The Secret Tax on Being Single

I have a lot of conversations with my fellow single friends about the cost of living alone. We talk about what we’re going to do when we get old; can we afford a nice long-term-care home or should we pool our resources to buy a house and live together, Golden Girls–style? We wonder about when we’ll be able to afford to buy a place that isn’t the tiniest condo ever built, on one income and without family help. Seriously, why is there a column right in the middle of the living room, and why does it cost $500,000? 

There’s undoubtedly a fun side to being single. I spend a lot of time with my friends, I hang out with my family and I can change my wallpaper without having to get sign-off from another person. The independence is also a perk. I also don’t have to worry about consulting someone over every financial decision or career move. I can invest time in personal growth and pursue new hobbies at my own pace, I can travel without coordinating schedules, and I have a sense of financial autonomy that allows me to save more or allocate resources toward experiences I value. I can hang out with my niblings and do fun auntie things like concerts and school walks home. 

Related: Confessions of the Working Poor

My experience aligns with the research: a 2024 Family Relations study found that young single people who aren’t focused on relationships are happy and fulfilled. Back in 2016, psychologist and author Bella DePaulo reported that single people have more fulfilling social lives and are more connected to family and friends. The more self-sufficient they were, the less likely they were to experience negative emotions. Singles are a growing demographic in Canada. Some of us want to focus on work and education. Some are divorced or separated. And some of us just don’t want a cringe boyfriend. 

But all this independence comes at a cost. While there’s no line item in the CRA forms, there is definitely a tax on being single. It shows up in groceries, insurance, utilities and housing, and it affects some 15.5 million single Canadians. Of course, single people who live alone pay more in fixed costs like rent, utilities and mortgages. For example, the average cost of an apartment or condo is $2,105 as of November 2025, while net incomes shake out to around $56,400. That means some singles pay 45 per cent of their income on rent—way more than the 30 per cent recommended by the Organization for Economic Development.

If that wasn’t bad enough, companies often make single people pay more: some U.S. airlines make solo travellers pay a premium for flying alone, compared to the lower group rates. Delta Airlines, United Airlines and American Airlines were charging more for solo tickets compared to group tickets for the same flight last May. None of this is new. In fact, Delta said that this practice was industry standard. On tours and cruises, meanwhile, base prices are set for two people.

Then there are the tax implications. It can be difficult to save money on one income, so unpartnered people may not be able to put as much money toward retirement. When they do retire, they don’t benefit from income splitting, when one spouse uses some of their partner’s income to get into a lower tax bracket. The higher-earning partner can transfer some of their taxable income to the lower-earning partner, so they both end up closer in income levels. This is usually done via a spousal RRSP, so the lower-earning spouse has a higher RRSP deduction, which can reduce their taxes. When you’re single, there’s no income splitting for you. 

As for housing, the market has been tough for everyone, but single people often have a harder time getting onto the property ladder. Mortgage costs in Toronto, for example, can range from $3,700 to $4,500. The math just doesn’t work. Two incomes can qualify for larger mortgages, compete for bigger places and handle rising costs. One income often just isn’t enough, unless they have family money or make $200,000 a year. 

It’s not just the cost of ownership, either. Single renters also feel the pinch. The obvious response is to get a roommate, but that can’t be the only solution. Some people simply want to live alone. What if you want to walk around naked, or watch TV for six hours straight, or eat cereal for dinner? The attitude toward single people is changing, which is great; having a boyfriend is even “cringe” now, according to Vogue. Systems are also starting to catch up—slowly, but noticeably. In cities like Toronto, architects and urban planners are rethinking how people live, work and connect. Policy changes are also making space for solo living. Cities across Canada including Toronto are revisiting restrictive zoning laws to allow for gentle density, such as laneway homes, garden suites and multi-unit conversions—all developments that make it easier for single people to find affordable, well-designed spaces.

It’s taken decades to get here, but the tide is turning. The single-person household is no longer the outlier, and people are working to make our systems, cities, and assumptions reflect that reality. In California, Phil Levin and Kristen Berman started the Radish housing compound and LLC because they wanted to be near their friends without sacrificing their privacy. Twenty adults and eight kids now live in the complex, whose investors include both residents and outsiders. They have a community agreement, and they treat it as a living document: for example, when the community started, there was a cooking rotation, but that evolved into hiring someone to cook for them. In Toronto, co-living experiment Clarens Commons has been going strong since 2019 when the the six original residents bought a $1.3-million home together and turned it into shared housing. They hammered out the financials and paperwork, but also made group decisions on things like funding renovations and adding new housemates.

Some people have taken it upon themselves to challenge zoning laws so they can repurpose their single-family home into apartments. Other organizations, like Women Living Together, have found a solution for lower-income women, helping them pool their resources to rent a place together. 

There are other ways the government can curb the singles tax, like redefining who gets to split income. Why not expand it to include siblings who have lived together for a certain period of time, instead of just limiting it to married and common-law partners? Much of our society is still structured around the idea that people will couple up, but when you think about it, everyone will likely be single at some point in life—whether that’s before you marry or become common-law, or after a separation or death. Being single affects everyone at some point. The number of single people will only grow as more people delay marriage, divorce later in life, or simply choose to live solo. The single-person household isn’t an anomaly anymore; it’s one of the fastest-growing demographics in the country. The Golden Girls fantasy of living fabulously together is about finding that sweet spot where independence and connection coexist. Right now, I’m willing to pay the price.

Renée Sylvestre-Williams is a finance journalist and author of the upcoming book The Singles Tax.