Read more: | Young adults share their stories| A parent’s survival guide
In February, when Nicole Lim moved out of her parents’ house into her brand new custom home – a sun-filled space with three bedrooms and two bathrooms in Burnaby, B.C. – she didn’t have far to go. The occupational therapist simply crossed the backyard and entered a laneway suite that replaced her parents’ garage.
Lim is in her mid-30s. She left home for university, only to return because of Canada’s persistently high housing costs. “My partner, Trevor, and I had been looking for a place since 2022,” she says. “We were really stretching our budget and still couldn’t find anything that suited our needs – maybe a one-bedroom, one-bathroom condo.”
The idea of relocating to the backyard occurred to her in 2024, after Burnaby began permitting laneway suites. “Vancouver had allowed them for a long time,” says Lim. “Before Burnaby changed the rules, I thought, too bad I don’t live in Vancouver.”
According to the most recent census data, one in five Canadian adults lives with at least one parent, and 57 per cent of adults aged 20 to 24 still live at home. These arrangements can take many forms – including laneway suites like Lim’s, well-designed basement renovations and updated childhood bedrooms. Each comes with design considerations, trade-offs and opportunities.
Nicole Lim’s laneway suite in Burnaby, B.C., was designed with considerations such as privacy in mind. The patio doors face the side of the property rather than the main house.Tyler McLeod/Supplied
Laneway living
A laneway suite, sometimes called a coach house, is a backyard dwelling adjacent to, but not attached to, an existing house. A growing number of Canadian municipalities allow them, including Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver.
The opportunities
Laneway suites offer flexibility for a range of living arrangements. Lim’s suite, designed by Vancouver-based Smallworks, has a fully accessible ground floor, including a bedroom, laundry room and curbless shower. “It gives my parents the option to downsize one day if they want to,” she says. “We’ve even talked about swapping homes, with Trevor and me taking over the main house as our needs evolve.”
The challenges
Ownership can be complex, and trust is essential. In Lim’s case, although she and her partner invested their own money in the laneway house, it is technically in her parents’ name. “Burnaby doesn’t allow people to subdivide a lot,” she explains. “My parents own the property.” Lim and her family have a verbal agreement about the future of the property, including how proceeds would be divided in the event of a sale. “It’s all very amicable,” she says. “I know we’ll work it out when the time comes.”
Lim’s laneway house allows her and her partner the opportunity to live independently without stretching their budget.Tyler McLeod/Supplied
The budget
According to Calgary contractor Mathew Ashley, whose firm Garage Builders specializes in coach houses, costs typically start at $260,000. In the greater Vancouver and Toronto areas, where construction costs are higher, a laneway suite can easily exceed $500,000, depending on size and finishes. In the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby, where Lim lives, that compares to the average cost of a condo at $699,000, plus maintenance fees, for something around 800-square feet (her laneway suite is 1,200-square feet).
Tips to make it work
The build cost Lim’s dad his parking spot in the garage, which had to be addressed. “He now has a parking pad by the laneway suite, which he’s happy with,” she says.
Privacy can also be a concern. Lim installed large glass patio doors off her main living space but positioned them carefully. “They face the side,” she says, “not toward the main house.”
Kim and Chan invested $250,000 to transform the previously underutilized space into a custom-designed basemend apartment.Rémi Carreiro/Supplied
Basement suites
Legal basement suites are fully separated from the rest of the house, with their own kitchens, heating systems, fire exits and sound barriers. They function as distinct, rentable apartments within a home and differ from simple basement bedrooms, which are permitted as long as they include a window, a closet and adequate ventilation.
Design studio one:1 is behind Kim and Chan’s basement renovation project.Rémi Carreiro/Supplied
The opportunities
When artist Ryookyung Kim and Phil Chan, who works in risk management, moved into the unfinished basement of Kim’s parents’ home in Richmond Hill, Ont., it was filled with leftover inventory from a former family business. The couple invested more than $250,000 to transform it into a legal suite, adding character with features such as Baltic birch walls.
“It was untapped and underappreciated space,” says architect Suhaib Arnaoot of one:1, the design studio behind the project. “It was an investment, but it could be very practical in the long run – especially as the parents age and may need live-in support.”
The challenges
Kim and Chan’s basement was a large open space with walkout patio doors, which Arnaoot and his design partner, Dakota Wares-Tani, could work with.
Not all basements offer that flexibility, as Eva Voinigescu learned. She moved into her parents’ Toronto basement during a career transition from journalism to interior design. While she renovated the space to suit her taste (adding a retro wood wall in the bedroom, elegant walnut counters in the kitchen), some aspects were challenging due to the home’s existing constraints.
Eva Voinigescu’s basement apartment she renovated in her parents’ house in Toronto.Jules Lee/The Globe and Mail
“The concrete floor was uneven,” she says. “I chose not to install a subfloor before laying luxury vinyl planks because the ceiling is only seven feet high, and I didn’t want to lose those extra inches.” It’s a trade-off Voinigescu is happy she made, even if the planks don’t lie perfectly flat in a few spots.
Her space is not a fully separate suite. It’s accessed through her parents’ home and lacks acoustic barriers. She improved privacy by adding a solid casement door at the top of the stairs. “My dad knows to knock,” she says.
The budget
In addition to Garage Builders, contractor Ashley also runs Basement Builders, which specializes in subterranean renovations. He says fully separate, legal basement suites typically start around $90,000 for 600 to 900 square feet. Adding a new exterior entrance alone can cost $30,000.
Nicole Lim’s laneway suite, in Burnaby, B.C.Tyler McLeod/Supplied
Significant savings are possible by keeping the basement connected to the main house. “If you get along with your parents, why not share the kitchen upstairs instead of building a second one downstairs?” he says. This decision can cut the budget down by a third or more.
Tips to make it work
Comfort should be a priority. In Voinigescu’s case, her parents’ older home lacked basement air conditioning. “It was too expensive to install,” she says. “I’d recommend a wall unit, because even basements can get hot in summer.”
Childhood bedroom redo
Sometimes, the fastest, least expensive and most practical option is returning to a childhood bedroom.
The opportunities
Moving back home can feel like a step backward, but it can also be a strategic way to save money while making use of existing space. Interior decorator Vanessa Francis, based in Milton, Ont., is happy to have her 23-year-old daughter, Maya, living at home. “Like so many young people today, Maya still lives at home because rent has become genuinely unaffordable,” says Francis. “Our house works for both of us.”
The challenges
Returning to a childhood bedroom can blur boundaries. “One of the biggest challenges is avoiding a slide back into parent–child dynamics,” says Siobhan Chirico, a registered psychotherapist based in Burlington, Ont., who works with families.
To help address this, Francis and her daughter approached the redesign collaboratively. “We had real conversations about updating her room thoughtfully,” says Francis – what to keep, what no longer felt like her and what the space needed to do now. “That process made all the difference.”
The budget
Costs for this option are typically limited to furniture, paint and decor updates – often hundreds, not thousands, of dollars.
Tips to make it work
“The goal isn’t to erase history,” says Chirico. “There’s often comfort in continuity. It’s about evolving the space rather than replacing it.”
Francis incorporated that flexibility into Maya’s room. “For the posters she wasn’t ready to part with, I built a fabric-covered bulletin board,” she says. “It gives them a proper place and a way to rotate photos and mementos as her life changes.”
Buys to try
When Francis updated Maya’s bedroom, she looked for timeless staples that will work well as her daughter’s life continues to change.
“I chose the modern Stairway bookcase from CB2 to give Maya somewhere to display the collectibles she’s gathered over the years. She wanted to keep some childhood items with sentimental meaning like the Precious Moments figurines given to her by her late grandmother.” $599. From CB2.ca.
Above Maya’s bed there used to be large posters. Now there’s a Schumacher cumulus cloud wallpaper that completely transforms the room. It’s ethereal, textured and the kind of pattern that will never become dated. $770 a roll. From backdrophome.com.
“I kept Maya’s bed frame but the wood had been damaged. so I painted it a neutral oatmeal colour. New bedding, including a charming gingham blanket, completed the refresh.” Paint in Cashmere from Fusion Mineral Paint, $8/37 ml. Gingham check faux-mohair throw from Simons, $40.
