Photo credit: CBC
Skyrocketing Rents in Toronto and Vancouver Force Low-Income Residents into 'Deplorable' Living Conditions
FEB 26, 2023  (10:16)
BY ARMIN

Skyrocketing Rents in Toronto and Vancouver Force Low-Income Residents into 'Deplorable' Living Conditions

As rents continue to soar in Canada's two most populous cities, Toronto and Vancouver, those with modest incomes are being priced out of their communities.

With vacancy rates at 0.9% and 1.7%, respectively, people on low or fixed incomes face an increasingly difficult challenge. This is having a major impact on our cities, as the diversity of our populations is being threatened.

Rentals.ca's recent numbers show that to afford a one-bedroom apartment in Vancouver comfortably, a person must earn about $109,000 a year; in Toronto, the annual salary is around $98,000.

However, those working full-time for minimum wage make less than $30,000 annually. This leaves too many people with no option but to live in what Ricardo Tranjan, a political economist and senior researcher at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, calls "deplorable" conditions.


In the following video, Marketplace exposes those conditions, including crumbling ceilings, cockroach infestations and sharing a bed with a stranger.



Clearly, the current rental market in Vancouver and Toronto is not sustainable for anyone struggling to make ends meet, and something needs to be done to address this crisis.

Source: CBC
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