Many cooks, one mortgage. Multigenerational homes are taking off in Calgary

Calgary has seen a mini-boom in homes expressly built for multigenerational living, driven largely by the Indian community.

At first, these were concentrated in the new northeast communities of Cornerbrook and Homestead. But Trico Homes sales area manager Akshat Mathur says the demand is growing in the southeast community of Pine Creek as well.

Trico is one of several builders constructing these new models in many communities in the city, and Mathur is even building one for himself. 

"I love it," said Mathur. "The secondary suite — it's amazing."

What sets multigenerational homes apart is that they have either a basement suite with a full kitchen and separate entrance, or they contain a main floor bedroom and bathroom instead of a den and a half-bath. 

Mathur says the average price for an 1,800-square-foot home with a main floor bedroom and full bath is in the mid $500s. 

Mathur says that since Trico made the plans available in 2019, the demand has gone up from two to three sales a month to over 10 per month, almost exclusively to South Asian buyers. 

The families living in these homes say multigenerational living can be a boon for all family members — especially as inflation, rent and daycare costs make living apart more expensive. 

So CBC Calgary met up with two families living in these houses to see how they make it work.

For Bhavya Sajja, multigenerational living is more about emotional support than economics. 

"It feels really good to have parents stay with us," says Sajja, who immigrated to Calgary from India in 2018. "My mental health improved after my mother came. It's a different kind of happiness."

She and her husband, Alok Aetukuri, recently moved into their new four-bedroom home in northeast Calgary, which was purpose-built to be multigenerational. They live with their daughter, her younger brother, her parents and his mother. 

"The house is perfect," said Aetukuri, noting the main floor bedroom and bathroom for his mother, who has trouble doing stairs.

Both Sajja and her husband work full-time. They say the extra helping hands relieve the stresses of daily living.