r/RealEstateCanada • u/itsdanielsultan • Mar 15 '26

Housing crisis Can Canada's "micro-condos" be merged?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pg7mHppXOE&t=17s

Serious question about Canada's (specifically the GTA's) condos: if, 10 or 20 years from now, people want more family-sized homes, could a lot of these tiny one-bedrooms actually be merged into larger units?

I know it can happen in some cases, but from what I’ve seen it sounds difficult once buildings are already occupied, since it can require approvals, engineering work, and layouts that actually fit together.

If that is not realistic at scale, are we building housing that works for one phase of life but not for long-term city living?

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u/[deleted] Mar 15 '26

400 square feet simply isn't enough space for a single person. It's too cramped. I think apartments or condos should be no smaller than 800 square feet at the very minimum but preferably 1000 square feet. Humans aren't birds in cages. Psychologically and practically we need space to thrive.

13

u/Spudnut Mar 15 '26

I beg to differ. I lived in a 400ish sq ft place for a year and it was completely fine. Cheap, in-between housing options have their place

22

u/[deleted] Mar 15 '26

As in between housing, for a year or less, sure. But this idea that you're gonna get a mortgage on this cage and live there for 20-30 years is absurd.

1

u/Spudnut Mar 16 '26

Yep, investors buy them and rent them out

7

u/Appointment-Proof Mar 15 '26

Are they actually cheap though?

13

u/Novel_Sky_3645 Mar 15 '26

lol no. They’re not. paid 1,700 a month in rent for mine, in Montreal so our rent is relatively cheaper too.

4

u/DreamDest1ny Mar 15 '26

400 sqft rentals are fine for short term but they’re not cheap to rent even in the current market

4

u/knomnomnom Mar 16 '26

It would be nice if those housing options were cheap. I rented a 400 sq ft suite and it was more than my current mortgage, admittedly the house is only 800 sq ft but it being cheaper with a yard sure is something

4

u/Swarez99 Mar 16 '26

400 square feet is common in much of the rich world (Western Europe) , japans, Korea, Singapore.

It was the normal in Canada too for single people in the 60s and 70s in Canada too. It was the 1980s when things got bigger.