Research shows that the vast majority of older Canadians want to stay in their homes as long as possible. Eventually, though, reality can intervene.Photo Illustration by The Globe and Mail. Sources: iStock/Getty Images
After the last of their three children left the house, Marilyn Neuman and her husband wondered if it was time to downsize.
In their early 60s, they no longer needed their five-bedroom house in suburban Thornhill, Ont., where they had lived for nearly two decades.
They began to imagine a different life, and turned their attention to Toronto. While Ms. Neuman worked as a daycare director in the city’s core, her husband worked in the pharmaceutical industry and needed to take frequent trips downtown for medical appointments.
In 2011, they sold their 5,000-square-foot suburban home, pared down their belongings and moved into a 1,400-square-foot condo on the east side of downtown Toronto.
The shift was immediate. After years of commuting by car, Ms. Neuman discovered the joy of walking to work. On her way home, she could stop for fresh groceries at the St. Lawrence Market, just steps from their condo.
“Sometimes we felt like we were on vacation,” she recalls. “We could walk to the theatre and to restaurants. It was just a totally different lifestyle. We were very ready for it.”
As Canadians age and their kids move out, many consider downsizing. Most would rather put it off. A 2025 survey by the National Institute on Ageing found that 70 per cent of Canadians aged 50 and older want to stay in their homes as long as possible. Only 11 per cent want to move to something smaller.
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But by the time people reach their 70s and 80s, reality can intervene. Declining health and maintaining a large home become factors. And while Ms. Neuman and her husband timed their move well, others often wait too long.
Dave Middleton is a financial adviser in Port Elgin, Ont., and he sees this often. Some clients don’t think seriously about downsizing until staying in their home becomes impossible. He advises preparing earlier and considering how downsizing fits with how you want to live in retirement.
“If you wait, the decision of where and when you downsize is going to be made by your doctor, your lawyer or your kids. And you will hate their decision,” he says.
In a 2022 study of adults 55 and older who had recently downsized, those who fared best chose to move on their own terms, drawn by what their new home offered, rather than being pushed out by health concerns or the demands of maintaining a larger house.
“If you feel you have control over the decision to move, it’s going to result in better well-being,” says Kyrsten Costlow Hill, the study’s author and an assistant professor at the University of Colorado.
So is there a right age to downsize? Not specifically. But when it is right, there are some clear signals.
Start with how you want to spend your time once your children leave home – not just in retirement but in the years leading up to it. For many, that can mean moving in your 50s or early 60s.
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If friends and family are close and you love puttering in the garden or garage, downsizing right away may not be necessary. This is also true if you think your children might need to move back home for a while.
But if you want to travel more or pursue other interests, unlocking the equity in your home and moving to a smaller place can make sense.
“Sometimes, it’s your house tying you down from the things that you’d rather be doing,” says Gail Shields, founder of Downsizing Diva, a Toronto firm that helps people make the move.
Another common problem that emerges is when one partner is ready to move and the other is not. “That’s why you want to start talking about your priorities early,” she says.
Barry Cross didn’t wait for retirement to downsize. Seven years ago, he and his wife Katrina moved while their two children were still in university. They traded their 3,000-square-foot home in Belleville, Ont., for a 1,700-square-foot townhouse that’s much closer to his work in Kingston, about an hour away.
For Mr. Cross, who was 54 at the time and teaches at Queen’s University, the decision came down to a trade-off between time and space.
In downsizing, he gave up a larger home but significantly reduced his commute. The townhouse’s smaller yard also requires far less upkeep and gives him more time for other pursuits, like golf or catching up with friends.
Downsizing was largely a lifestyle decision, Mr. Cross says. “It was about prioritizing what we wanted to spend our time doing.” He and his wife, who is retired, spent about six months discussing the move before making it.
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Another reason to do it early was that downsizing tends to get harder the longer it’s delayed. Over time, people accumulate more belongings, and sorting through them gets overwhelming in old age. As health issues arise, the physical and emotional demands of moving increase. Then the burden of purging and finding a new place to live falls unfairly onto others.
“If you can’t do the move physically or mentally on your own, then your kids are going to have to do it for you,” says Pauline Duhart, co-owner of Simply Home Downsizing in Toronto.
The best time to downsize is when you’re still excited about what comes next, she says: your new home, its location, your new surroundings and the life you can build there.
But don’t assume it’s a one-and-done move. As you age, your needs will shift, and you may need to downsize again.
In 2019, Ms. Neuman’s husband died, and a few years later she retired. Last summer, she realized she no longer needed to live right downtown, and traded the hustle and bustle of the Toronto core for a smaller condo in a leafier midtown neighbourhood. She loves the slower pace and has friends in the area, and two of her three children aren’t far away.
Looking back, she has no regrets about downsizing with her husband from their Thornhill home when they did. It would have been much tougher to sell the house and move on her own if they had still lived there when he passed.
It also gave the couple time to enjoy a new life together. Which, according to experts, is the key to actively choosing the next chapter of your story.
