Millennials, baby boomers shifting the way they live
Canadian cities are diversifying and more people prefer condos, apartments, data findings show
Millennials are having families, boomers are retiring — and both are increasingly choosing apartments and condos over houses. Meanwhile, the suburbs are becoming denser and medium-sized cities like Kitchener or Waterloo are becoming more diverse.
These are just some of the insights provided by the fourth generation of PRIZM, a data analysis system by Environics Analytics that puts the Canadian population into segments based on income, living arrangements, generation, dining habits and more.
And in a post-COVID-19 world, this data could be used by both businesses and government agencies to determine the new normal.
Rupen Seoni, senior vice-president and practice leader at Environics, said the fourth generation of PRIZM data analysis show an “increasingly complex society” where Canadian cities are diversifying as millennials and boomers change the way they live.
“The millennials are having kids, and the boomers are retiring,” Seoni said.
Meanwhile, growth isn’t just for big cities anymore — medium-sized cities are seeing more growth and diversification, he said.
PRIZM uses census data and other data to compile profiles of segments of the population. The data start as a profile of a certain postal code, which is then used to compile the segments complete with ages, media habits, living arrangements and more. These segments are a year in the making, Seoni said. The first generation of PRIZM launched in 2004, with 66 segments. This fourth generation has 67, 14 of
which are predominantly francophone.
Over the years, there have been “glimmers” of some of the segments that are now in full force in the fourth generation, Seoni said. For example, while Toronto and Vancouver as well as other large cities used to be the centres of cultural diversity in Canada, over the years, that has “spilled over” into mediumsized cities such as Kitchener and Waterloo.
This diversity is shown in segments such as “Diversité Nouvelle,” Quebec-centred city dwellers from a diverse set of backgrounds, and in “South Asian Enterprise,” an urban group comprising upper-middle-income South Asian families.
This new generation of data also show the results of the “condo boom,” said Seoni, where there are more segments defined by apartment or condo living — and no, it’s not just millennials, but retirees, too. The condo boom has spread to medium-sized cities, resulting in different lifestyles depending on the city.
Some of the younger segments enjoying the condo boom are “Eat, Play, Love,” characterized by young, single and well-educated people living in urban areas; “Indieville,” characterized by younger and middle-aged urban singles and couples; and “Les Enerjeunes,” young urban singles living in Quebec.
The condo boom is also reflected in the diversity of retirement lifestyles being chosen by retirees, mainly boomers. While some are moving out to the cottage, more and more are choosing retirement communities like Niagara-on-the-Lake and many are choosing to downsize and stay in the city. Some of the segments capturing these retirees include “Savvy Seniors,” made up of uppermiddle-income seniors in urban apartments, and “Scenic Retirement,” which are older, middle-income suburban dwellers.
Overall, more people are sticking to apartments and condos, Seoni said. But while many millennials are choosing to stay in the city, many others are choosing to move out of it and commute, causing a dichotomy where both cities and suburban areas are intensifying.
There’s also a new classification called “urban fringe.” Urban fringe refers to the areas once considered suburbs that have now become denser than the newer suburbs and have rapid transit access to the urban core — such as Mississauga or Markham, Seoni said.
Meanwhile, the classification “exurban” has been erased from the PRIZM vocabulary, since the exurban lifestyle has been taken over by suburban sprawl.
Where exurban living once looked more like rural or town living, these areas are now more like suburbs, home to far-flung commuters.
Overall, rural areas have continued to shrink in population as the younger generation moves into Canada’s cities. This has had a multitude of results, including an increase in the French-English bilingual population, as the children of French-speaking parents learn English to adapt to life and work in the city.
“Where is growth happening in this country? It’s happening in cities,” Seoni said. “Rural areas are aging and emptying out, and those are the areas that were predominantly Frenchonly.”
And despite the fact that COVID-19 is changing the way people live, work and play, Seoni said this new data could help businesses and government agencies more effectively market products and health information.
For example, the lifestyle segment data can be combined with mobile movement data to determine which segments are not complying with health precautions, so that government agencies can more effectively promote those precautions.
Or, restaurants can use the same data to figure out which segments are going out to eat regularly post-COVID-19 and which are not, and can adjust their businesses accordingly.
Mobile movement data comes from enabled location services on cellphones — the data is anonymized and does not show specific information such as where people live, said Seoni, but helps show the average movements over100 metres for certain postal codes.
“They’re not precise to the rooftop,” Seoni said.
Already, Seoni said this data has shown that lower-income segments are moving more because many have jobs that have continued throughout the pandemic. As well, rural and suburban populations are more likely to be leaving the house right now than urban dwellers.
“The more urban, the less likely to move,” said Seoni.