What happens if Toronto stays unaffordable 

We don’t have an arts and music scene …. That disappeared a long time ago. They spend all their time working other jobs to make rent that they don’t have time for art. Toronto is a shell of what it was. It’s becoming a playground for the rich and a campsite for the poor.

That’s exactly right. If your civil servants can’t even live in the city… there’s an unsustainable issue going on.

This is happening all across Canada not just Toronto

Mental depression is at an all time high in Toronto because all people do is work all month to pay the rent

The high cost of rent is having a number of negative consequences for Toronto. It is making it difficult for young people to start families, and for low- and middle-income earners to afford to live in the city. It is also leading to an increase in homelessness and rental insecurity.

Unfortunately most of MPs are in the rental business. They will never do anything to hurt them self. I think they should be ban on policy makers to own more than one house.

This is literally dystopian if the average person is struggling while doing everything right and unable to afford homes or rent. The end is nigh 😢

Toronto is hardly a city anymore. It's a mecca for the rich and leisurely consumption. It's also culturally in decline, as artists keep being forced to live elsewhere due to the affordability crisis. Would've been good to see in this feature some more analysis of how the crisis is manufactured by bad state and business actors, longstanding austerity politics (at various levels of Canadian government), etc. You really need a class analysis when you're taking about who and who doesn't have access to housing. It's physically not a scarce resource. It's just that people are blocked financially from it.

We need to normalize a simple lifestyle and stop normalizing debt. Huge SUVs, huge houses and private universities are simply not necessary. I live within my budget and I sleep better at night knowing that if I lose my job tomorrow, ' be fine. I didn't buy the biggest house. I bought the one I could comfortably repay

It's hardly surprising that "artists" can't afford rent. But when nurses, firefighters, and civil servants can't afford rent, the system is broken.

This is what happens when your economy isn’t dynamic and wealth generation comes disproportionately from housing

I’m an RN with 10+ years experience and I left with my family in 2022. We couldn’t have any quality of life commuting 2 hrs each way. Now the beautiful province of PEI has my skills and life for us is immensely better.

The $3,000/mo rent is already here. I'm seeing new buildings posting their rental prices and their 1 bedrooms are listed for $3,000+/mo

I left Toronto in 2017, and I am still stuck in Traffic on the 401 E near the 427 in the collector lanes fml

I lived in Toronto for over 10 years, absolutely loved it. Went to school and had a good paying job and ultimately had to leave this year for that exact reason. I miss living there so much but I needed to think about my future stability. Things need to change.

Why do news outlets always do this? They barely scratch the surface of the problem. This isn’t a city wide issue, it’s a nation wide issue!

When I was a teen in school, our teacher's taught us that rent should be approx the equivalent of one weeks earnings. FAR FROM IT. And the banks encourage landlords to charge tenants enough or more to cover mortgage on the building....So, giving interest rates going up like they have been, the banks are making a ton of money at the renter's expense.....and can't afford to save for a home of their own. NOBODY should struggle/suffer like this!

this entire video doesn't address WHY this is happening

"We need to bring in a record number of immigrants because birth rates among Canadians are so low" ... "Canadians cannot start families to grow the population because housing is so unaffordable - in part - due to record-breaking immigration."

It’s a sad moment in every Canadian’s life when they are old enough to realize that they were born in a place where they have to compete with the top 1% of people from around the world in education institutions, the housing market, the job market, and now even for healthcare. Even more fun when you realize everyone around you has different value systems and prefers watching their own kind succeed

Problem is - no one in Toronto is making enough money - full family or single - no one is making enough now to even hit market rent. People are now working more than one job or out sourcing to taking government funded classes to try and figure something out. Some people are within issues with credit that may be just mediocre but they still get judged. Now landlords are asking for AAA tenants with credit scores above 70 - one situation asked for an annual income of at least $72,000.

For the love of god, repeal Exclusionary Zoning-- the policy that literally makes it illegal to build low-cost housing on the majority of land in Toronto. It's so obvious.

The era in which people move to cities for opportunities is over. Might as well live and work in small rural villages.

Like myself. Barely surviving after spending years of my life and buckets of money in education. It’s so frustrating, heartbreaking and unfair what’s happening in Toronto.

watching this from San Francisco, where my studio apt is CAD 3,400/month. This city used to be filled with quirky, colourful bohemians that gave it a charm and magical air, now its tech bros, millionaires and homeless encampments.

What happens if Toronto stays unaffordable? Owners are getting even richer, and renters even poorer. Well done, Canada!

Moved from Toronto to a very small town in the country last year, never looked back :) My mortgage is less than a 1 bedroom apartment in Toronto and I have a house with a beautiful backyard and no traffic around me. It really is the dream!

My wife and I live just over the border in Buffalo New York. We've been traveling to Toronto for over 30 years. As an outsider, I have watched the changes that have taken place. When we eat out, we like to leave a generous tip, and I can't understand how the wait staff can afford to live and work there. By the way, Canadians are among the most friendly and wonderful people I have ever met in my travels. I hope that you folks can rescue the situation and average Canadians have less costly housing

Vancouver, B.C. - What will happen is what happened here in Vancouver 2010 - 2015. Rents were so high that Essential Services Workers (Police etc.) commuted to work from the interior of B.C. The Provincial Government eventually stepped in with a Rent Rebate program that still exist today.

I left Toronto 2 years ago, moving out of Ontario next year.. way too expensive.

There's already a huge brain drain in Canada as people are going to positions in the US that 1) pay more and 2) are located in places with less absurd rent. This is only further incentive to accelerate that process

I have to confess, as a US citizen, I've always looked to Canada as our more intellectual and empathetic neighbor. In years past, I have visited cities like Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City and always left moved by the people and the creative energy. Since the 1990s, I've watched, as every large city here with a thriving and creative counter culture got swallowed up by mega-realty companies who would repackage them, spray on a glossy sheen and inflate the prices beyond anything remotely affordable for people working in creative fields. It saddens me deeply to realize that corporate greed has gained such a foothold in your country. For your largest cities, like Toronto, this story confirms it is already too late. As time continues to pass, the city will be full of more dreadfully dull and boring people who have no capability of achieving a sense of individuality without buying it. For now, the future of the creative class lies in urban areas of smaller towns and cities. Do your research and find the environment that's right for you. But don't wait too long...

Yeah keep importing people from curryland without having any housing for them. So they'll pile up family money and drive up prices since they can typically afford more.

what HAPPENED to the arts movement scene you mean. All the art studios are gone... they were bought/turned into condos 5 years ago.

Great format and production - really enjoyed it.

I just moved to Vancouver from Toronto and it’s worse here. The drugs have been de criminalized in small doses and it’s like a mini skid row. Cost of living is insane here.

It's designed that way to be only for the very wealthy + the poor struggling, cutting out middle class. People are forever happy 2 keep it that way that's why nothing has been done, I doubt this situation will ever change. I'm Canadian born, I left and I know many families that left as well in 2020 + 2021 during the pandemic when Toronto/Ontario became a shell of itself ( no soul, just commuting + work, no festivals, no concerts, no socialzing , no visiting the park, no visiting the lake/beaches, nothing). Not surprised that even more ppl left in 2022. I knew I would never be able 2 start a family there, I am/still am kinda young + I am educated and like a lot of young ppl do have many hopes + dreams, I worked regular jobs in TO + still tried 2 embrace my artistic gifts on the side but knew the city just wasn't a fit for me so I had to leave. I see a lot of ppl arguing on social media back + forth waisting time while what they really should be doing is moving out + finding a better country or place 2 live. Please prioritize relocation. The gov is bought + paid for + chosen, there is an illusion of democracy + an illusion of voting in Canada, no one cares about your opinion unless you are connected 2 the politicians or are a politician urself. Stop blaming the gov + take action on ur life, that's what I did + got the h+ell outta there. I know it's not possible for everyone 2 just up and leave esp those with large families or those really attached 2 Canada but I don't really have those responsibilities of raising children. It is indeed hopeless + the government will not do anything, people are not united + fight over the smallest differences between each other (like how long their families been in canada compared 2 ur family etc), there's no such thing as unity in a capitalist society/country. Compared to modern asian + southeast asian cities Toronto is not it when it comes 2 transit/housing/shopping. Southeast Asian cities and even some European cities are more technologically advanced/modern + w' better transit compared to TO + Canada. These cities make Toronto look like something from the dark ages. More Indians + people from the middle east will probably move to Toronto + Canada I'm sure. I have nothing against these ppl, they can make it work because the whole family will be in 1 house + under 1 roof. After I left I heard on social media that the Canadian gov was sending our tax dollars 2 the Ukraine, that was the icing on the cake for myself, it was another nail on the coffin that solidified leaving Canada was a good thing. Those funds could have definitely been put into creating more sustainable things in the country and for candians. I was seeing all the canadians on social media complaining + was still wondering why they put up with it. It's clear the system hates us, why do you stay? Please find some courage + strength 2 do something about your situation.

“Why is rent so high?” as single family homes can be seen in the same frame as the CN Tower. LEGALIZE APARTMENTS EVERYWHERE!!!

Toronto voted in these policy’s over the last 20 years. Now people are fleeing Toronto so much rent in Kingston, Barrie, Renfrew and others are like 10-15% cheaper at best. Canada is paying the price.

Anyone that's bilingual should just move to Montreal. It's a much prettier city, livelier cultural scene, amazing nightlife (beats Toronto hands down), also much friendlier residents. I can't tell you how many people I've spoke to that have said their quality of life increased when they moved to Montreal.

I’ve given up. I’m not participating in the economy anymore. It doesn’t make sense to me to work hard just to barely be able to put a roof over my head. I’d rather be homeless than be a cog in the machine that barely gets by.

I'm moving to New Brunswick one day. I cannot afford to buy a house in this province but I can buy a small one at Brunswick right now. The cheapest house I found there is under 100k which is amazing.

🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡 the artists voice was so needed, thank you so much I love you 🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡

Alot of the magic of Toronto for me are always from the people - random souls that all gravitated towards this unique Canadian vibe. The mixing abd collaborarion of all people make it a magical place to visit. It felt like every person was welcome there. If that ever goes away and we base who should be there on income that world class city vibe will dilute exponentially. As the young and new move away it defintley will not be that same - alot of potential talent will go undeveloped for all of Canada.

On the woman with bleached tips point, you can't hope for buyers/owners (capitalists) to just do the right thing and forego profits. There needs to be enforceable laws set by the government to create room for the people in these situations. The market really doesn't need to care about the human cost of housing, and as long as it stays that way nothing will change.

While Vancouver's the most expensive in Canada, Toronto's also extremely expensive. I Can barely imagine how crowded some places will be if those 2 cities prices go out of control endlessly.

Story of the UK economy as well. I live in England. It is in steep decline economically. Yet house prices and rents are at highest rates in history. The wealth inequality is higher than it was even in Victorian times! The Anglosphere countries have had their governments taken over by corrupt politicians that are on the payroll of corporations/housebuilding companies and landowners. I would like to imagine this can be changed democratically and peacefully. But it has gone too far now, the only outcome, whether in 1 year or 20, is violence, riots and eventually some form of rebellion against the corrupt government. It is what has always happened historically in any nation when most people can't afford food or a roof over their head.

Rent is reflective of mortgage prices so its safe to say at these rates when owners and investors come to renew their mortgages rents will go to 4000.

The same thing occured in San Fransisco. Look what happen to this city.

Los Angelo’s built an area in the city for workers. It was called skid row

Amazing reporting!

even if you make 100,000$ a year, its not enough to live in toronto. rent, car, insurance, utilities and other expenses will burn up all your cash EVEN BEFORE you can even think about putting any money aside for an actual home property asset.

Price of tents will increase

What happens is people up and leave, going back to the fairly comfortable lives they were living in the country they emigrated from, and forcing Canada to find an engine for its economy other than the lazy buying and selling of property.

The rent prices are the same outside of Toronto as well! 😢

Unaffordable housing is all across Canada in major cities. Living costs are too high, and most ppl are afford to live where they want.

i find it odd that there was no mention of "Tent Cities" as that's what will happen when people can't afford to live, they will end up on the street, inn tents, cars etc.

Toronto has had an affordable housing problem for a long time. Even way back in 1988, 35 years ago when I moved to Toronto it was hard to find any decent rental accommodation in my price range. I ended up renting a very dumpy basement apartment, for one and a half years, before I have us able to move into something better.

Personally, I'm just glad I moved to Japan. Not sure if I'll ever come back. More Canadians should consider doing just that. Leaving.

Toronto will become like San Francisco and Seattle. Lots of rich people, technology people and poor people. A lot of stores are closing down in Portland OR, Seattle WA and San Francisco because there are no "essential " workers to support them.

This is a very scary city to live. I used to live this city, the city forced me to leave.

i know people younger than me who have no place to live. i met someone with an income and inheritance living at a shelter because you can’t get an apartment without dishing out a years rent upfront. students are dropping out, not due to the education system but the cost of living. not to mention the refugees and newcomers who were promised safety and stability have their lives upended, and now you have 15 year waitlists for supportive housing. toronto was built around people with excess wealth and this is what it has come to. banks spawning condos at every intersection and there’s nowhere to walk. awful place to be

I read an article today about the same thing happening in New York, Over a half million people left due to housing/ rent affordability and access amounts of immigration, inflating public service response times. End State are cities like Hong Kong and San Francisco .

I'm a new yorker who wanted to move to Toronto but wow, It's already very expensive here but Toronto isn't that far behind. Any suggestions around Canada? Montreal is another favorite of mine.

Ottawa has managed to destroy the hope of an entire generation of Canadians.

What is the occupancy rates in these places with the high rent?

I was able to sublet on Erskine ave (in 1989-90) for $495 a month. It was a 1 bedroom. It was a short walk from the subway line, plenty of choices for shopping and entertainment etc. I ended up leaving my job in the fall of 1990 to move home (eastern Ontario) because my apartment was under rent review...it was to increase to $650 immediately. It broke my budget. This was long before Air BnB and VRBO and the condo craze that came much later.

Drastically cutting immigration for a long time would be a good place to start. This includes foreign students and refugees. Canada needs to support it's own people first and foremost.

I can somewhat understand landlords that still have a mortgage to charge the market price for rent. However, those that paid off their mortgage a long time ago or just paid with cash (statistically speaking it is about 50% of these type of landlords in Canada), please explain to me why are you charging people $2k6 a month for a 1BR apartment? Are the average people really this desperate to pay 50%-80% of their after tax income just to be able to live in big city?

The working middle class is being pushed into poor lower class. And if the problem cant be fixed people will get frustrated and the next step is anger. Understanding what will happen is easy. Fixing the problem is the challenge.

I am Swiss and the situation for accomodation is the same.

So what are the solutions? Feeling mad and upset isnt a solution. Simply lobbying the government and saying "rent is too high" isn't a solution. Vacancy rates are low despite rising rents being high. This sounds like a major supply problem along with the financialization of housing.

Some of us make $2300 a month total so no way in hell am I going to live in Toronto with even a studio at almost $2000...that leaves no money to even eat let alone get to a job by public transportation, have a phone to be reached for jobs.

cities are for people. cities are for everyone. not just for the rich and powerful. not just for tourists looking to rent out an air-bnb. if everyone is pushed out bc of these prices, the city will become a ghost town. not to mention, the stress it puts on the cities and towns outside of toronto and the pressures on those fragile rental markets then pushing the people that live there out of their own cities. its a domino effect. places to live are meant to be homes, not "investment opportunities" this exploitation of renters has to stop.

Congratulations 🎊 👏 💐 it's good the process is faster now.

Cities like Toronto and Vancouver are just big dark shadow streets with empty speculated Condos. The life, entertainment, cultural industry and events have near almost completely disappeared in most areas of their downtowns. Shopping is no better than going to your local smaller city mall that has the same access to products and services at much cheaper prices. Renowned Restaurants are disappearing also due to over valued reat estate which also makes rent and RE purchase only affordable to extremely wealthy foreign nationals. Toronto and Van has lost their way from Canada's over immigration of the wrong type of people that protest what seems to be everyday, no these are NOT people protesting to help our CND homeless or CND issues. Vancouver's homeless and drug problem has not been addressed with concrete solutions in decades and have been rather moving in the wrong direction very quickly. There is no culutural unity in Toronto like there used to be. New Canadian ideologies have claimed even more cities as their victims. Property tax is insanely low in Toronto and Vancouver also and has been for decades which largely contributed to their deterioration. Toronto and Vancouver have been extremely financially mismanaged for many decades and still is presently with no adults in the room in clear sight for the future. Canada is mistakenly trying to be everything to everyone excepting being Canada to Canadians. Focus is needed more in this time than ever before in the history of our country. This dellusional trail of destruction is not leaving anytime soon with the completely wrong uncontrollable immigration and financial system presently in place. Hold on and buckle up it's going to be a long ride for people that stay here to see improvements until the next new generation can adapt accordlingly.

I gave up on our government making the right choices. They simply do not care about the common person.

Yes, exactly. Once it reaches $4000, nobody will stay there.

Urban super cities around the world will be filled with people sharing apartments at absurd rates and it will be compacted living of multiple people in small apartments and homes. Smaller cities will become closer to unaffordable like Vancouver is now but a little bit better with some downsides (like being in the closer to the middle of nowhere with a lower standard of living)

Not only in Toronto, but in Montreal its crazy the rent for a 3 1/2 its 1000$ not utilities includied.

The same thing that happens in other highly desirable and very expensive cities like New York, London and Sydney; apartments will be shared by 2, 3 4 roommates, more and more houses and apartments will be subdivided. The most important solutions are to build more housing and invest in high-speed regional rail. The other side of the coin is that there will continue to be upward pressure on employers to pay ever increasing wages in order to attract the top talent.

The lady with two different colours of hair had a brain in her head. People struggling with housing understand it on a visceral level. We’ve done everything we’re supposed to do: We went to university, have pretty decent jobs, and still can’t afford housing? THE SOCIAL CONTRACT IS BROKEN! I’m hopeful that there’s a younger generation out there who views housing as “home” and maybe even some young folks now who want to get into the business of housing, but aren’t in it, or don’t want to be in it for oodles of money; who maybe recognize that there’s a way to do it in a more sustainable way: in a more human rights friendly way. edit: Unfortunately this world and the people who own housing, even my own parents, are not ever going to be interested in letting rent be cheaper for the people they rent to. It will always be about the money until people return to, well, God.

Grew up in toronto my whole life, living apartment to apartment, and as I've seen the city deteriorate over the last 3 decades, I can't wait to leave (once I can save up a bit of money).

absolutely criminal what's happened to this country

Well now you guys have three options: 1) expanding vertically and people accept much smaller personal space like they do in Hong Kong, 2) expanding horizontally and people endure much more painful commuting like they do in Tokyo or Bangkok, or 3) alternatively do both 1) and 2) at the same time and people suffer thier space and/or commuting like they do in Seoul...

What will happen to the city is this. It will collapse. People will move away. People will move in with relatives. Lack of staff will prompt people to find other municipalities. Kitchener - Waterloo, Brantford, Guelph, Hamilton and other smaller municipalities. Inevitable. Canada is big, big, big. This isn't Tokyo, or New York City etc.

Calgary is already over 2k for 1 bedroom apartment dt as well

Something will eventually haveto give.

Toronto is speedrunning Tent City%

I'd say "everyone moves out", but to where? Rent is atrocious everywhere right not, not just Toronto. I mean, Toronto is a bit late to the party as far as headlines about rent costs go...

People forget one important point! Lot of big tech came to Toronto. They get half a million in Salaries. Yoshua Bengio said $1million has become common these days. May be Toronto needs to be expanded or big tech needs to be shifted elsewhere.

You got it wrong. Toronto is a piece of land, and it doesn't make any decision to stay unaffordable. In the contrary, it's the people that made the decision to live in an unaffordable city. The right question to ask is: what happens if people keep choosing to live and move to unaffordable cities? Like, ban their right to move or what?

Oddly the rent in Winnipeg is inexpensive and there are labour shortages here too.

The 'investment class' is eating the working class alive. No system that is this top-heavy can survive.

How is it that we can incite replacing plastic straws and bags with paper straws and reusable bags almost nationwide but we can't get affordable homes? Wtf are these priorities?

San Francisco has been hollowed out. Before the pandamic, San Francisco 's commercial real estate vacancy rate was a mere 4%. Now San Francisco's commercial real estate vacancy rate is a whopping 27%! New York doesn't fare better, its commercial real estate vacancy rate is 20%. Because of "work from home" policy, people just moved out of the cities. Two of US's most expensive cities have developed same syndrome. I am wondering why doesn't the same thing happen in Toronto? You see "work from home" + expensive rent should be a perfect catalyst to drive people out. Should somebody delve deeper into the issue?

Filthy disgusting greed is causing this and it is something that is barely talked about. Obviously they are too scared to approach the topic

yet they all voted liberal, they directly voted for this

I'm 28 this year, and had to move back in with my parents 2 years ago after I left a bad situation, (in the GTA) bc my 'cushy' job in insurance couldn't pay for rent AND food. Decided to go back to school full time. Reality is you can't live in canada without at least a grad degree/in skilled trades unless you're some kind of entrepreneur, or living with 4-5 other ppl. Such is life sometimes.

$55 an hour all trades bare minimum. Buildings are a business. They should be paying exorbent amounts of taxes. Why are people renting at all?