More Ottawa families are buying homes across generations together, parents and adult children combining incomes, or a home purchased with a secondary suite built in for aging parents. Financing this looks a bit different from a standard single-household purchase.
Combining Incomes to Qualify
When multiple generations go on the mortgage together, most lenders combine everyone's income and debts for qualifying purposes, which can meaningfully increase what the household qualifies for compared to any one generation buying alone. Everyone named on the mortgage is typically also required to be on title.
Structuring Ownership: Joint Tenancy vs. Tenants in Common
This is a separate decision from the mortgage itself. Joint tenancy means each owner has an equal, undivided share with automatic right of survivorship (if one owner passes, their share passes to the surviving owners, not their estate). Tenants in common means each owner holds a defined, individually willable share, which can be unequal and passed on according to a will. Multigenerational purchases often lean toward tenants in common, since ownership shares are frequently unequal.
A Cohabitation or Co-Ownership Agreement Matters
Before financing closes, it's worth having a lawyer draft an agreement covering what happens if one party wants to sell, needs to move out, or passes away, and how ongoing costs (mortgage, tax, maintenance) are split. This isn't a mortgage document, but it protects the family relationship as much as the finances.
The Multigenerational Home Renovation Tax Credit
If you're renovating to add a secondary unit for a senior (65+) or a disabled family member to live in, the federal government offers the Multigenerational Home Renovation Tax Credit, a refundable credit worth 15% of eligible renovation costs, up to $50,000 in costs (a maximum credit of $7,500). This is a tax credit claimed on your return, not a mortgage program, but it's worth factoring into your overall project budget.
Building a Secondary Suite vs. Buying One Already Built
If you're building a legal secondary suite as part of the purchase or a renovation, that construction financing works similarly to any other renovation project, see our construction financing guide for how staged funding works.
Planning a Multigenerational Purchase?
We'll help structure the financing around how your family actually wants to own and use the property. Talk to Sean.