What Is Driving Household Wealth?

A recent Reuters report highlighted that in the U.S., equities have surpassed real estate as a share of net financial wealth for the first time since World War II.¹ Over recent years, strong equity market gains have made the stock market a significant source of wealth accumulation. In Canada, a similar pattern may be emerging as equities continue to comprise a growing share of total household assets.

It may be more than just market performance. As rising housing costs have pushed homeownership out of reach for many, Gen Z is increasingly putting money into the stock market instead.² Among younger Canadians, nearly 74 percent report having at least one type of investment.³

What has enabled these shifts? It may be difficult to recall a time when investing was largely reserved for the wealthy. Yet as recently as the 1990s, before widespread internet access, high trading commissions and fewer low-cost investment options meant that building a diversified equity portfolio required considerably more capital. At that time, equities represented just five percent of Canadian household assets.⁴

Today, technological advances, lower costs and fewer barriers to entry have democratized equity ownership. Notably, while participation rates in Canada and the U.S. are comparatively high, global equity ownership remains uneven. As barriers to entry continue to decline, what happens when the rest of the world catches up? The implications for global capital flows — and perhaps even valuation multiples — could be meaningful.

More broadly, the expansion of equity market participation has allowed a larger share of the population to benefit from one of the most powerful wealth-creation systems in modern economic history.

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<sup>1. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/equities-surpass-real-estate-top-us-wealth-driver-first-time-since-ww2-goldman-2026-07-23/ ;
2. https://www.wsj.com/personal-finance/gen-z-investments-home-ownership-ec0bbe98;
3. https://www.finra.org/media-center/;
4. CANSIM Table 378-0121; www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3610058001</sup>

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