Most Canadian couples move in together within months of dating, survey suggests

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes finding a home you and your partner can afford that is a reasonable distance from your work so you don’t have a three-hour commute. At least that is how it used to be.

But a new study from Wayfair Canada suggests marriage is no longer a requirement for co-habitation. More than half of the 900 Canadians surveyed say they had shared residences with their partners before dating for a full year.

Even across age groups, “shacking up” before the one-year mark seems to be an upward trend. One third of millenials and generation Xers decided to move in within six months of beginning a new relationship, according to the survey, while baby boomers take it a little slower with only a quarter of them making the leap that early.

Canadians were also more likely than Americans to purchase or rent a new home together, rather than moving into one or the other’s existing space, the study suggests.

It seems in Canada that it is not only a burning passion for one another that makes couples want to live together so soon, but finances play a key role, as well.

“The average Canadian home was worth nearly $520,000 in February, and rents are pricey in many cities, so couples may choose to live together for practical purposes — to split the rent,” reports the Huffington Post.

Sharing the bills is also apparently making it possible for Canadians to live a slightly more glamorous life. Wayfair says American couples living together only spent between $300 to $700 on new furnishings, while Canadians spent an average of $1,000 to $3,000 to spruce up their new love nests.