Rethinking Retirement: How Canadian Women 55+ Are Getting Creative About Housing, Income and Financial Security
- 7 hours ago
- 5 min read
Your home may be more than a place to live — it could be part of your retirement strategy.
For many Canadian women approaching or living in retirement, the traditional retirement plan is becoming harder to achieve.
The goal may be simple: stay in the home and community you love, maintain your independence, have enough income to enjoy life, and feel financially secure.
But the reality is that the cost of housing, groceries, utilities, insurance, healthcare and everyday living continues to put pressure on household budgets.
For single women, the challenge can be even greater because there isn't another income to share the rising cost of maintaining a household.
So, women are beginning to ask a different question:
What if we looked at the resources we already have and used them differently?
Two increasingly interesting possibilities are homesharing for supplemental income and co-ownership with other women to increase buying power in the real estate market.
The Retirement Equation Is Changing
Retirement is no longer necessarily about stopping work at 60 or 65 and living exclusively from a pension and savings.
Statistics Canada reports that the number of retirements in Canada has increased substantially, from an average of approximately 183,900 in 2012 to 276,800 in 2025.
And financial considerations are playing an important role in retirement decisions.
In 2025, financial considerations were the leading reason Canadians identified for the timing of their retirement. Among women aged 55 and older, 32.1% cited financial considerations as a reason for their retirement timing.
Statistics Canada has also found that 40% of Canadians aged 55 to 64 reported in spring 2024 that rising prices were greatly affecting their ability to meet day-to-day expenses.
For women approaching retirement, this raises an important issue:
How do you create more financial flexibility without necessarily working full-time or giving up the lifestyle and community you've worked hard to build?
The Financial Reality for Single Women
There is another factor worth considering: women can arrive at retirement with different financial circumstances than men.
The gender wage gap has narrowed over time, but it hasn't disappeared. Statistics Canada reports that in 2025, women earned an average of 88 cents for every dollar earned by men.
Over a lifetime, differences in earnings can influence savings, investments, pension contributions and ultimately retirement income.
A Government of Canada research summary examining housing wealth, debt and retirement finances also identified many single women among households with weaker financial safety nets, particularly where retirement savings and registered pension plan coverage were limited.
This doesn't mean that women should approach retirement from a place of fear.
It means we should approach it from a place of strategy.
Your Home Could Become Part of the Strategy
For many women 55+, their greatest financial asset may be the home they already own.
But a home can be expensive to maintain.
Mortgage payments, property taxes, insurance, utilities, repairs and maintenance can consume a significant portion of monthly income — particularly once employment income decreases.
Statistics Canada reports that 20.9% of Canadian households spent 30% or more of their income on shelter costs in 2021.
For a single homeowner, carrying those expenses alone can become increasingly challenging.
What if the home could help contribute to the household income?
That's where homesharing can offer an interesting alternative.
Homesharing: Turn Unused Space Into Supplemental Income
Homesharing isn't simply about renting out a bedroom.
For the right people, it can be about creating a mutually beneficial living arrangement where a homeowner shares their home with a compatible housemate while gaining additional monthly income and, often, companionship and another presence in the home.
At HomeShare Alliance, we help women householders navigate the process of finding a compatible housemate.
Depending on the home, room and arrangement, our female householders can earn anywhere from approximately $800 per month and potentially more in supplemental income.
That's:
$800/month = $9,600/year
And for a woman who is retired or approaching retirement, an additional $9,600 a year can make a meaningful difference.
It could help with:
Property taxes
Utilities
Home maintenance
Groceries
Travel
Recreation
Healthcare and wellness expenses
Debt reduction
Building savings
Simply having more discretionary income
The goal isn't necessarily to maximize rental income.
The goal is to create a living arrangement that works for you.
But What If You Don't Own a Home?
Here's where another interesting conversation is emerging.
Women are exploring the possibility of buying together.
For many single women, purchasing a home independently in today's real estate market can feel out of reach.
But combining resources with one or more like-minded women could potentially create greater purchasing power.
Instead of asking:
"Can I afford a home on my own?"
The question becomes:
"What might be possible if we joined forces?"
Women Helping Women Get Into the Real Estate Market
Co-ownership isn't a decision to enter casually.
It requires careful financial planning, legal agreements, clearly defined ownership interests, financing arrangements, exit strategies and a strong understanding of everyone's expectations.
But conceptually, it offers an intriguing possibility.
Two or more financially qualified women could potentially combine their resources to purchase a property that may have been difficult for one person to purchase independently.
They could share certain costs associated with:
The purchase price
Mortgage financing
Property taxes
Insurance
Repairs and maintenance
Utilities
Common household expenses
And they could potentially gain something else:
Buying power.
Statistics Canada continues to identify housing affordability as an important issue for Canadians, while recent housing data also demonstrates how financial circumstances influence people's ability to enter and remain in the housing market.
For women who want to remain homeowners but don't want to carry the entire financial burden alone, women-to-women co-ownership may be worth exploring.
A New Kind of Retirement Thinking
Perhaps the most important shift is this:
Retirement planning doesn't have to be only about saving more money.
It can also be about using what you already have more strategically.
Your home.
Your unused bedroom.
Your equity.
Your purchasing power.
Your community.
Your relationships with other women.
Your willingness to consider a different way of living.
For some women, that may mean staying in their home and welcoming a compatible housemate.
For others, it may mean selling their current property and joining forces with another woman to purchase a home together.
And for some, it could mean doing both at different stages of life.
HomeShare Alliance Is Helping Women Explore What's Possible
At HomeShare Alliance, we believe women shouldn't have to choose between financial security and the lifestyle they want.
We help female householders explore safe, compatible homesharing arrangements that can provide supplemental monthly income while allowing them to remain in the homes and communities they love.
We also maintain a list of women who are interested in exploring home co-ownership opportunities with other single women.
If you're a woman 55+ who is:
Looking for ways to supplement your retirement income
Considering sharing your home but don't know where to start
Curious about whether homesharing could work for you
Interested in exploring women-to-women home co-ownership
Looking for other women who may want to combine resources to enter the real estate market
We'd love to hear from you.
Your next chapter may not require downsizing your dreams — it may simply require thinking differently about the resources you already have.
Let's explore what's possible together.
Contact HomeShare Alliance today to learn more about homesharing, supplemental income opportunities and women-to-women co-ownership.
Sources & Further Reading
Statistics Canada — Retirement and post-retirement employment among older Canadians
Latest research on retirement trends, financial considerations and post-retirement employment among Canadians aged 55+.Read the full article
Statistics Canada — Retirement, mortgage balance, interest rates and higher consumer prices
Research examining rising prices, retirement considerations, household debt and retirement savings.Read the full article
Statistics Canada — The gender wage gap persists
Current Canadian data examining women's earnings relative to men's earnings.Read the full article
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