Canada’s housing crisis is exacerbating struggles with the cost of living in major cities like Toronto.
“We continue to experience high demand for food bank services in Toronto. We’re seeing about 12,000 new individuals coming to the food bank each month, which is quite high,” Talia Bronstein, VP of research and advocacy at the Daily Bread Food Bank, told True North.
“Our highest number of visits we saw was close to 270,000 visits in March alone and that’s part of a long-term trend we’ve been seeing.”
Bronstein added that the majority of the food bank’s clients spend more than half their monthly income on rent before spending the rest on other expenses, including food.
“So the more unaffordable their rent is, the harder it is for them to have any money at the end of the month for food,” she said.
A report from Urbanation revealed the average rents in GTA purpose-built rental buildings hit a record $3,002 during the first quarter of the year, while condominium rents averaged $2,741.
Compared to the first quarter of 2022, they increased by 13.8% and 13.6%, respectively.
The Trudeau government’s immigration policy has played an outsized role in surging rents. According to market research firm, Bullpen Research & Consulting, 1.05 million people entered the country last year, far and away above the 360,000 average since 1995.
“Because you’re bringing in so many people and not adding to the supply, the majority of people coming to Canada come to Vancouver and Toronto, mostly the latter,” said Isaac Quan, managing broker at Living Realty Downtown.
“Downtown rentals lease out in a day. A one-bedroom at Yonge and Bloor goes for $2,400-2,700, and that’s caused by a lack of supply, and with immigrants moving in that lack of supply creates more competition for the same units.”
Buildings registered in Toronto before Nov. 15, 2018 are rent controlled, but should a tenant get evicted they will almost certainly have to pay market rents wherever they move. It’s also no secret among realtors that landlords are looking for ways out of signed leases to capitalize on surging rental prices.
“It causes a lot of anxiety among renters and younger people I meet because they’re never secure,” Quan said. “If you own your home, there’s no fear of getting kicked out, but if your landlord wants to sell your rental, where are you going to go that you can afford?”
Richard Dias, co-host of The Loonie Hour, a podcast exploring the macroeconomic impact domestic and international events have on Canada, describes the situation as a “malaise,” and expressed frustration the Liberals haven’t acknowledged how detrimental their policy is, much less reversed course.
He added the decision to substantially increase immigration would make more sense if the government made a concerted effort to increase the country’s housing stock, but it hasn’t.
Instead, the government is stoking a wealth chasm that pits wealthy immigrants and older, asset-rich Canadians against poorer young people.
“You have a landed gentry, whether in Toronto or Vancouver, who are already old and already rich, and they’re having their assets inflated via this reckless policy,” Dias said.
“You’re basically transferring wealth from young people to old people—old, rich people don’t need the money from young, poor people, and to me that’s the real horror of it. It’s driving a wedge in our country, because if you can design a policy in this country for the people who least need the benefit, that’s what they have done.”
