Photo via Flickr user 火火 馬
Canada's census data from 2016 shows that it's become more common to live alone than ever before in this country.We're not really sure how Canadians are affording it if they're in Toronto or Vancouver, but Statistics Canada points to a number of factors that could explain the rise of solo living—including divorce rates and an increase in economic independence.People living alone accounted for 28.2 percent of households in Canada last year, up from 25.7 percent in 2001. One-person households beat out couples with children, which dropped five percentage points since the last census, coming in at 26.5 percent for 2016.Statistics Canada says that "income redistribution, pensions and the increased presence of women in the workforce have led to more people being economically independent today than in the past, especially in older age groups." That economic independence, Stats Canada says, has led to more people living alone. As well, it sites divorce and separation rates and higher life expectancies for the growth in solo living.This new census data comes at a time when the housing crisis in Toronto has reached a new height: Average rent for one bedrooms in Canada's biggest city has surpassed $2,000. However, according to the census, Quebec and Yukon are the most popular places for living alone.Follow Allison Tierney on Twitter.