everybody up all the way back,” he said.

Although the decline in moving appeared evenly distributed across all age groups, Clayton said the study does not show how many times in a lifetime people moved.

The Census only asks people to report whether they have moved within the last five years and within the last year, Clayton said. Both questions showed a reduction in people reporting they had changed their address in those periods.

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The CUR report, called “Something to Think About: What is Driving Declining Population Mobility in the Greater Toronto Area,” is being called an “initial investigation” with a “rudimentary” framework, calling for fuller statistical analysis.

It found “a fairly consistent relationship between the retreat in the supply of new single, semi-detached and row housing units and the decline in owner mobility” in all six of the metropolitan areas studied.

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Clayton said it is possible that the trend to living in smaller homes downtown — highrises in particular — could be a more recent factor in keeping some younger workers in their starter homes longer. At the same time, he said, the GO rail network has been expanding to places such as Barrie and Niagara “making it more attractive for people who live out (of town).”

Rent controls that mean tenants have a limited increase in their shelter costs if they stay put may also be contributing to fewer moves, he said.

Toronto and Calgary had the largest declines in ground-related, low-density homes per capita and also the greatest reduction in homeowner mobility, the report said.

The authors ruled out a connection between fewer moves and employment, housing prices and affordability — the number of people paying more than 30 per cent of their income toward shelter — a number that increased in all six of the study areas.