Most couples prefer cash for down payments over traditional wedding gifts: survey

TORONTO – Most Canadians with marriage on the mind rank home ownership well ahead of lavish weddings and conventional gifts, a new survey finds.

Some 79 per cent of respondents planning their nuptials — or with someone in their life who is — said they would consider requesting money for a down payment on a home instead of a traditional wedding present, according to the Royal LePage poll.

About 82 per cent said they would scale back their wedding plans or forgo them entirely in order to put cash toward an upfront home payment.

Rising expenses and tighter purse strings have pushed lovebirds and loners alike to make tough spending choices, with the former weighing rings versus real estate.

“As the cost of living puts pressure on household budgets across the country, more Canadians are finding themselves having to make difficult trade-offs between the two — and in many cases, it’s the wedding that gets scaled back,” said Anne-Elise Cugliari Allegritti, vice-president of research and communications at Royal LePage, in a release.

Respondents in B.C. and Ontario were the most likely to ask for financial contributions toward a down payment rather than for, say, crystalware or a stand mixer. Residents in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Quebec were the least inclined — though roughly two in three still said they were open to it.

“That’s really just straight math. We know that homes are most expensive in B.C.’s Lower Mainland and in the greater Golden Horseshoe here in Ontario,” Cugliari Allegritti said in a phone interview.

Even among those already married, financial strain may have prompted second thoughts about how they approached their big day.

About 57 per cent said they would have liked to request money for a down payment, according to the survey. Another 10 per cent did.

“In the past, tradition may have dictated first marriage, then mortgage. Today, many couples are having to balance their desire for a once-in-a-lifetime wedding celebration with the reality of building equity and securing their financial future,” Cugliari Allegritti said in the release.

“For some, that means prioritizing getting into the housing market before walking down the aisle. Many people are recognizing that while a wedding is a beautiful one- or two-day event, a home is a lifetime investment.”

Some 83 per cent of respondents said a home marks the biggest purchase in their life.

Conducted using the Leger Opinion panel, the online survey polled 1,717 residents across the country between March 27 and April 15, with weighting applied to age and gender.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 21, 2026.