Living in Toronto Just Got More Difficult
Toronto, the Canadian City for the rich and old. It seems like working class and young people have nothing to look for in the largest Canadian city! Middle class and young people emigration to more affordable provinces and cities was not enough to stop the un-affordability issue in Toronto and Vancouver. In contrary, the cost of living just got dramatically worse in recent months!
The latest statistics from September demonstrate how significantly things have changed since this time last year, and Toronto tenants just can’t seem to catch a break as apartment prices keep climbing to new heights. Zumper, a website for rental listings, reports that the median price for one-bedroom apartments in the city has now risen to $2,540, a stunning 21.5 percent more expensive than it was in September 2022 and 1.6% higher than the previous month.
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While two-bedroom rentals increased to $3,350, this represented an even larger increase of 2.4% month over month and 26.9% year over year. While Toronto continues to rank as the second most expensive city in Canada to live in, a number of other GTA communities, including those that locals would never anticipate ranking among the most expensive cities in the nation, are not far behind.
To see the prices rise above peoples budgets, what is left for middle class and young people to do?
On Canadian Federal Government website, it states that the federal government administration has prioritized supporting the middle class, expanding the economy, bolstering the social safety net, and lowering the cost of living for Canadians. The government established the Canada Child Benefit, which has helped millions of Canadian families with the costs of raising children and lifted hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty.
“To ensure every Canadian has a safe and affordable place to call home, the government has a plan that will help put Canada on the path to double the number of new homes that will be built in Canada within a decade, help more Canadians buy their first home, and curb the unfair practices that are driving up prices.”
This sounds great and very powerful but the Toronto and Ontario reality is somewhat different, isn’t it? According the newest statistics from Zumper show that the implemented policies and government plans just don’t contribute enough in reducing home prices and rental costs in Canada.
The parole seems to be “everyone is fighting for survival”.
The government plan to implement Canada Child Benefit certainly helps families with increased costs of living but is that enough?
Back in January, Toronto Star wrote a very interesting article on homeless people in Toronto with jaw dropping numbers that should raise concern of all levels of governments. The shelter system in Toronto has room for close to 9,000 individuals. Although this may sound like a lot, there are really over 170 people who are turned away from the shelter system each night, and there are an estimated 18,000 homeless persons in Toronto as of January 2023. Tendency raising!
The housing and homelessness crises are affecting many Canadian cities. Tent cities for the homeless are now a depressingly familiar sight, whether in Vancouver, Calgary, Halifax, or Toronto. Canada’s indisputable housing problem is one of the main contributors to the disaster that has resulted in widespread homelessness.
What is the solution? Cope who can and go under who can’t?
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According to the RBC economic calculation, this year, economic growth is slowing down in all but one province—Newfoundland and Labrador. Natural calamities and adverse growing circumstances have added to the already-significant expenditure and investment restrictions brought on by higher borrowing rates. Ontario will be specially hit during 2024. Believe it or not, RBC predicts Ontario to have the worst GDP growth of all Canadian Provinces and territories.
