There are 5 million empty bedrooms in Ontario amid major housing crisis

As housing affordability and skyrocketing rent prices remain top of mind for many renters, a map reveals that there are millions of empty bedrooms throughout Ontario — a figure some say is high enough to relieve the province's housing crisis. 

According to the Canadian Census Mapper, the number of empty bedrooms throughout Ontario has only increased over the past several years, with the current number sitting at roughly five million. 

The map, which uses 2021 census data, assumes an idealized view that couples share a bedroom and single folks sleep in separate rooms. It was created as a complement to the map of overcrowded dwellings to help identify underused housing throughout the province. 

Based on the map of overcrowded dwellings, it's clear that there are households with more than one person per bedroom, not counting couples. 

"This means invariably that there are more empty bedrooms than we show on the map, as we only map the average bedroom need, that is, the need if all people were distributed over all bedrooms in each area," a note under the map reads. 

Ontario has 5 million empty bedrooms per CANCEA, equivalent to 25 years’ worth of construction.

That’s enough to out a sizeable dent in the housing crisis.

But unfortunately, those bedrooms are funding boomer retirement. pic.twitter.com/axMhgDzziE

— Daniel Foch (@daniel_foch) June 3, 2024

"Empty bedrooms and 'crowded' housing offer two distinct perspectives into the Canadian housing experience. On one hand, Canada is a rich nation and many people expect to be able to have the luxury of an extra bedroom, to use as extra space, for guests, work from home or flex space, or simply to enable them to grow their family without feeling they have to move," the note continues. 

"On the other hand, households increasingly lose the luxury of having empty bedrooms." 

Based on 2016 data, it's estimated that around 32.1 per cent of bedrooms in occupied houses were empty, which dropped slightly to 31.5 per cent in 2021. 

"At the same time, a large portion of Canadians still do enjoy one or more extra bedrooms, while other households are 'crowded,' highlighting the inequality in housing outcomes," the note concludes.

While an updated figure won't be available until 2026 when the next Canadian census occurs, past figures reveal troubling indications regarding the province's housing disparity.