Canada's rental crisis: Why we’re losing affordable housing - The Fifth Estate
Nearly one in three Canadians rents their home. Rental prices are skyrocketing, leading to the same kinds of bidding wars and disappointments that home buyers are facing. The Fifth Estate examines what’s driving rental prices up and some people out of their homes, including the growing trend of large investment companies buying up rental properties across the country.
To read more: www.cbc.ca/1.6378257
#Rent #HousingCrisis #CBCFifthEstate
producer/director
SAMAN MALIK
written by
SHAINA LUCK
SAMAN MALIK
associate producers
IVAN ANGELOVSKI
MATTHEW PIERCE
editing
AILEEN MCBRIDE
principal cinematography
ANDY HINCENBERGS
JOHN BADCOCK csc
JOE FIORINO
JONATHAN CASTELL
additional cinematography
ROBERT SHORT
STEVE LAWRENCE
TRAVIS BURKE
archival material
CP IMAGES
GETTY IMAGES
REUTERS
SHUTTERSTOCK
special thanks
ALEX BALCH
EMILY POWER
PHILIP ZIGMAN
graphic designers
TIM KINDRACHUK
FROILAN UNTALASCO
graphic director
JEFF GOLDHAR
visual research
LESLIE MORRISON
media management
MATT GUERIN
post audio
ROBERTO CAPRETTA
colourist
SCOTT McINTYRE
rollout producer
ROXANNA WOLOSHYN
social media producer
AVNEET DHILLON
theme music
STEVE D'ANGELO
project manager
VICTOR KERR
associate director
NANCI KING
packaging editor
NANCY DIMENNA
resource coordinators
CHAHAT DESAI
JORDAN ABRAHAM
coordinating associate director
RHONDA KIRKPATRICK
senior producers
ALLYA DAVIDSON
EMMANUEL MARCHAND
executive producer
DIANA SWAIN
original broadcast
MARCH 10, 2022
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About The Fifth Estate: For four decades The Fifth Estate has been Canada's premier investigative documentary program. Hosts Bob McKeown, Gillian Findlay and Mark Kelley continue a tradition of provocative and fearless journalism. The Fifth Estate brings in-depth investigations that matter to Canadians - delivering a dazzling parade of political leaders, controversial characters and ordinary people whose lives were touched by triumph or tragedy.
When selling his house; (Windsor Ontario), my spouse had numerous offers and it came down to two. When he saw that one was a Toronto buyer and offering more than the other buyer, (the other was a mother with two kids), we talked about it and he chose NOT to take the Toronto buyer. Reason? We were aware that our housing market was being devoured by those who were coming in to buy up as much property as possible, rent out the property for very unreasonable amounts and starve our own people out. We weren’t willing to contribute to that. Accepting less money was worth it. (And no, we aren’t well off.)
My husband & I accepted a lower offer from a nicer & more deserving home buyer when we sold our last house, which upset the real estate agent since she was only looking at her commission. She couldn't grasp the concept that certain satisfaction in life (eg. having the privilege to help someone nice & deserving) is priceless.
It's great to see there are many Canadians who think about other Canadians' lives rather than money. Huge respect!
We’ve forgotten our power as people. There are tens of thousands of us who are becoming victim to this system and clearly the government is not going to fix this anytime soon. We need to start thinking where we have the power to influence change. We can put pressure on real estate developers by making our voices heard to them, leaving negative reviews and protesting. It’s time to start making things uncomfortable for those taking advantage.
A decisive point: If you are spending 60% of your income on rent and housing expenses you not spending on the rest of the economy. Restaurants, retail, Entertainment, sports All of these and their subsequent supply chains will also suffer. Exorbitant rents will lead us into a deep deep recession that will take a decade to recover from.
No property, houses nor apartments should be foreign owned and rent control in every province
As a Canadian living in Melbourne Australia, I was astounded at how expensive housing is over her when I immigrated here 20 years ago. According to Demographa, Australia is the only country in the world where 76% of the population is living in housing deemed severely unaffordable (I.e. value more than 6x earnings). The median house price is $1m and a small family cannot find a house to rent under $2500 per month. It’s insane. There has to be solutions to this. Canadian and Australian governments should be working and brainstorming together. Housing is a human right, not a nice to have.
I sold my home 2021 and I've been dollar cost averaging all year long and I've almost maxed out my reserve, so I'm basically waiting for stocks to fully recover so I can break even, but on the other hand, I've been coming by articles on people who are puIIing off recurring proflts of over $150K wlthln just weeks of trades, what am i doing wrong?
The fact I work full time in a law firm and I can’t afford to move out. It makes me sick. I’ve done everything I’m supposed to do to be independent and I can’t be. It makes me sick to my stomach. I don’t know how I will be able to live like this.
We need to band together to pass fierce laws to protect family housing from shell companies, private equity firms, and all other money launderers.
It’s greed, landlords can only raise the rent with restrictions.
One potential solution I see is to prohibit REIT from buying old buildings. Ask them to build from the ground up, this creates new supply.
Sweden has a law in place that you are required to live in the property you own. Strong rent control for existing & new tenants.
Governments have been allowing overseas investors to by property in the US and Canada for decades. I saw this becoming a problem watching shows on HGTV in the early 90's when flipping houses came in vogue. It took a major housing bubble to burst then and it will take another one (hopefully sooner than later) for things to be affordable again. Governments will never care about renters or homeowners because the corporations owning these properties put money in the pockets of those making the laws.
I rent my basement unit for about 20% less, because its just absolutely ridiculous to expect people to pay 2k+ a month for a one bedroom apartment.. its obscene
A close friend rented one house for 27 years, basically paying off the person’s mortgage. I begged my friend to buy a house because she would have qualified with under a 100 monthly increase. As soon as the property was paid off she received a 30 day eviction notice because of a clause “if the owner or family members need the structure to live in”. My friend had since retired and couldn’t afford anything in a 50 miles radius. Finally found a very little one bedroom apartment. Now that complex recently sold to a developing firm and has now been reclassified as “condominiums” and the rent is doubling. I live in another state and has offered her to stay with me but she’s devastated. No one will ever truly have security as a renter because businesses will always take priority to governments.
And then the boomers ask why we don't want to have kids. How and where would I put them? On the fridge? And with what money should I keep them alive? Ridiculous
People are held back from living full lives because of rent.
Sorry, but 2 bedrooms can accommodate a family of 4. Especially if you don't have the money to do so otherwise.
I paid over 70% of my income for many years on rent. I had to survive off just 75$ a month for groceries, which resulted in me eating the exact same meal every single day for over 5 months until I got a second job. Until I started working 60 to 80 hours a week, I didn't have any money coming in for emergencies. This has just gotten worse for other's still working in retail, and I was just barely fortunate enough to get a better paying job which makes my expenses affordable. I personally know I'll probably never be able to afford a house in my lifetime.