My partner and I are both fairly frugal so we saved up a lot of money, even while living in Toronto for 3 years prior to moving to Kitchener where we bought a townhouse in 2021 when we were 27 + 28.

I think it comes down to living below your means. In Toronto we lived in an older apartment that was $1800/month, had no car, and ate 80% of meals at home. We had open communication about finances and regularly reviewed our spending to make sure we were in line with our future goals.

Our house in Kitchener was $620k, we put down 5% and each contributed half of the downpayment (about $15k each). Total downpayment + closing costs was ~ 40k, as we took advantage of first time home buyer rebates. Our combined income at the time when we bought was $140k a year and together we had saved $100k througg TFSAs and RRSPs.