Property, power and progress: Women's path to homeownership in Canada

In Canada, women acquired the right to own property before the right to vote. But that doesn’t mean there weren’t challenges along the way.

As single female homeownership is on the rise, we’d thought we’d take the buzz of March being Women’s History Month in some of our neighbours (it’s October in Canada) as an opportunity to take a look at how women’s right to property ownership has evolved in Canada.

1880s: The Married Women Property Act

In the 19^th Century, women needed permission from a man to buy property. Married women had to ask their husbands, and single women asked their fathers (although in some Indigenous nations inheritance and power were passed down by women, not men).

There were rare occasions when a woman could own property without a man’s permission, though. For example, widowed women were allowed to inherit property from their husbands.

But this all changed with the introduction of the Married Women Property Act. Established in Ontario in 1884 and Manitoba in 1900, this Act gave women the same legal rights as men, allowing them to enter legal agreements and buy property.

The remaining provinces and territories followed slowly, with Alberta passing its own version in 1922.

Almost a century later, in 2018, Alberta passed the Family Law Act, which recognized that married women have legal personalities and rights in property, debts and contracts separate from their husbands.

1960s: Overcoming Financial Barriers

In the 1960s, many women were now in the workforce and had stable careers that gave them financial affluence.

However, banks refused to give them loans for credit cards or cars, and a mortgage seemed too far out of reach to make home ownership a reality.

Then, financial institutions began to recognize that women were a valuable, untapped market they could serve.

One of those institutions was British Columbia’s Vancity, which, in 1961, became the first Canadian financial institution to offer loans to women without a male co-signer. It wasn’t until 1974, more than a decade later, that it became illegal for financial institutions to refuse loans to unmarried women based on their relationship status.

1975: Introducing Family Law

Even though there had been advancements towards gender equity and home ownership, married women were not awarded equal division of property if they divorced. A formerly married woman could only take ownership of the property if their husband placed the home in their name or if they provided all or part of the purchase price.

This law changed in 1975, when Irene Murdoch, who was married to an Alberta man, left him due to domestic violence. When Murdoch asked for equity from the home, a ranch, the Supreme Court of Canada denied it. This decision received public backlash given that Murdoch’s years of housework, childcare, and labour helped keep the family and the ranch businesses afloat.

The pressure from the public led to changes to provincial matrimonial property laws, which now give both partners equal rights to property acquired during the marriage.

Prior to this in Alberta, the spouse of a registered homeowner had some protections through the Dower Act, originally passed in 1917, which required wives to have a say in any major decisions regarding the family home regardless of whether her name was on the property title. (The Dower Act has since had a few changes; for more information, take a look at this CREB^®Talk article.)

The Path Forward

Although many women still deal with the gender wage gap (which sits at 17.1%), there has been an increase in women attending post-secondary education and entering the labour market. These efforts have bloomed into lucrative careers—including in real estate—with increased earnings that have provided access to the housing market.

In 2016, 27 per cent of all Canadian homeowners were single women—and this is a number that continues to grow as young single women see real estate as an investment and older single women look to downsize.

A few years later, in 2019, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) reported that 61 per cent of first-time and repeat home buyers in Canada were female.

With many financing options available and a good amount of preparation, homeownership is now a possibility for women – without the hassle of asking for permission.

The first place to start? Talk to a REALTOR^®. From strategizing your approach to negotiating the best deal, they will help you navigate the twists and turns of the market with finesse, ensuring you achieve the optimal outcome.