More than half of Toronto households live in rental housing. Tenant household incomes (on average, about half of owner incomes) are falling in real dollars, while rents are rising faster than inflation. About one in four tenant households are paying 50% or more of their income on rents, putting them on the brink of homelessness. The income-rent squeeze means that a growing number of households cannot pay the monthly rent. Every week in Toronto, landlords file 500 applications to evict tenants (mostly because the tenants were behind one or two months in rent). On the supply side, new rental construction has collapsed, especially since senior levels of government began cancelling social housing programs, starting in 1993. In 1998, only 114 new rental units were completed, when the city needs at least 2,000 new units annually. The rental vacancy rate is below 1%, which means that there are practically no available units.

Michael Shapcott