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The fact is, there’s been a massive transformation in terms of how much more work young people have to do to get so much less Paul Kershaw, University of British Columbia'

“Hell no,” he said and then laughed. “How’s that going to happen?”

Every generation, it seems, has a tale of woe about trying to overcome Goliath-like obstacles in making that all-important first home purchase. But Canadian millennials are shouldering a particularly heavy burden by historical standards, analysts say, one brought on by dizzying price increases, but also lagging incomes and tighter regulations.

“The fact is, there’s been a massive transformation in terms of how much more work young people have to do to get so much less,” said Paul Kershaw, a professor at University of British Columbia’s School of Population and Public Health in Vancouver and founder of Generation Squeeze, a non-profit organization that advocates for young adults.

An analysis by Kershaw found that in 1976 — around the time the baby-boom generation was coming of age — the price of an average Canadian home (figures adjusted for inflation) was $213,030 and the median full-time earnings for a 25-to-34-year old were $54,700. That’s a ratio of roughly four to one.

Compare that to 2017, when the average home price was $510,179 and income for the same age group was $49,800, pushing the ratio to 10 to one.

In Ontario, the ratio for 2017 rises to 12 to one, he adds. And in Vancouver, where home prices have taken the steepest climbs, the figure shoots to 14 to one.

“Across the country today, the typical home price is up by hundreds of thousands of dollars while young people’s earnings on an annual basis have gone down by about $5,000,” Kershaw said.