Canadians love going to the cottage. If you are in Alberta you go to the cabin and if you live in BC you call it a chalet. In northern Ontario, you go to camp!
Whatever you call it, its a great place to get away from the city hustle and bustle to commune with nature, and enjoy the serenity and peace and quiet that being surrounded with trees can bring you.
If it rains, you play cards and if its sunny then you can grab your paddle and slide away in your kayak or crank up the motorboat for some fishing. Nothing beats just sitting back in your Adirondack chair and soaking up the fun out by the water, or up high on the deck.
I grew up in Northern Ontario and often had the opportunity to spend a weekend or more at a relative’s cottage. I have experienced ice-fishing and outhouses first-hand, as well as the giggles and laughter at bedtime, having nothing but a piece of wood panelling giving us the privacy of a bedroom. Over the years, some of those properties have been transformed from being rustic bare-bones getaways to luxurious homes. I am thankful that I still get a couple of invites every year to join friends at their little piece of paradise
A 2016 study conducted for Royal Lepage found that 65% of its Canadian real estate advisors who were polled for the study, reported retirement living as the most common reasons potential buyers gave when looking to buy a recreation property.
While a majority of respondents may have identified retirement as a driving factor for a cottage purchase, what is really interesting to learn is that it is Gen Xers, (36-51 year olds still decades away from retiring) who were identified as the typical buyer in the current market.
The typical Canadian recreational property buyer is a couple with children, according to 76 per cent of survey respondents. When asked about the most prevalent age range of current buyers, 63 per cent of respondents identified Gen Xers which was almost double the 33 per cent of Baby Boomers (52 to 70 years old) who were buying.
Thats a good thing. Most believe that children and adults need a place to interact together in an easy-flowing, less structured pace, and a semi-wilderness setting is an excellent opportunity to make memories.
I spend a weekend every summer with my cousin and her husband and a few other friends at her cottage. Its nice to sit around the campfire, listening for the screech of the local owls and hoping to get their visit. I look forward to it every year when we lock in on a date, and get excited when we get the email to plan the meals and who brings what. Spending time at the edges of the Canadian Shield restores balance, and surrounds me with healthy and positive energy.
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