The Globe and Mail reports in its Monday edition that Canadian homeowners move every seven years on average, according to Realtors. In a Globe special, Kelsey Rolfe writes that the number is often used to underscore why homeowners should beware of the high cost of breaking a fixed mortgage rate if they are forced to move earlier than expected. Experts believe the number of years between moves is likely increasing, which they attributed to a combination of housing affordability issues and the country's aging population. There is, however, little agreement over how frequently Canadians move, and hard data are scarce. The origin of the number is murky. In a 2012 article, Royal LePage president Phil Soper said that based on his own calculations, Canadians moved house roughly every five to seven years. He told The Globe that the company last surveyed Canadians directly on how often they moved roughly a decade ago, which is how it arrived at that range. Mr. Soper said Royal LePage periodically tests that assumption against data from the United States Census, which estimates Americans' lifetime moves, and surveys from the U.S. National Association of Realtors, which he said does more research than its Canadian counterpart.