Most Canadians would prefer cash as a wedding gift to use toward a down payment on a home purchase, with those in British Columbia the most likely to make such a request, a poll finds.
Among respondents who are already married, 57 percent said they would have preferred asking for money toward a home down payment instead of traditional wedding gifts, while 10 percent said they did request cash gifts for their wedding.
By province, British Columbia had the highest percentage of respondents (86 percent) who would request contributions toward a home down payment in place of other wedding gifts. Provinces with the lowest rates of respondents who would do so include Manitoba (65 percent), Saskatchewan (65 percent) and Quebec (69 percent).
“In Toronto, many couples are choosing to purchase a home before getting married. With the cost of entering the housing market among the highest in Canada, many buyers are prioritizing saving for a down payment over spending heavily on a large or luxury wedding,” realtor Tom Storey said.
For those hoping to balance both a wedding and a home purchase, a First Home Savings Account can be a helpful tool, he said.
When asked to identify the biggest or most important purchase in a person’s life, the overwhelming majority at 83 percent of respondents said a home. A car came in second at just 3 percent.
The survey also found that a majority of respondents, at 82 percent, would consider forgoing or significantly scaling back a wedding in order to put money toward a down payment on a home.
“Few milestones carry more weight than buying a home or getting married. As the cost of living puts pressure on household budgets across the country, more Canadians are finding themselves having to make difficult trade-offs between the two,” Royal LePage Vice President of Research and Communications Anne-Elise Cugliari Allegritti said.
“In many cases, it’s the wedding that gets scaled back.”
Asked whether achieving home ownership is a bigger personal milestone than having a large wedding celebration, 73 percent of the survey respondents either agreed or strongly agreed.
A total of 69 percent agreed that they would be willing to significantly reduce spending on other life events or luxuries like travel or a new car in order to save money for a home down payment.
A total of 31 percent agreed that a wedding is a once-in-a-lifetime event that should be prioritized, while 37 percent disagreed.
