Canadian household wealth rose again to more than $18.6 trillion thanks to strength in both stocks and real estate

Canadian households continued to get wealthier overall in the first quarter of 2026 reaching just over $18.6 trillion in the tenth consecutive quarterly increase. Photo by BRUNSWICK NEWS ARCHIVES

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Canadian households continued to get wealthier overall in the first quarter of 2026 reaching just over $18.6 trillion in the tenth consecutive quarterly increase.

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Households added $243 billion to their collective wealth, a 1.3 per cent increase from the fourth quarter of 2025, according to Statistics Canada’s latest national balance sheet, released Friday. Compared with last quarter, however, net worth gains were boosted by increases in both financial and non-financial assets.

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Non-financial assets (which include residential real estate) were up 1.1 per cent overall in the first quarter of 2026 after two consecutive quarters of declines, while financial assets (such as stocks) grew 1.3 per cent.

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Toronto-Dominion (TD) Bank economist Maria Solovieva said declining home prices over previous quarters may have enticed those sitting on the sidelines to enter the market, driving residential real estate values higher.

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The national average sale price was up 2.2 per cent on a year-over-year basis in April, according to the latest data from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).

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“This (upcoming) quarter, we’re expecting some strength in home prices,” Solovieva said. “It’s a reflection, mostly, of some recovery in the housing market after a fairly low slump.”

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However, Kari Norman, senior economist at Desjardins Group, said there is a “bifurcation” between higher-cost metros such as Toronto and Vancouver where home prices have been falling since 2022 but may have hit their bottom, compared with the rest of the country which has seen price increases over the past three years.

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Meanwhile, financial assets grew at their lowest quarterly pace since a year ago, likely influenced by the downswing in markets in March, Solovieva said. “The conflict in the Middle East … was the biggest factor in the first quarter.”

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Weakness in U.S. equities was offset by the S&P/TSX Composite index gaining 3.3 per cent during the first quarter. The resource-heavy TSX benefited from growth in the energy sector amid the spike in oil prices due to the conflict in Iran, said Norman.

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“We are continuing to expect strong gains in stock markets for both the Canadian market and south of the border, and that is likely to continue to support household net worth,” she said, adding that growth in artificial intelligence has been bolstering the U.S. stock market.

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Energy cost pressures may have also weighed on the household savings rate, which dropped to 3.5 per cent — the lowest savings rate since the first quarter of 2024 — as household spending outpaced disposable income, Solovieva said.

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However, the savings rate is still “relatively healthy” especially in comparison with the quarters of negative savings seen before the COVID-19 pandemic, Solovieva said.