Class and Housing Tenure in Modern Canada

Class, defined in the Marxist sense, and domestic property ownership (housing tenure), have constituted two of the more important economic divisions in Canada since at least the mid-nineteenth century. Viewed separately both, and especially the latter, have been given short shrift by Canadian scholars; their changing interrelation has very rarely been examined and has remained obscure. In examining this relationship it is possible to draw upon case studies of three late nineteenth century Ontario cities, the neglected 1931 Census, and national survey data for 1978. These sources reveal that, nationally, class differences in urban domestic property ownership emerged only in the twentieth century. Since 1900, homeownership has increased most for the bourgeoisie, and later the middle class; less for the working class, and least for the self-employed. Regional, and local urban-rural, differences have reflected the geographically uneven course of rational economic development, being sensitive to differential rates of urbanisation and income growth. In addition cultural differences, of apparently declining importance, account for the exceptional homeownership situation in Quebec. The recent experiences of Toronto and Montreal indicate that, in terms of homeownership, a polarisation may be emerging between, on the one hand, the bourgeoisie and middle class and, on the other, the working class and self-employed. Questions are raised concerning the possible political significance of this, and related, trends