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Globe and Mail
an hour ago
- Globe and Mail
10 Brilliant Growth Stocks to Buy Now and Hold for the Long Term
Key Points Technology remains at the heart of most growth opportunities. Artificial intelligence and the data centers needed to house these platforms are also key growth drivers. A handful of stocks from the healthcare arena are also capitalizing on contemporary technological developments. 10 stocks we like better than Amazon › Are you looking for passive growth investments with staying power that you won't need to constantly monitor? That's a combination that doesn't often co-exist for any individual stock. There are some exceptions, however. Here's a rundown of 10 such growth stocks that would be at home in nearly any growth-minded investor's portfolio. Still worthy after all these years It's such a commonly suggested pick that it's almost become a cliché. Nevertheless, e-commerce and cloud computing giant Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) remains one of the market's most promising long-term growth prospects. Yes, plenty of other companies like Walmart and Shopify are finally figuring out how to keep Amazon in check. These other players aren't exactly dethroning Amazon, though. Market research outfit Digital Commerce 360 reports Amazon's leading share of North America's e-commerce market is holding strong at around 40%, while Synergy Research Group says Amazon Web Services' share of global cloud computing is a market-leading 29%. Amazon may not be adding market share on either front, but being the biggest name in both businesses helps it maintain its share of each. As long as the e-commerce and cloud computing markets keep growing -- and they're each expected to -- Amazon remains a serious growth engine. Plugged into the semiconductor industry's ongoing growth While Amazon is a household name, Lam Research (NASDAQ: LRCX) is anything but. Don't let its lack of notoriety fool you, though. It's an important player within the ever-growing semiconductor market. No, Lam doesn't make microchips. It makes the equipment used to manufacture microchips. Thin-film layering, plasma etching, wafer-cleaning, plus the software needed to operate these technologies are all in its wheelhouse, and more. Chipmakers Intel, Samsung, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing are some of its customers, for perspective. Yes, other companies also make semiconductor manufacturing tools. Making microchips is a complicated process with many different specialized steps, though. Few other players in the business are able to offer the specific solutions that Lam Research can, however, just as no other name in the business can provide ASML 's ultraviolet lithography technology, or offer Axcelis Technologies ' ion implanters. We need all these tools, including Lam's. And that need isn't going away anytime soon. It's only going to grow, in fact. An outlook from Precedence Research suggests the worldwide semiconductor market is set to double in size between now and 2034. Growth in a social and economic silo is still growth Amazon may be the powerhouse e-commerce name where you live, but that's not the case everywhere. In its home country of China, Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) is king, with collective control of about 40% of that online shopping market (according to numbers from wealth management firm DBS Treasures). It's doing pretty well with several of China's neighboring countries, too. All told, Alibaba's Tmall and Taobao e-commerce platforms did nearly $20 billion worth of business last year, up 29% year over year. And yet, this company's got far more ways to make money. It operates a logistics and delivery arm, a digital entertainment business, and perhaps most important, a cloud computing division that's also waist-deep into artificial intelligence. Remember the Qwen platform that posed a credible threat to ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, and then-buzzy DeepSeek earlier this year? Well, Qwen is Alibaba's developmental AI. As long as the Pacific Rim chooses to build its economy and technological landscape in a manner that's somewhat walled off from the Western world's, Alibaba stock is a growth investment that's parallel to -- rather than overlapping with -- Amazon. The growing norm in operating rooms Given how technology has become the centerpiece of most aspects of our lives, it should come as no surprise that it's also now frequently found within the healthcare industry. It's even found within operating rooms, in the tools used by surgeons. And one company dominates this sliver of the market: Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG). It makes the da Vinci surgical robot that's becoming the go-to solution for performing a growing number of surgical procedures ranging from hysterectomies to mitral vale repair to gastric sleeves to colostomies, just to name a few. Intuitive Surgical reports its da Vinci robots helped perform nearly 2.7 million procedures last year, up 17% from 2023's count. Here's the thing -- this still only scratches the surface of the tool's potential. Intuitive Surgical regularly adds capabilities to the da Vinci's toolkit at the same time more and more surgeons become qualified to use it, making them more likely to use this tech on one of the 300 million surgical procedures performed worldwide every year. Simultaneously, Intuitive Surgical is still developing new solutions like the Ion for lung biopsies and Hub, which records and shares surgical procedures. Analysts are calling for 25% top-line growth from Intuitive Surgical this year, to be followed by 15% and 17% revenue growth in 2026 and 2027, respectively. This is likely only a taste of what's to come further down the road, as this tech continues to prove itself. You've actually never heard of most software You're certainly familiar with Microsoft 's Windows operating system, and you may well be a regular user of its office productivity tools like Word and Excel. What you may not realize, however, is that most software is so industry-specific that you've likely never even heard of it. Case in point: Cadence Design Systems ' (NASDAQ: CDNS) Fidelity CFD (computational fluid dynamics) that digitally tests the behavior of fluids under certain conditions, or its Allegro X Design Platform, used to make printed circuit boards. Most people would never need such a specialized solution. But the few who need these tools desperately need them to do their job, and will pay a premium to gain access to them. This marketability is only part of the argument for buying and holding this stock for the long haul, however. Even more compelling is the fact that 80% of Cadence's revenue is now recurring revenue, meaning its customers are making ongoing, regular payments to access this software. It's much easier -- and cheaper -- to retain a customer than win one in the first place. A new kind of networking solution Cisco Systems may be the biggest name in the networking business, but it's not necessarily the best investment opportunity within the industry. That honor arguably belongs to smaller Arista Networks (NYSE: ANET). At first blush, the two companies seem similar enough. As was noted, both are networking solutions providers, offering a range of switches and buffers. There is a nuanced but important difference between these two outfits, though. That is, most of Arista's tech is built around its Extensible Operating System that can be updated and/or rewritten as merited. Because its switches are always equipped to meet ever-changing functionality needs, they will remain useful for longer. This ultimately translates into lower lifetime equipment costs for campuses, telecommunications service providers, and the like. Analysts are looking for sales growth of more than 19% this year and next, although this pace of growth is apt to last far longer in light of the solution that Arista brings to the table. Think small for big growth and big profits Most investors have heard of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX). Most people, however, would be hard-pressed to name a single drug it makes. But that's kind of the point. It's predominantly a specialty pharma company, focusing on relatively rare diseases and underserved markets. Vertex is really, really good at what it does. Last year's revenue of just over $11 billion was up 12% from 2023's sales, and the company is looking for sales of nearly $12 billion this year following two key approvals. If all goes as expected, 2025 is going to mark the pharma company's 11th straight year of double-digit revenue growth. Given its pipeline that includes two phase 3 clinical trials in addition to four phase 2 trials, however, it's certainly possible that firmly profitable Vertex can keep the streak alive for far longer than that. If it works, it works You've probably never heard of Coupang (NYSE: CPNG). But don't sweat it. It's relatively new as well as relatively small. And, although headquartered in the United States, it mostly serves the South Korean market. The company did $30 billion worth of business last year, up 24%. But what is it? Like so many other technology companies these days, it's a little bit of everything. Its core business is e-commerce and delivery of online orders, but its distinguishing detail is its exposure to the grocery and restaurant-prepared food delivery market. Yet it's also a major middleman for entertainment events -- digital as well as in-person -- an online payment platform, and a seller of luxury goods. The thing is, this disjointed assembly of ventures seems to work, perhaps because the company's management fully understands its core geographic market and its consumers. Electric vehicle mania is still alive and well ... in China U.S. consumers may have lost their lovin' feelin' for electric vehicles, just as the U.S. electric vehicle industry lost much of its political support (in the form of subsidies). But this isn't the case outside of the United States. The rest of the world still loves the idea of emissions-free electric vehicles, including most foreign governments. And it's particularly true in China, where EV maker Nio (NYSE: NIO) is located, and where it does the bulk of its growing business. It delivered nearly 222,000 electric cars in 2024, up 39% from the previous year's count. This growth pace has persisted into the first half of this year as well, boosted by sustained demand for electric vehicles in China and its neighbors. Indeed, the International Energy Administration says electric vehicles accounted for nearly half of China's automobile sales in 2024. There's plenty more where that came from, too. The IEA adds that by 2030, this proportion should reach 80% of the country's total vehicle sales. The data center industry can't grow without it Finally, add Applied Digital (NASDAQ: APLD) to your list of brilliant growth stocks to buy and hold for the long haul. It's an opportunity hiding in plain sight. The rapid growth of artificial intelligence data centers? Most investors are so focused on the technology being used inside them that they're not even thinking about who's building the buildings themselves. It's Applied Digital, for one, which is arguably the best and most (if not only) investment-worthy one. It's easier said than done. As you likely know, AI data centers are incredibly power-hungry, so much so that onsite nuclear power is being considered as a cost-effective source of the electricity they need. Applied Digital isn't just stacking up processors. It's figuring out how to provide the power that data centers need at the lowest cost possible. This might put things in perspective. Although this year's forecasted top-line growth of more than 34% is likely to cool to nearly nil next year, this company's revenue is expected to more than double in 2027, and then triple this year's sales in 2028. Should you invest $1,000 in Amazon right now? Before you buy stock in Amazon, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Amazon wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $674,432!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,005,854!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is1,049% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to180%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 7, 2025 John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. James Brumley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends ASML, Amazon, Arista Networks, Cadence Design Systems, Cisco Systems, Intel, Intuitive Surgical, Lam Research, Microsoft, Shopify, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, and Walmart. The Motley Fool recommends Alibaba Group and Coupang and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft, short August 2025 $24 calls on Intel, and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Globe and Mail
an hour ago
- Globe and Mail
This Stock Outperformed Nvidia and Palantir in the First Half. Is It Still a Buy?
Key Points CoreWeave stock surged by 300% in just a few months. The company is benefiting from high demand for computing power to support AI training and inferencing. 10 stocks we like better than CoreWeave › Over the past couple of years, Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) have both shown their strengths in artificial intelligence (AI) -- and as a result, their earnings and stock performance have soared. Last year, Nvidia was the best-performing component in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (though it only was added to the venerable blue chip index in November), and Palantir posted the biggest gain in the S&P 500. Both of these players have continued to advance, and considering that we're in the early stages of the AI boom, more earnings growth and stock price gains could be on the way. But, in the first half of 2025, another company emerged as a potential AI powerhouse. In fact, this particular stock actually outperformed Nvidia and Palantir in the period, climbing by a mind-boggling 300%. Now you may be wondering whether this high flyer is still a buy. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » A company with close ties to Nvidia This top-performing AI stock actually is new to the market, completing its initial public offering in late March, so its triple-digit gains took place over a period of only three months. I'm referring to CoreWeave (NASDAQ: CRWV), a company that is closely linked to Nvidia. This is because CoreWeave generates most of its revenue by renting out access to its vast collection of Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs). The company has more than 250,000 of them deployed across its cloud infrastructure platform, and it specializes in handling AI workloads, offering customers the configurations they need to accomplish their goals faster. CRWV data by YCharts. Nvidia owns a 7% stake in CoreWeave, and made it possible for the young company to be the first to launch its latest GPUs. In February, CoreWeave became the first hyperscaler to make Nvidia's new Blackwell architecture broadly available -- and it just did the same recently with the latest iteration, Blackwell Ultra. So, a bet on CoreWeave is a bet on demand for Nvidia's latest chips. Its first-quarter earnings report showed this demand is going strong, as its revenue climbed by more than 400% year over year, and Nvidia's own Q1 earnings report offered additional clues: For example, Nvidia said it saw a leap in demand for inferencing computing power in the quarter. This sort of trend is likely to benefit CoreWeave. GPUs to fuel inferencing Inferencing is the process an AI model goes through when attempting to answer complex questions -- and it takes significant parallel processing power of the type provided by GPUs and other AI accelerators. As more people and organizations apply AI to real-world problems, inferencing could drive a whole new era of growth for companies like Nvidia and CoreWeave. It's important to remember that the need for GPUs doesn't end once a model is trained. CoreWeave's fleet of cloud servers may have plenty of busy days ahead over the long term. All of this is great, but CoreWeave still carries some risk for shareholders -- and that's due to the enormous and ongoing investments in infrastructure required to serve demand for GPUs. The company will have to keep up its capital spending to increase the size and power of its fleet of GPU clusters, and considering that Nvidia aims to roll out new chip architectures annually, CoreWeave will have to make those investments frequently to keep its offerings top of the line. All of this makes it difficult to estimate when CoreWeave will reach profitability. In the first quarter, its technology and infrastructure expenses surged by more than 500% to about $500 million, and it's fair to say the company is early in its growth story. It's also important to note that CoreWeave is in an expansion phase that involves other investments too. Some of those up-front costs may result in savings down the road. Acquiring Core Scientific One example is the company's recently announced plan to buy Core Scientific -- once that deal closes, CoreWeave no longer will have to pay rent to the data center operator, resulting in the savings of $10 billion in future lease payments. Though this will be a positive, CoreWeave's stock fell after the announcement earlier this week due to investors' concerns about share dilution -- it's an all-stock deal with a value of $9 billion. Investors also know that any acquisition comes with some risks and costs, as the buyer will have to integrate its new operations into its existing business. So the question remains: After strongly outperforming two of the market's biggest AI companies year to date, is CoreWeave still a buy? The answer depends on your investment strategy. If you're a cautious or value investor, you'd be better off exploring other opportunities. But if you're an aggressive investor who buys and holds stocks for the long term, now would still be a good time to add a few CoreWeave shares to your portfolio -- demand for AI and CoreWeave's immediate access to Nvidia's latest GPUs could result in major gains over the long run. Should you invest $1,000 in CoreWeave right now? Before you buy stock in CoreWeave, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and CoreWeave wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $674,432!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,005,854!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is1,049% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to180%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 7, 2025
Globe and Mail
2 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Better late than never More Canadians are buying their first homes in their 40s and beyond – and they're okay with that Zahra Khozema The Globe and Mail Published 32 seconds ago
For generations, the path to adulthood in Canada was scripted: you graduated, started working and bought a house, likely all in your 20s. That timeline has changed. Hindered by expensive housing, a growing number of Canadians are buying their first home later in life – into their 40s and beyond, a time traditionally used to save for retirement. So, what are Canadians doing in their 20s and early 30s, if not making mortgage payments? They're focusing on travel, education, career growth and, yes, slowly saving for a down payment. Undaunted by the pressure to reach certain financial and life milestones by a certain age, they're living life on their own terms and at their own pace. 'I find that this younger generation is, like, screw the timelines,' says certified financial planner Shannon Tatlock, 41. 'We just want to get there eventually, and it might take us longer and that's okay.' The data back her up. According to the most recent government figures, the average age of a first-time homebuyer in Canada is now just under 35 – and homeownership among the 25- to 34-year-old set has been steadily declining. In 2011, 51.7 per cent of this age group owned homes. That number fell to 47.3 per cent in 2016, and dropped further to 44.4 per cent in 2021. While the under-35 group still makes up the largest share of first-time buyers today, the over-35 demographic keeps creeping higher, rising at a faster rate across the country. Between 2018 and 2021, the older segment of first-time homebuyers grew more in all four provinces that shared home ownership data collected by the Canadian Housing Statistics Program. Research from Teranet, a service that tracks land transfers, puts the typical Ontario first-time buyer at 40 years old now. A big part of what's driving this trend is the relentless rise in home prices. In Ontario and British Columbia, prices have eased from their peaks in early 2022, but five other provinces – including Quebec and Nova Scotia − hit record highs in average or benchmark prices this April year-over-year. According to the Canadian Real Estate Association, the average home now costs under $700,000 – nearly quadruple what Statistics Canada listed in 2000. Meanwhile, in the same time period, annual individual income saw a relatively modest increase of $10,000, up to $59,400. Even with a recent dip, home prices remain far above historical levels, having peaked at more than $800,000 in 2022. The numbers are even more staggering in urban centres. The average home in June, 2025, sold for $1,101,691 in the Greater Toronto Area and $1,273,462 in Greater Vancouver, according to a site that provides online real estate and financial tools. The Calgary market, often seen as a more affordable, was not immune to the same trend – the average home price rose to $646,147, up 3.7 per cent from last year. Ms. Tatlock bought her home in Moncton several years ago and says that, nowadays, even in typically affordable regions such as hers, buying a first home is difficult and requires sacrifices not everyone is willing to make. 'Maybe your goal is a three-bedroom, stand-alone home,' she said. 'I could help you save to get to the condo or to get to the townhouse. If you want this stand-alone, then we might need to make some really big changes to your lifestyle.' Vancouver-based certified financial planner Steve Bridge says not all late buyers are in the same financial boat. Those in their 50s and early 60s are often in their peak earning years and can hammer down a mortgage with doubled-up or lump-sum payments, which isn't always the case for people in their 40s, who are often juggling kids' expenses and household costs. The struggle for late first-time homebuyers is how to still save for retirement. There are options, he says, such as getting a second source of income, taking in renters, working past retirement age and living more frugally. 'It's just, are we willing to do it?' One thing he doesn't recommend is relying solely on your home for retirement income. 'You can't eat a house,' he said. You can sell and downsize, or rent, or you can take a reverse mortgage, 'but that just builds up debt again.' One thing that is certainly more common, Mr. Bridge says, is people retiring with a mortgage. Ms. Tatlock sees the same tension between paying off a mortgage and preparing for the future. If buying a home is your goal, she says 'saving for retirement is happening a little later.' 'That's okay,' she adds. Retirement planning is also different these days, Ms. Tatlock noted, with fewer pensions and more people on the hook for driving their own savings. Younger generations of Canadians, she said, won't have the luxury of seeing their homes skyrocket in value the way their parents and grandparents did. That means later homebuyers who still want to retire early could switch to part-time work or pursue passion projects. 'You've got these great skills, and the companies are happy because they don't have to pay you a full-time salary. Win, win,' Mr. Bridge says. When asked why financial, real estate and mortgage advice hasn't evolved as quickly as the buyers it serves, Mr. Bridge is blunt: A lot of advice is tied to commissions, which can conflict with clients' best interests. 'Of course, the realtor wants you to buy the house. Of course, the bank says you're qualified for a million-dollar mortgage.' When the Ealeys moved to Japan in 2009, buying a house wasn't top of mind. Instead, they prioritized giving their two sons the experience of growing up abroad. 'We wanted our kids to grow up in a different culture and to learn a different language,' said Mrs. Ealey, who is now an assistant professor at Toronto Metropolitan University. She worked in research while Mr. Ealey, a high-school principal, taught at an international school. The family rented in Tokyo for 10 years, using their savings to travel back to Canada regularly to see family. 'We spent a lot of money on flights,' Mr. Ealey said. 'We felt it was important our kids didn't go 10 years without being close to their family.' They returned to Canada in 2019, hoping for a smoother transition than they got. Mr. Ealey was job hunting and Mrs. Ealey had just started a postdoctoral role at the Hospital for Sick Children. With no savings and no place to live, they moved into Mr. Ealey's parents' basement in Brampton for nine months. 'We didn't have a place to stay… we didn't have any money,' Mrs. Ealey recalled. 'The situation wasn't the greatest.' They began looking for rentals, but when Mrs. Ealey's brother spotted a semi-detached raised bungalow nearby listed for $640,000, the couple reconsidered. It felt like a stretch, but with financial help from both sets of parents, they scraped together a 5-per-cent down payment. 'This was the best price we're going to get at this time,' Mr. Ealey said. They bought their home just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. It's located five minutes from a train station and has three bedrooms upstairs and two in the basement – which they rent out for extra income. Mrs. Ealey admits it's not her dream house, but after some renovations, she says it's more homey. 'I never thought that we'd have to be in the house and you have to have a renter to survive,' she said. 'We have four people, two big, grown boys, and we have to live just upstairs, which feels, to me, like an apartment.' With 25 years left on the mortgage after a recent renewal, the couple may be 75 when it's finally paid off. But for them, buying in their 40s came down to timing, not failure. 'We had different priorities,' said Mr. Ealey. 'We've done our travel. We've lived.' Mr. Ealey, who has a good pension, feels secure about retirement. His kids could also help with the bills when they're older. 'There's something about just owning a home ... having something to hand down to your kids,' Mr. Ealey added. Takeaway: Prioritizing life experiences can still lead to stability if you have help from family, are willing to rent part of your home and feel comfortable depending on your kids in later years. When business analyst Kevin Moroso crossed into his 40s, his priorities shifted. 'You're suddenly like, I'm 25 years from retirement. Am I going to be renting in retirement? And what happens when I'm just on a pension and my rent goes up? Wouldn't it be nice to own a place, pay it off and then I don't have a mortgage to pay when I reach 65?' That thinking pushed Mr. Moroso, now 44, to enter the housing market last year. He purchased a $610,000 estate-sale home on Gabriola Island, a few kilometres east of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. He put 20 per cent down for the three-bedroom, two-bathroom house that sits on nearly an acre of land. He attributes his find to luck. 'The daughter just wanted to sell quickly,' he said. For years, he had resisted home ownership in Vancouver, where his budget would have only stretched to older apartments, such as ones built in the 1990s and already showing signs of wear. He couldn't justify sinking his savings into a property that might not hold its value over the next 25 years. When the pandemic hit, Mr. Moroso found himself locked down in a small East Vancouver rental, paying $1,600 a month. He had no savings – he'd just returned from a year of gallivanting around Berlin. But with nowhere to go and nothing to spend money on, he decided to make a drastic change and start stashing away his earnings. 'I kind of had gone through this complete life change to save up money. I wouldn't even go out and buy a coffee.' Over four years, he diverted half of every paycheque into savings, contributing to his RRSP and a new first home savings account. 'I used all those vehicles that were available for me,' he says. He also put money into GICs for short-term stability. Combined, he pulled together enough for a down payment – and got additional help from tax breaks, including an $8,000 property transfer tax rebate from the province. Today, his mortgage is around $2,700 a month – higher than rent. But with a defined benefit pension and a plan to pay down the mortgage quickly, he's confident he'll be set up for retirement. 'Technically, I'd be 69 if I go by the 25 years, but I do want to pay that down faster.' He rents out one room to vacationers and has space for visiting family. It's stressful at times, because rural living brings surprise expenses, but Mr. Moroso says he has no regrets. 'It's a different type of fun over here. It's a lot more relaxed … people are chill.' Takeaway: It's possible to save aggressively for a down payment after living it up in your 30s because you likely have a higher income at that time. And if you're open to leaving the big city, you can get more for your buck. Finally has a steady career and enough savings, and the market dipped At 40, Alicia Ho has finally stepped onto the property ladder – on her own terms. The senior manager at a human-resources technology company recently bought a one-bedroom-plus-den condo in downtown Toronto for $520,000, and moved into the unit in June. She was able to make a 20-per-cent down payment, but getting to that point hadn't been quick or easy. Ms. Ho's journey to homeownership was shaped by detours. She worked abroad for nearly a decade, switched careers and had to start over. 'Every time I graduated or got into the work force, there was always a recession. It was a constant struggle to even get a decent job,' she said. She switched jobs last fall, landing a role that bumped up her salary and felt like the right long-term fit. Once she passed her probation period, she felt stable enough to make an offer in January, 2025, while also taking advantage of softening condo prices. Though she still doesn't feel she's hit a truly 'comfortable' income, she saved enough: the 20-per-cent down payment, plus a sizable reserve for emergencies. The dip in prices meant she could even set aside some money for renovations. To make the move, she had to unlearn financial habits passed down from her immigrant parents, who encouraged saving but not investing. Over time, she taught herself to build credit and invest strategically. While saving, she rented a two-bedroom unit near the Distillery District with a roommate, paying $1,375 for her share. The apartment and landlord were great, but she was ready to have her own space. Still, buying alone came with hesitation. 'I was very, very reluctant to take that step,' she said. 'Because it is an extra amount of stress on my finances.' The 700-square-foot unit she now calls home isn't new, but it's spacious and well-priced. While she once considered leaving Toronto for more space, she's unsure how long her remote work set-up will last. Ms. Ho knows a 30-year mortgage means payments into her 70s, but ownership gives her more control over her future, a chance to build equity and to eventually 'level up' to something bigger. Takeaway: When you're in the market long enough, you recognize trends. Alicia saved up and took advantage of the most recent market dip in the condo market. Michael Van Tomme became a homeowner in Moosomin in his late 40s – a milestone that came relatively late in life but marked a significant step toward establishing roots in Canada. Originally from the Philippines, Mr. Van Tomme moved to Canada in 2020 with his four kids to join his wife, 46, who had arrived two years earlier for work. In 2022, they purchased a three-bedroom detached house for $250,000, making a 5-per-cent down payment. With renovations, they were able to add two extra bedrooms in the basement. For the Van Tommes, moving to Moosomin wasn't just about affordability, it was about a fresh start and building a future. 'The reason why we came here is really for our kids ... There's more opportunity for our kids here in Canada, especially with free education,' the car sales consultant said. The couple's decision to buy a house was driven by a desire to build equity and create a permanent home for their family – something that felt even more important after leaving behind their place in Manila and starting over. Mr. Van Tomme acknowledges that renting might have been cheaper, but he values the long-term benefits of homeownership. 'If you like to build equity, and you like to build your roots in the community… It's more of a permanent situation,' he said. Moosomin, a town of 2,700 near the Saskatchewan-Manitoba border, is a growing hub for newcomers, including a Filipino population about 300 strong. The Van Tommes are heavily involved in the community and drawn to Moosomin's slower pace of life, low crime rate and tight-knit feel. 'We like it here,' Mr. Van Tomme said. His experience reflects a broader trend among immigrants in Canada, who tend to place a higher value on homeownership than other Canadians. Statistics Canada indicates that immigrants are more likely to devote a greater share of their income to buying a home. As Mr. Van Tomme looks toward retirement, he remains optimistic. He plans to pay off the mortgage sooner than scheduled and considers options such as downsizing or renting the property after his kids find their own paths. Takeaway: For many immigrants, homeownership in Canada is less about financial convenience and more about building roots, stability and a better future for their families. Nitin Madhvani works in sales at a tech company and his wife works in hospitality. In 2021, the couple was renting a condo in downtown Toronto when they found out they were expecting twins. 'We just immediately needed more space,' Mr. Madhvani said. To accommodate their growing family, they temporarily moved in with his wife's parents. Mr. Madhvani spent hours walking around the neighbourhood, looking at homes for sale. 'It became clear that proximity to the grandparents was going to be a huge game changer,' he said. After a month of searching, they found a home they could afford and bought it by summer, 2022. The house was just five minutes away from his in-laws, making it an ideal choice. Mr. Madhvani describes their $1.2-million home as a 'cookie-cutter' build 'put together with duct tape.' The house has four bedrooms, 2½ bathrooms and a one-car garage. Although Mr. Madhvani and his wife have decent incomes, the financial strain of homeownership is significant. The mortgage, along with the cost of daycare for their twins, has put pressure on their monthly cash flow. 'None of it really just feels good,' Mr. Madhvani said. 'I worry about ... being able to keep up with that standard of living that my parents were able to provide for us.' Mr. Madhvani isn't too concerned about retirement, an outlook that differs from the traditional path his parents followed. His parents, both immigrants, worked long careers and retired in their early 60s, a familiar story for first-generation Canadians. 'I don't see that path being available to me,' Mr. Madhvani said. He's noticed many retirees moving abroad, taking their savings to lower-cost countries, and wonders if that might be their reality some day. The pressures of balancing work, the costs of homeownership and a growing family have made Mr. Madhvani question whether buying was the right path. He often wonders, too, if they could be living a better life in places such as Dubai, where they could afford a nanny, or outside Atlanta, where they also have family and could get a larger home for a fraction of the cost. 'Could we be better off elsewhere if we're willing to do what our parents did, which was like, pick up and go?' But for now, they are making it work, and enjoying the perks of being close to his wife's family. Takeaway: Buying later in life with solid careers and incomes can still make you question whether following the traditional path is worth it. In 2021, just shy of 50, Caroline Nadeau bought her own home – a two-bedroom condo in a six-unit townhouse-style building in Montreal – for $335,000. She put down $65,000 with help from her RRSP. It was a milestone she once thought might never happen. When she separated from her husband in 2009 after 20 years together, Ms. Nadeau found herself starting over in every sense. At the time, the couple lived in Toronto and owned a house in which they were raising two daughters. But when the relationship ended, so did that stability. 'I started literally from scratch, going from that environment to living on my own,' she said. They sold the house and split the equity evenly. Ms. Nadeau walked away with $18,000. During the breakup, she was on a hiatus from her career in the insurance sector, teaching French and earning under $10,000 a year. She chose not to pursue spousal support to prove to herself that she could make it on her own. She rented for the next decade, scraping by and rebuilding her life. 'There were times I didn't know how I was going to feed them,' she said. 'Cash flow became a very, very big problem, especially with the girls.' After the separation, Ms. Nadeau lost her credit rating and turned to payday loans to get by. She borrowed small amounts and paid them back quickly to rebuild her credit and put whatever she could into investments. By 2017, she'd returned to her corporate job and moved to Montreal for a promotion. Though she didn't expect to stay, a new relationship kept her in Quebec. Ms. Nadeau also wanted to build financial resilience. 'That path was real estate, and the fact that I was in Montreal, as opposed to Toronto, was a perfect way to get into the market.' She describes her mortgage as manageable and less than what rent would cost, so she's not in a rush to clear it. Her plan is to rent out her condo soon and move in with her current partner. When retirement comes, she might sell. Looking back, she felt she 'had the discipline of a soldier.' When her parents gave her small amounts of cash for Christmas, she'd buy an exchange-traded fund. Today, Ms. Nadeau is on track to max out her tax-free savings account. Her advice to others? 'Even if you buy later in life… at least you get your feet in.' Takeaway: It is always possible to start over.
