How did renting in Toronto get so bad?
Toronto’s rental prices continue to make the city more and more unaffordable. CBC Toronto’s Shannon Martin explores the city's most debated rent issues, the history of building rentals, rent-control policy and the future of Toronto's rental market.
00:00 - Introduction
00:35 - Understanding Toronto's rental pain points
13:15 - When did Toronto run out of rentals?
22:30 - What happened to Toronto when rent control went away?
30:21 - What happens if Toronto stays unaffordable?
»»» Subscribe to CBC News to watch more videos: bit.ly/1RreYWS
Connect with CBC News Online:
For breaking news, video, audio and in-depth coverage: bit.ly/1Z0m6iX
Find CBC News on Facebook: bit.ly/1WjG36m
Follow CBC News on Twitter: bit.ly/1sA5P9H
For breaking news on Twitter: bit.ly/1WjDyks
Follow CBC News on Instagram: bit.ly/1Z0iE7O
Subscribe to CBC News on Snapchat: bit.ly/3leaWsr
Download the CBC News app for iOS: apple.co/25mpsUz
Download the CBC News app for Android: bit.ly/1XxuozZ
»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»
For more than 80 years, CBC News has been the source Canadians turn to, to keep them informed about their communities, their country and their world. Through regional and national programming on multiple platforms, including CBC Television, CBC News Network, CBC Radio, CBCNews.ca, mobile and on-demand, CBC News and its internationally recognized team of award-winning journalists deliver the breaking stories, the issues, the analyses and the personalities that matter to Canadians.
I think this journalist was the first to report on this 5+ years ago when the market changed. Admitting she was living on a friend's couch with a university degree and professional full time job in journalism. Much respect.
Probably still living with her friend, sharing the apartment's expenses (rent, electricity, food, etc.) Only way to survive in Toronto!!!
Rent problem is especially a economic and financial problem, her report is from social angle. She found a problem, but perhaps not asking the right person of the right questions.
@@ericshang7744 The renters created this problem and expect it to be resolved at the landlords' cost.
I think you're correct, I'd forgotten about that.
CBC has some great reporters and reporting. I'm hoping the "defund the CBC" rhetoric you see online is just a loud minority. It'd be a shame to see it go.
Mid-thirties, married, making good money (MSc and BA). Stuck in our rent-controlled, small apartment. We just want a place to live, not an investment. It's so disheartening to have the city you love and grew up in make it clear how much it doesn't want you unless you come with generational wealth.
Sometimes one needs to make a move to a smaller community/town to achieve your goals. City life appears to be very expense. Northern Ontario smaller towns and cities are in need of qualified people in all walks of life, housing is much cheaper and affordable, life isn’t at a fast past, you get to enjoy nature and have healthier life style. A lot of people from big southern cities came and settled in our smaller communities such as Timmins and Cochrane. A 30 yr old home sells in the $300-$400K price range or one can buy a fixer upper for cheaper. One needs to decide wether to keep driving the Mercedes and have no investment and keep paying parking space at ridiculous prices or drive the caravan (still gets you where you want), pay no parking space while having affordable housing and being able to invest in a home. Wages are very comparable in the north as in the south of Ontario. Something to think about and consider. We also have housing shortage here but rents are much cheaper. A two bedroom apartment can vary between $1200 -$1600. The cost savings alone in rent for 4-5 years will give you a good down payment $1k/mth x 60 mths = $60k. That is 15% down payment on a $400k home. Something to consider?
Didnt own a house till 37, took mortages out due to x's etc. Now the house cost what a room does. If I sell and move, its a lateral move unless I move to Manitoba etc. The only people that are winning is the Real Estate Complex. Sorta like the US's MIC, Canada loots housing. With a name like that you should think about moving back to your parents homeland as they respect their citizens. Did you hear that interview with Tucker and Poland's FM? By the time you hit 50, Poland and Hungary will be the last refuge. Im 60, so its too late for me even to buy a tiny house there for investment.
Canada is more than Ontario .... i understand people in Ontario are closed minded and unilingual
You voted for this smh 😂
I used to "quote" liberals and teachers about 20% more that would pay my property taxes then some. However the last couple years no one will even admit they voted for Justin, so again he cost me money. Only 5.5 million people voted for Justin, less than voted for the Conservatives. @@johnsweeney2906
Even if you make 100k+, you're stuck in a small one bedroom, regardless of whether you rent or own. We as young people are trapped, we cannot have families or homes, and it's no wonder birth rates are in decline. Instead of investing in us our government is band-aiding this issue with additional immigration, which only serves to drive up housing demand and prices. Eventually we will become a nation of roommates.
Dude just move out of toronto. The freaking bar scene or club scene aint worth that much. If there is going to ve demand for places to live in downtown there will be people makibg money off that
@@gsin311 Just like there are people willing and able to pay a premium to live Downtown.
So I heard we need 5 million units immediately to stabilize rental prices. Tiny houses? High rise office bunks? Two stories on the prairies? Either way we need a great deal of leadership. So... I say we build it and rebuild it.
That's exactly what the corrupt government (who are made up of mostly landlords and real estate investors) wants. Why do you think they're so deadset on turning Canada into Little India? They want impoverished people living on top of each other and paying exorbitant prices.
Many of those immigrants you mentioned are working building homes, they’re nurses. Doctors. Scientists. Or do you want to take on all those jobs yourself? I help people with English who immigrated to Canada with those jobs. It is not solely on immigrants. This problem has built up over the last 30 years.
Back in 1996 when I got my first job out of university I found a basement apartment off the Danforth for $700 a month. Mind you, I was only making $35k, but it was sufficiently doable so I could also have an used car and take vacations. Nowadays, young grads are screwed.
Those were the good old days of basement renting. Even as late as 2001 or so, I had friend that was renting a basement in the beaches for around $600. Now, you're lucky to get a *room* in a basement for that much.
@@BlueTorontohubby and I first place was a rental at $700 bucks 2002. We had so much money, vacation car. Things were so affordable. It is just crazy today the cost of living. We make triple than what we made before and yet can’t do half the things we did before. You can only cut back for so long. People should be able to enjoy their life.
@@sg5720 I completely agree. It's crazy expensive to live in Canada. Rents keep going up and up, regular increases on top on above guideline increases and it all compounds.
Mind you tho, salaries fresh out of uni are not that great these days either. As a computer science grad, you'll most likely make around 60k fresh out unless you were lucky enough to get a job in FANNG. So salaries barely doubled, but rent went up way over double... And that's just rent. For the LOVE OF GOD DONT INCLUDE THE COST OF LIVING TOO
Well, why did so many easterners keep voting Liberal ?
Corporate ownership of residential housing should be outlawed 😅
Corporate ownership is the result of government making housing too costly to build and own with corporations being among the only entities that can afford to.
Corporate investment in real estate provides housing for many people who would otherwise have none. Blame your government for expensive housing, not the ones bankrolling the construction industry to keep up with the demand. Without corporate ownership, a lot of the housing we have today wouldn't even exist. The money has to come from somewhere. People don't build housing for free.
Sure and you should pay what 100.00 a month
Regulation is needed. No multinational/foreign ownership should be allowed either.
@@jvssocialmedia2459 No. Regulation enabled corporate ownership.
In Thailand, we have also grappled with housing problems in the past. The government tackled this issue by entering the housing market as a competitor to private companies, constructing affordable homes for citizens. This initiative allowed people to own houses at reasonable prices. As a result, the housing prices offered by private companies began to decrease due to reduced demand. I believe the Canadian government could employ a similar strategy to alleviate this housing crisis, should they choose to do so.
But Thailand doesn't have mass immigration.
Thailand's population is over 71.8 million, while Canada's population is just 40 million, with an additional 2 million temporary residents. Do you still think that immigration is the reason for the housing crisis?@@shauncameron8390
@@shauncameron8390 poor excuse when Canada has much more land. Most of Toronto suburbs are just empty
@@shaw7598 Yet most of it's uninhabitable and the vast majority of the population live near the US border.
@@shauncameron8390this is a dumb answer. Thailand's population has increased as much as Canada's in the past 20 years, even without mass immigration. This even puts Thailand at a disadvantage because it means that most of the new people were babies who could not support the economy, here they are mostly qualified workers or students who actually have money to spend and can work jobs
I live outside of Halifax, and it’s terrible here too. This is a Canada wide issue. Whether or not you live in the city doesn’t matter either, because the cost of a vehicle takes away any savings you’d get from living outside of a metropolitan area.
Is it due to Torontonians moving in?
@@shauncameron8390 Yes. And half of India
Canada stopped building apartments 50-60 years ago. It's ridiculous.
Well when you think of it, 50-60 years ago many people would have stayed in buildings short term, and moved in to a single family home because it was do-able. Now people can't afford rent, let alone a home. I'm also kind of curious about how many of the current buildings and rental properties sit with vacant units, because large corporate landlords refuse to drop the rent? Yes, we need more buildings, but we need to make sure every single unit currently available is being filled.
I just obtained a 4 year visa and leaving Canada, hopefully for good. I live in Toronto where you can't walk on grass without stepping in dog sh*t, tents and homeless drug addicts everywhere and do not get me started on the health care system. The Canadian government takes our money through high taxes for the dumbest sh*t. I am so done!
The problem is is everyone is a coward I this country no one fights back that's why they keep screwing us over because everyone let's them. Just like your running away instead of fighting back. I'm also pretty sure her and people like her voted for the people taking our money.
Good
I'm about to be in a tent because of these rent prices. Please don't act like everyone who is homeless is a nuisance or scum. Our government did this to us.
go ahead, leave instead of trying to make things better. people like you are how we got here in the first place.
@@rileyr03 The only way to "make things better" is to have less people. Population equals 3rd world problems.
As a healthcare worker who up until last year lived and worked in downtown TO, all but 1 of my coworkers afforded to work in TO by living with their parents. I left TO, and as I've seen, when the under 30 crowd wants to achieve their dreams, they leave too. Healthcare workers work way too hard to give it all away to sky high rent.
If you live with your parents, that means you are not an adult. Adults pay rent. That is what adults do. This is according to Judge Judy.
True, rents are insane. I have 2 adult kids that still live at home(20-26 yrs). They would love to move out and be more independent but even if they could find a rental equivalent to what they have now, their rent would be so high, they wouldn't be able to afford food. If they found a decent place, so many people are applying.
I lived in my parents' basement until age 30 in Toronto, when I finally left the city to pursue work elsewhere. It was the only way I was ever going to get anywhere in life. That was 6 years ago now. Best decision I ever made.
I'm still with my parents at 26. Finally moving out, but to a western European country 😂, it's wayyy too expensive for what we get here
You can live in Essex county and work in the States. They give great sign up bonuses and better pay.
Stop foreign investment of property ownership.
They already did that. But one problem, though. Foreign students and refugees are exempt.
@@shauncameron8390yeah because foreign students and refugees have money to buy a property loool
They stopped foreign investment, but most of the investment is coming from locals, that's the issue. Only 20% of invesrment units are owned by foreigners according to StatsCan
I left Toronto over a year ago because it became ridiculous and I said enough is enough. I moved to Montréal and bought a condo for half the price you can get a similar condo in Mississauga.
same here
Montréal is also becoming really difficult...hell, it's like this in almost every cities on the continent, so that's an issue with our economies, every governments are still analyzing the situation, but many people will lose a lot of feathers during that time, if not everything. If a Torontonian thinks to move to Montréal, there is a good chance a landlord will try to take advantage, if a 2 bedrooms (4 ½) at 2,500$ may look reasonable, it's not locally.
Montreal has more cooperatives housing . The cost to buy or rent are stable Owners of a co-op own shares of the cooperative instead of owning their unit outright, which would be the case in a condominium. With some co-ops, owners are allowed to sell their co-op shares in the open market, depending on the market rate for co-ops in that location, subject to approval by the co-op board. The city of Montreal is also buying multiplexes in order to limit the cost of renting and the lowest rent in the boroughs.@@IvanLeFou01
You're one of the reasons now people in Montreal are complaining lol well done
My landlord kicked everyone out of three units to fix them up and rent them.out at twice the price. The fact it's legal contributes to the problem.
And how much did this landlord pay in renovations ? Maybe it warranted the rent increase. Housing prices increased dramatically, interest rates almost doubled as well as building material, ……. Landlords cannot let the buildings deteriorate and whatever investment that is made to the building must be recoverable.
That actually is not legal and the tenants can sue to get a full year of rent back.
Kicking people out to renovate and rent at a higher price is illegal. Renoviction. If someone is already leaving, you renovate and increase price to market value, that is totally fair. @@raymondgagne8363
@@allistairtrent not for rentals after 2018 iirc. thank ford for that
@@Darkorbitagi go read section 53 of the residential tenancies act. It specifically describes how a tenant has the right of first refusal to reoccupy a renovated unit at a cost no more than legally possible had the occupancy not been interrupted. It does not seem to specify for units rented only before 2018. Though, it does specify that the tenant needs to submit a rofr notice in writing prior to vacating the unit... Which is probably how landlords are getting around this, because tenants are probably unaware of their right for first refusal. See 53(2).
Everybody talks about rent control. But nobody talks about "mortgage control", "property tax control", "property insurance control" and "maintenance costs control".
Yeah what about allowing people to buy an affordable place.
I owned a couple of dozen places in Edmonton, Alberta throughout the decades. I wished at the time they had rent controls to protect the owners from falling rents.
You forgot to mention homeowner greed. Home owners should not support policies that encourage increased property prices beyond general inflation.
@@dougpatterson7494 Homeowners make up 66% of Canada's population.
You do know that apartment renters pay way more property tax per square foot than homeowners right? It’s included in their rent.
I left Toronto around 2014 after just shy of 15 great years living in the city, just before all the prices went crazy and the crime went up with it. Toronto is a great city but if the politicians don't get a handle on the high rents, housing shortages, and crowded transit the city is going to empty out and hurt the Canadian economy. As it stands now, I have no idea how average income people can afford to live there. I rented a one bedroom on average for about $900 to $1300 between 2002 and 2014; the same now goes for about $2200-2400/month. That's without counting the high cost of everything else. Love Toronto, hate their situation.
It's amazing the price increase - completely untethered from anything. The same landlord who was making a good return at $1400 per month is now getting $2400 with no increased costs or investment in the unit. It is just a huge flow of wealth from the lower classes to a lucky few landlords.
@@vmoses1979 Why should prices be tethered to anything? All prices should be determined by supply and demand. Whatever you are WILLING to pay.
@@lesliewilk2307 You are not very bright. People are generally willing to pay whatever it takes for a roof over their heads which means being a landlord is not the same as a diner selling hamburgers. See what Adam Smith had to say about rentiers and how their power and wealth ought to be severely restricted.
@@vmoses1979 NYC has very restrictive rules about what landlords can do and even charge for many units. You know what that causes? Forever vacancies where the landowner sits on the property and never fixes anything, willing to let the entire place fall apart but keeping it because it raises their asset portfolios. Everywhere they've tried to governmentally plan housing, it ends up terrible. From Detroit's plan that started in the 1970s to San Francisco's current zoning rules. You know where the cities in the US with the lowest rent rates are? Cities like Houston that have no zoning rules, no rent price ceilings, and no "affordable rent units" that are always abused. I can rent an apartment 10 minutes away from the downtown core in Houston for the equivalent of $1000 Canadian. Both Houston and Toronto + GTA have the same population right now. Central planners screw over everything. They are incapable of meting out market forces. Tuition subsidization in Canada is tethered and it hasn't stopped tuition from rising over double in just 10 years because there are other factors they stupidly did not consider (ie. the bloating of the administrative staff in each academic institution).
@@lesliewilk2307because there are some things that are absolutely basic needs, like housing and Healthcare. You can't tether that to free market principles because people do not have a choice. And greater wealth gaps will end up hurting society as a whole, no one is immune
I ironically moved to Toronto in 2007 and got into one of the many rent controlled apartment complexes around Young and Eglinton. Awesome neighborhood to live in! I left Toronto in 2017 and settled into a community in Southern Ontario also in a rent controlled unit. Toronto had changed in the years I lived there, became a mega construction xone at Yonge and Eglinton and I was fed up with the noise, the busy streets, traffic and rude service people. I feel lucky to have made those moves when I did and will never give up my very inexpensive rent controlled apartment!! This was a very interesting show. I think there are a few solutions that other people mentioned, high speed trains into the city from the suburbs and surrounding cities and towns, new York's solution of providing staff an apartment in the city for the days of the week they work there, appointing 10% of units in all buildings as rent controlled, more work from home options. I do think it is up to the government to figure out a solution and fast. It's incredible how fast this has all happened!! I do see Toronto hitting $4000 rents and soon.
Funny i moved to GTA from Ottawa 2007 and moved away to Uxbridge in 2017
@@theseproblemsmatter1 I know the guy who owns the Swiss Chalet there. He owns a bunch of them including the one in Markham in front of Markville Mall. He still lives in Uxbridge.
There was a pool hall just down the street from the Eglinton theatre. I used to play the pinball machines there in the 1980's.
I left a 1 bedroom at Yonge and Eg in 2015 for just over $1k/month. My how things have changed! Learning of the new average in this video had me gasping. I just can't imagine managing that! It breaks my heart.
@@wanderlust161k/month wtf I'm ded
I’m 37. Have a wife and a 4 year old son. She is a nurse, myself HVAC professional. Together we make over 100 000 a year but there is still student debt to pay and we rent $2100. 2 bed 2 bath and we are thankful. There is no savings and the govm’t doesn’t give any kickbacks for our sectors. Yet as citizens we have devoted our time to helping this country and Canadians. It’s time to revisit housing, nurses, the trades to support growth and our economy. At the rate we are going my son won’t be able to buy a home for his kids. And myself and my wife will have a very difficult retirement. Trudeau hasn’t improved the country in my opinion since he has been in office.
I grew up in Toronto and left when I was 39. Moved to Barrie to (what I thought) was cheaper. Boy, was I wrong...
Oh dear. You sure were. It costs no less and it’s such a garbage city.
I think stagnant salaries and limited white collar work opportunities contribute as much to the housing affordability crisis as the rising rents. And then there are the government enabled oligopolies - the big 5 banks that control the Canadian financial system , 3-4 grocery store chains that control cost of food, 4 telecom providers that ensure that Canada has one of the most expensive mobile data plans in the world - all of them ensure that the cost of living stays high. Toronto has very few opportunities for upward mobility for most young people choosing to living here. Not saying that rents are not the problem, but they are only part of the problem. For instance the average rent in NYC is ~$4300 for a 1 bedroom place, which is almost 50% higher than what it is here in Toronto - but then the average salaries are substantially higher too.
And then there's the government itself with its bloated bureaucracy and the high taxes necessary to support it.
None of the problems you listed deal directly with supply and demand of housing (and why wages aren't comparative to NYC). Every major city in a country that has expanded its immigration quotas is having this problem. The cost of London has also shot up, same as Toronto. Simply put, the federal government (in both countries) have established the highest rates of migration ever, with increases per annum for the past decade. It's quicker and easier to rubberstamp 500 visa application than it is to build 1 single condo. That, along with the wage stagnation that brings (since it's an immediate increase in demand for jobs, with no natural, equivalent reaction in supply) spells out why Toronto's rent and housing issues will persist. The current government in 2015 laid out a plan to build more affordable housing. That's 8 years ago and things have only gotten worse because none of their scheme addresses the problem. Sure, they built some extra housing, but the term "affordable housing" is non-sense for Toronto and the GTA since the market will dictate if a simple bungalow costs $1 million or not. And at what cost? The government subsidized some of that by printing money... which created inflation for everyone.
@CanadianEhHole I think they are very much at the root of our immigration strategy, which of course impacts housing affordability. The oligopolistic nature of Canada’s economy makes for very little r&d / innovation investment, and means we are very unproductive comparatively. "Canada ranks 17th of OECD countries regarding the percentage of GDP spent on R&D and among the lowest of G7 peers." And, there are generally speaking two ways to grow an economy - get more productive, or get more workers. If we were more productive, we wouldn't need to rely as much on immigration. From the CPA of Canada: "That structural decline shows no sign of stopping. Baby Boomers, who account for about one-quarter of our labour force today, will retire en masse over the next 15 years, and there are simply not enough young people to take their place. In a previous column, I noted that the old-age dependency ratio-the size of the 65-plus population relative to those aged 15 to 64-is projected to fall from four to one today to roughly two to one by 2060. Consider the efficiency of our systems-healthcare, education, public transit-right now. Now consider how well they’ll function when there are two working people for every one retired person. Our systems were not designed for the demographic reality that we now face. If you’re not worried about this by now, you ought to be. Think of economic growth in its simplest terms: the number of people working and how much they produce. The labour side of that equation isn’t growing, which means that it’s up to productivity growth to shoulder the expansion of the Canadian economy. But as the numbers show, our recent track record there is abysmal."
Please do more long videos like this. So good!
The other problem is this…In Toronto and Vancouver, there are endless brand new condos towers being built. The government is including these as new home constructions. But these are not condos being built for average Canadians. Almost every single condo tower being built is a luxury condo with 500sqft units starting at close to a million dollars. Most Canadians cannot afford a million dollar mortgage. So who is buying these units that are popping up like weeds everywhere? The answer is wealthy Chinese foreign nationals or investors looking to convert their unit into an AirBnB. In other words, there is actually virtually no housing being built for Canadian citizens. None at all. The entire Canadian housing market has become a free for all ponzi scheme for foreigners to get wealthy. If I were Prime Minister, I would completely ban foreign ownership of residential property and limit ownership to citizens and permanent residents who can demonstrate they live in Canada at least 6 months of the year. I would limit ownership to two properties…a primary residence and a secondary residence. Airbnb and VRBO would be completely banned
so what about all the Canadians owning property in the US as well as Chinese Saudis Etc. The problem lies in companies staying in Toronto if they packed up and moved to a cheaper area their staff would be better off. Look at Walmart's head office in the US one of the cheapest cities to live. People could also live anywhere in Canada Saskatchewan is still very affordable and Saskatoon is an incredible place to live. If you choose to live in Toronto you are part of the problem as well and need to think about if you could be better off somewhere else. I lived in Toronto for almost 2 years and as soon as that job ended we packed up and got the hell out.
This is already the case currently. They have been cracking down on foreign investment since 2018 foreign tax. Currently we are in a 2 year foreign buyer ban, so no purchaser can acquire real estate unless they have a PR, a Citizenship or a work permit with over 181 days on it.
@@nikak4444loopholes..ever heard of them?
Look up statistics by Statistics Canada. Most of these units are not owned by Chinese people, they are owned by locals, only like 1/5th of investment units are owned by foreigners. This is pretty evident in Toronto, at my local real estate analysis company, the 5 people at the top own 19 properties in Toronto alone, I can imagine that they own more outside of the city as well. My sister's fiancé's family of 4 also owns 11 properties combined throughout the GTA
@@MegaJellyNelly Foreign investment or foreign investment subsidiaries or local investment companies are who these new properties are for. Maybe I'm wrong and people who make 100,000+ are wasting their future earnings on an inflated, speculative asset but this is usually something that companies invest into for a variety of reasons.
One thing that could help is to have actual super high speed bullet trains. These trains are in 350kph+ speed range. Such a train could run from downtown Toronto out east 200km towards Kingston with some stops in between. A high speed bullet train could cover that length within 1hr. This expands the supply of _viable_ housing for Toronto workers/students and thus will put downwards pressure on home prices. Unfortunately, USA and Canada are _terrible_ at building out infrastructure quickly and within budget. The legal/political/ecological environment is super slow.
If a bullet train is built, investors will go there and buy up all housing supply and ask for high rent again. Unless the government is willing to 1. build a train 2. impost law that each person can only own if this is their principal residence and their only residence 3. impost another law that no one is allow to resell within a number of years and priced only for a limited percentage higher than original price (must be lower than salary inflation percentage), the house there wil never stay affordable
@@donnamak3880lol would never happen in a place as corrupt as Canada. There was a town in North Ontario that decided to sell 100 plots of land to boost its population. A few hands were shook and cash handed to the Mayor and all 100 plots were sold to 1 property corporation.
What's this a joke?
@@parkerbohnn How so?
Not easy, even 250km per speed train maintenance takes 1 million per km
It became bad when the Canadian government gave too many incentives to foreign investors and forgot about their own citizens well being.
No foreign investors = stagnant economy.
@@shauncameron8390 And yet here we are in a stagnant economy. But with unaffordable housing too. We're bringing in immigrants with no economic value, but they still need to live somewhere so they compete with us on the housing market while we don't have enough construction workers to be anything close to be able to keep up with the demand. Great planning by our leaders.
Yes, the government and the CBC promote ideologies and ideas that are against the best interest of Canadian citizens
@@shauncameron8390bad long term investment , Hungry(doing better than Canada)won't allow foreigners buy properties, Mexico you can , but foreigners get taxed very high.
and the insane reckless government spending..the country is broke. its going to get real bad
Great job CBC and the journalist who did this story! As a renter in this city, it is tough!
As someone who has both immigrant parents who truly love Canada, the immigration population every year recently is insane. Almost a million in 2021 and 2022. It used to be just 200,000 to 250,000 immigrants every year from the 1980's to the end of the 2010's. No wonder rent skyrocketed from 2021 to now.
As an immigrant myself, I love that the cbc refuses to acknowledge that immigration is a massive issue.
Immigrant here as well and I'm fine with people coming like I did to live a better life but for all that is holy in this world, why can't the government see there isn't the infrastructure and housing is ready for that many people??????
@@CNNRNNTransformer They can see that. They just don't care. Massive immigration is propping up housing prices for the boomers and giving big business lots of dirt cheap labour.
@@CNNRNNTransformer Dear Immigrants, Canada extends beyond the GTA. Thanks.
I don't blame individuals for coming to change/improve their lives but it is very sad that the culture of Canada (and definitely the CBC) is one of such extreme political correctness and censorship that issues cannot be discussed in reality and solutions cannot be found. I don't think it is unreasonable to debate whether a news organization that is tax payer funded but unwilling to discuss many topics should even be kept operating. Hopefully the next prime minister will have the courage to speak in reality and make big changes.
I am finally retired and happy in a Developing country( Philippines ),with its challenges , bought a small hobby farm with a new House,nearly 2 acres, All for $100,000 life is good! I feel like I'M in PARADISE!
When Ford eliminated rent control, rent has doubled since then.
Yes I'm suffering because of it
While all the housing still under rent control is hard to come by.
That's for NEW units. Ford doesn't control greedy landlords doubling the rent once somebody moves out of an old unit.
Rent has doubled in BC too, and we have all kinds of rent control. The problem is too many new people and not enough construction.
Not to mention the utterly broken LTB process.
We are in an absolute nightmare
I live near a newly-built rental building. The units are lovely, but the rents range from 3K to 10K, with no rent control. The new tenants have recently faced increases of 5 to18 percent. Something does not compute here.
To all involved in creating this content, amazing job! Takes so much effort to do this and it's really informative
I said bye bye Toronto, so glad I did. More affordable housing and way less traffic. I was born in Toronto and lived in the GTA for 43 years. I will never look back. I'm so happy I'm a tradesman and can pretty much get employment in any area I want
The backwards thinking in this video is nuts. The last few decades of demand side economic policy is the source of almost all of our problems. The "economist" saying that rent control is essential is ignoring the entire source of the problem - the lack of supply. It's the first law of economics: Supply and Demand. If the demand for rental units goes up, so do rent prices. Rent control will absolutely SMASH the supply of new rental units, which will do nothing to ease demand. As you can see later in the video, the removal of rent control attracted far more developers. It's insane. It's like saying "food is an essential resource, all food should be free". You'll end up with a starving world. So what does this mean? Keep eliminating barriers to supply - allow the developers to build. Efficient supply is the only path to true long lasting wealth and prosperity. Asking the government for more money will just lead to more disaster and add to demand. The government can't manage anything. The government can't even fund it's policy right now without borrowing. Borrowing is a non-progressive way for the government to collect funds, and the effects of borrowing are felt most by the poorest among us. The west has made a terrible mess of itself.
It can be explained in one word: GREED
No, it's not. There's a major supply and demand issue. Fix that ratio and you will have cheaper housing. It's not greed it's just how free markets work.
You make it sound like that is a bad thing. We are all motivated by personal gain. How many people would go to work if they didn’t get paid. The problem is supply and demand. Period. Too many people and not enough homes.
@@KeananSundberg So would you sell the house you bought 10 years ago for 300k at the same price today? no you would sell it for over a million because you would want to make as much money as possible for yourself and you know that is its market value. This way of thinking is normal, but at the root is all greed. Humans are naturally greedy which is the norm.
@@drwet1 So would you sell the house you bought 10 years ago for 300k at the same price today? no you would sell it for over a million because you would want to make as much money as possible for yourself and you know that is its market value. This way of thinking is normal, but at the root is all greed. Humans are naturally greedy which is the norm.
So rents have gone up because landlords weren't greedy before and rented their properties below market value, but then decided randomly one day that they were going to be more greedy and rent their properties for as much as they could get?
But so many government employees have an investment property, so why would they want to fix it?
If you are not in the financial market space right now, you are making a huge mistake. I understand that it could be due to ignorance, but if you want to build generational wealth and cultivate financial knowledge, you must be in the market......
I agree with you and I believe that Professionals are currently dominating the market since they have access to both the necessary strategy for making money in this industry.
That's awesome to hear. I invested 5k in Robin hood about a year ago and it steadily went down, now my portfolio is down to $800. I don't know what to do and i am in between jobs
@@Florencecoxx Understanding your financial needs and making effective decisions is very essential. If I could advise you, you should seek the help of a financial advisor. For the record, working with one has been the best for my finances.
I’m Glad i stumbled on this. Please, if its not too much of a hassle for you, can you drop the details of the expertise that assisted you and how to get in touch.
@@Florencecoxx I get guidance from *Sarah Alma Martinez* Most likely, the internet should have her basic info..
Affordable rent is a dream for most Canadians regardless of city, just sold moved from Durham ,Oshawa to Calgary, Alberta , it is insanely expensive here too, with staples / food costing 10% to 20% more!
I’m too am from Calgary, since 2023 my rent has increased $200.00 per year. Again in 2024 another 200.00 increase. Calgary is no better than Toronto- we are all on the ledge of financial failure 🥹
Yesterday I saw two families in two little houses of nylon on the side of the road and broke my heart when I saw that
Hah, I was just having a conversation with someone about this a few hours before this was released. I'm so lucky that my apartment costs apparently almost $1000 less than the average holy heck... But even this unit the yearly would be $70000 or something to actually afford reasonably. It's just so expensive in Toronto.
😿
IIRC Houston, TX has no zoning regulations. You can build a house in an area that sprung up as an industrial park and no one can tell you that you can't. I think the city has more than once put out referendums out to the people to instate zoning laws and it was always shot down pretty hard. People just like being able to build wherever they want and more power to them, I think it gives the city a unique approach to property development.
The problem with Houston is that is was designed by the same people who built other cities at the time and it's filled with giant parking lots.
The boomers have no idea how good they had it (have it).
I’m very lucky. I have a fixed rate mortgage. It’ll never increase, however property taxes and insurance may increase some; not 30% every year. I don’t understand why people aren’t protesting in the streets. These prices are astronomical and ridiculous. I don’t know how the average person can afford these prices. Are you all going to lay on the floor and let them walk all over you and take it? It’s your money. Organize, get it together. People are heard in large groups. Write and call your representatives. DON’T STOP!! If you’re only going sit there, it’ll never change; only get worse. People were brave and involved and used to get enraged and acted for change, when it was obvious they were being treated unfairly. Not anymore.
I left Toronto in 2021 and moved to a small town. Im many ways, living here is better. I own a home and don't worry about being renovicted. I live in peace and quiet and I have space and a backyard. I've always been a city girl, but even I can see when it's not worth staying.
there used to always be _somewhere_ artists could live dirt cheap in exchange for living in a rough or undesirable area (eventually then turning it into a hip place to live i.e. gentrification) Maybe technology made it easier to live anywhere and be functional, but this system seems to have broken down
We need many controls to be in place, not only rent control. Like new-built control. Like at M6 which is recently released in Mississauga, I don't understand why there is need for 271 sq ft unit. Even in Toronto, we totally have way for space to build enough number of homes instead of matchboxes.
People live alone now... we're not marrying, not having kids nor hosting our elders. And we'll own nothing and be happy, the WEF says
With so many international students entering here as temporary residents, why is anyone that surprised ?
Thank you for making this video.
This is a very good segment. Well reported and thoughtful.
And boomers claim they did it all on their own. Yes, all of us could afford $400 rent and $10 000 on a home. Most jobs didn't even require university so throw that into the equation as well.
Unfortunately, there is no future for poor working people.
Cold countries shouldn’t have such pricey Realestate.
But they do, because they also have heating costs.
Why doesn't anyone mention all the absurd ogvernment fees before one can build a home in Vancouver. I heard something like $250,000 or more
When the government taxes housing in both the building stage with fees for permits and also taking a long time to approve new buildings and zoning laws makes housing less affordable. The government also charges property taxes which cost thousands of dollars every single year that drives up the cost of housing by 30-40% then if they didn't tax housing. If you want affordable housing we should make housing tax exempt and not give subsidizes for mortgages. The subsidizes on mortgage gives advantages to upper income people over lower income.
So many other cities in Canada to live. Unemployment is also higher in Toronto than many other cities . Add to that a huge immigration influx in Toronto it doesn't help.
When Doug Ford is in the pocket of Developers, it's not going to change.
Very detailed analysis, I liked it
Plenty of crown land, bring back effective homesteading options and release more parcels for development.
Building in density is not a good idea. You should talk to Hungary. They can tell you about the problems that it caused their country, and how they have been trying to change it.
No place on the planet exists where rent control worked.
Building materials have increased 2 to 5 times in price these past couple years. Rent control isn't gonna help fix this problem. Things are only gonna get worse.
An amazing content. Thanks
Toronto rent problem seems to be that of demand and supply, high demand because of immigration and low supply because of government red tape. Otherwise I don’t think it should take 100 months to build a high rise building to accommodate multiple family.
The "red tape" argument has been demolished by economists who have actually looked at the evidence. There's more building and construction than ever before in the GTA, at breakneck speed. There are tens of thousands of units that have already been greenlit (some for years, in fact), but there aren't enough construction workers and skilled workers to do the job. That's not caused by "red tape," it's caused by labour shortages in those specific areas.
@@portpass1974 Due to the government indirectly discouraging people from taking up skilled trades.
It's not red tape that is the problem, it is bad government policies.
There are tons of new condo buildings being built in Toronto, many of them sit unoccupied because they were bought by investors (international or local). The problem is they are not affordable to the average person in Toronto. Many of them start at 700-800k for a studio....
It's like no one is willing to talk about the +20 BILLION dollars worth of real estate across Canada sitting empty, having been bought by rich Chinese investors in the last decade.
All these people bashing landlords without realizing part of the shortage is investors no longer get buildings to rent--they become condos--investors are getting out of renting--the small landlord sold as well leaving even less for renters--but you all keep it up and soon it will be tents for all
Also let's not forget letting in 900k international students and 500k immigrants as well as refugees. We add more demand and we don't increase the supply accordingly.
NIMBY was mostly because of safe houses that cities try to place in many locations, no matter how much the houses cost around it. They were worried about the community, their safety with the people there and the value of their homes.
And none of their “concerns” are justified. NIMBYs are Karens. All of them. Nobody should be paying them any attention.
Too many immigrants! Says an immigrant whose PR application is still in process... It amazes me how so many Canadians are so unwilling to acknowledge issues brought by mass immigration which breaks the record every single year as if it was some moral high ground they'd rather standing on. You are not a bad person if you blame(partially of course) immigrants.
Immigrints are just doing what is given to them, you wouldn't get mad at water for tearing down a levee would you?
What happened to the American/Canadian dream? "If you work hard, it's possible to achieve the American dream"? It no longer applies. $100k+ income makers say it's not enough to purchase even a 1 bedroom condo. Fast food workers and IT techs work just as hard in different ways. One worker doesn't deserve affordable, humane housing any more or less than the other worker.
We canadians stick our heads in the sand and pretend there is no problem or that we are too rude to acknowledge whats staring back at us.... welcome to Canada....... @@morimoko
Indeed, not a smartly managed immigration, just a free for all, like Trudeau loves it.
@@user_gov Dream still stands. Just don't move to Toronto and complain! there are plenty of rural towns in Canada crying for workers. Oh, you say less facilities? that may be true, but how many public swimming pools do you need?
Drop the rates.
and then the prices go sky high
The government needs to step in and cap the prices on houses and condos and rent in order to sustain a roof over our heads at an affordable price.
No. The government has done more than enough damage. Plus, rent control enabled Air BnB, renoviction and corporate ownership's existences.
I had a 600 sq ft 1 bedroom at wellesley and jarvis for 900 a month in 2012. I moved to Montreal, but was considering moving back a few years ago. Saw an apartment in the building, almost indentical, cheap renovations, the rent had increased to 2400 in 2022. Wild.
There's a strong correlation between what's happening in Canada and Australia.
Australia is just Canada South
The Chinese own everything in both countries but many more Chinese are local to Canada than in Australia.
How did renting in Toronto get so bad? Answer: (in no particular order) corporate investors, foreign investors, immigrants, international students, zoning laws, inflation (but not wage inflation), i don't know, did I miss something?
All of which can be traced back to government policy and intervention.
I lived in Mississauga from August 1998 until August 2003. In the 5 years, rent went up $200. One year, they hiked my rent $94/mth. Several tenants protested and the management was angry because we had talked about the rent we paid between ourselves. A taboo it seems. I got a new carpet all over the apartment and a 10 buck reduction.
Moved out of Toronto 6 years ago for work and it was the BEST decision I ever made. A mere six years later, I went from from still living in my parents' basement at age 30 to now having my own place, just 2 hours up the the 401. I'd've never have had the same opportunity had I stayed in the city. I still visit it to see family, but damn you'll never catch me permanently living there ever again. Even on my current decent salary, I wouldn't be able to afford anything more than a single bedroom apartment there if I went back. No thanks.
Canada is a country that has damaged its future due to foolish policies. Canada will be stagnant for decades to come. Take your talent and skills and go where you are treated best
I would never rent my house in Ontario. The LTB is a nightmare.
On a side note, I'm impressed with the background music selected, that's the Toronto sound...samples for like Ghetto Concept, Citizen Kane , Saukrates (his original stuff) etc etc
Fortunately.. Thousands of Toronto folks have moved to "micro-mobility" as electric assist bikes and trikes saving thousands annually versus the high costs of the automobile. ;) ...
Having one the highest population growth rates through mass immigration, with one of the lowest amount of homes per capita out of any developed country globally... what did we all expect to happen
I didn't expect corporations to own 1 in 5 homes in Canada. I also didn't expect the pandemic.
Criminal intent
@mikeb5664 exactly and on top of that mass migration 😂
@@alexxx7066 There is a positive in all of it if you know where to look.
idk maybe that the government wouldn't let giant companies take advantage of people just looking for a better life? everyone deserves the right to humane, decent living conditions (with a PROPER living room and kitchen!)
So here's some math. The city of Toronto is about 2.8 million people living in 1.25 million private dwellings on a surface area of 631 km2. The city of Paris, France is 2.16 million people in 1.4 million private dwellings on a surface area of 105 km2. That means the dwelling density is 6.7x higher in Paris and the population density is 4.6x higher. Torontonians also prefer to have more people-per-household on average: 2.2 vs 1.5 in Paris. If we scale up the housing density to match Paris and keep Toronto's people-per-household constant, that would mean 7.16 million new dwellings and *16.0 million more people* in these new dwellings. Even if we assume tastes change and go to Parisian people-per-household, it would still mean room for 11.1 million more people in the new dwellings. If more were needed, you could build higher than six stories (Paris buildings are rarely higher than six stories) or increase the density of surrounding suburbs.
You have hit the nail on the head. This is solution to our housing problem. Increase density. Increase supply. Then there will no need for rent controls.
Nobody “prefers” to have seventeen people packed into one house.
Torontonians..time to explore the world! I left 20 years ago and lived in 5 countries. Still broke as hell (my fault), but way better than the alternative.
Can’t we limit rent to percent of mortgage? Or what mortgage would be if it’s owned outright. (Purchase price / average mortgage term + current bank interest rate) x 1.3 for investment purposes… crazy idea?
Sorry to all the free market people but government controlled purpose built rentals need to be the focus. The market has no inherent interest in humanity only in creating wealth (which our system has endorsed for decades). Where are governments on this issue??? No one in canada is paying less than 30% of their income on housing unless they have owned their house for decades or they achieve a top 1% income and don't have to focus on their budget.
Collecting revenue from the high rents and housing prices their polices enabled.
Instead of rental what about affordable purchase homes?😊
Nah, because our corrupt laurentian politicians are all corrupt criminals who will exploit the system to enrich themselves. Socialism is just the economic equivalent of flat earth theory. Only crazy or mentally challenged people think that it works.
@@asadb1990 I hear you but the free market just wont let it happen. We need radical change at this point. its just shocking out there......
@@bentleygrove106 No we don't. And Canada is barely free-market anymore. Government meddling created this housing crisis.
Is option #2 to just slow immigration to match the housing availability? I'm not against immigration, but, at some point we will be letting immigrants into Canada who will have no place to stay, no place to sleep, no place to live. Is this what we want for immigrants and Canadian-born Canadians??? If your house is flooding, you don't build another house, you turn off the water at the first house.
I haven't seen a purpose built rental in hamilton put up anywhere near me. I've been here almost 10 years. Might just be the areas I live, but I feel like we really need them here.
Is now a good time to sell the condo unit? I'm just curious
50+ years of rent control and government interference. No one in their right mind would want to be a landlord. So they only thing being built now is luxury condos. Build it, sell it walk away. It is that simple. Very tight competition in the rental market has made rents sky high
TLDR - It is nice to have affordable renting, but current economies would never allow it which takes priority over anything.
That is a total non-answer.
Not only Toronto. my little hometown of St. Thomas is unaffordable. so is London. its everywhere. Even low level landlords are just grasping at raising rents everywhere to everyone I know.
Lowest rental of a bachelor apartment in Toronto is now $2,500.00 Canadian. Totally impossible to do when you have to pay for electricity, cellphone/telephone, transit fare or pass, groceries, and dental services (not covered by OHIP).
In Calgary here. I think a big issue with increasing density is the go ahead is given to developers who don't have any responsibility to the community and all they care about is their bottom line. The other issue is the city waits way too long to adjust the infrastructure accordingly. I'm seeing a lot of multiplexes going up on every corner. That's great to give us more homes, but adding the vehicles of at least ten additional homes for every city block (if a multiplex goes on all four corners) is a huge and sudden increase in traffic that the areas just can't handle. It makes sense that people living in single home neighbourhoods don't want these changes.
The idea with increasing density is to avoid keeping and using a car. The public transit infrastructure is supposed to match the travel requirement of the majority of new residents.
TOO MUCH IMMGRATION! stop it! when there's more people than houses you created the problem and make wealthy land owners greedier
Thanks for approachably explaining in 40 min, what I do as my unpaid part-time, second job. I'm one of those people who got mad, because the social contract has been broken, and eff the idea that one has to make oodles of money. Safe housing is a human right. To fully explain the complexity of this type of advocacy would require a LOT longer, but it's nice to have a link I can suggest as "here's a brief intro to the basics of why I'm passionate about this"
No it isn't.
"Safe housing" is covered under the definition of "habitability" in "the right to adequate housing" which is part of international law. Aside from the possible argument that the word "safe" is inaccurate, I'm open to hearing a well reasoned explanation of your opinion.
@@lynn858 We don't live under international law. International law is a made up thing the UN does for fun. It binds no one and cannot make anyone do anything. It's fantasy. Housing is not a human right. If you want people to have more housing, let the market build more houses, lower income taxes and give people good wages. And keep immigration rates reasonable and/or tied to housing.
@@lynn858 International law is not legally binding. And countries are well within their rights not to provide housing let alone safe housing.
Except both Canada and Ontario signed onto that law. Signing an international law says "yes, we value this, this is something we agree to". It's progressive recognition, that was part of what they signed to... but the reality is regressive.
Why not mention that most of these "entities" are FOREIGN...??? Big cities everywhere else have been rich only for sometime... get roommates or move to somewhere less affected by immigration. The richest, regardless of nationality, can buy and exploit anywhere they choose!
Nice work! Hard to cover such a complex issue in a single feature! Most of the experts were academics. Would have been nice to have an interview with a developer and have them answer your questions.
I Googled the question "How long does it take to build a medium sized apartment building?" and the answer was 18 to 24 months. Where do they get the 100 month figure from?
It's because they don't want to build those because they're not as "profitable". Much of the issue is developers and the government using housing as a bank.
Our government is a crook who has the interest of the builders rather than the people who voted him in. Our prime minister is also weak and looks after the rich and powerful. Almost every level of government is broken and doesn’t care ro help the disenfranchised. If you need to make 100k to afford a 1 bedroom in this city, something is wrong.
@@irahryphson8879 And they're not as profitable due to government meddling that made rentals too costly to build and maintain.
It also had to do with how long it takes to get approved
Thank you ford, you made me a lot of money. Evicting oeople is most profitabke for me
Watching from Brampton, Ontario, Canada ❤❤❤❤❤
450,000 immigrants expected in early 2024... not a single mention of that in this video. Doesn't matter how many rentals you build... the waves of immigration make those unobtainable homes. Even immigrants are living on the streets. Its a disaster of a city. No end in sight.
Remove the Stress Test to allow more renters to purchase. Lenders can then decide, on a case by case basis, if a borrower can support the payments. For instance, the cost of renting is often higher than a mortgage payment would be for someone with a reasonable downpayment.
Agree
what u said makes no sense - the stress test is the test to see if a borrower can support the payments, maybe u should go educate yourself
Not at 7% mortgages!! A Million dollar condo requires $100,000 in annual payments. Most can’t afford that.
More longer reporting like this please! 😊
Rent control is like price control for food. It works for a while when people are hungry but farmers stop farming when they no longer have money to buy fertilizers/equipments and everyone starve. An owner can only maintain and pay off the debt when they have an income. When they go bankrupt the bank take back the house and nobody gets to live in there why the bank let the house rot.
I cannot move from my purpose built rent controlled unit in GTA...luckily it is ok, even though it has old kitchen and bathroom sorely out of date, and occasional insect issues and burst pipes...people need to realize that is a thing in old buildings like this. I feel very lucky to have it..paying less than half of renoed units and all inclusive in nice area.