By the Numbers: Rising Rents in Canada

Toronto – August 7, 2023 – There is currently no province in Canada where workers can afford an apartment at minimum wage. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives released a new report called “Can’t afford the rent” that examines the gap between the minimum wage and what it costs to rent an apartment in Canada. In other words, the rental wage is how much people need to earn to pay rent without spending too much of their income on it.

What does the rental wage look like?

• 110 hours:in British Columbia, you would have to work 110 hrs/month at the $15.65/hr minimum wage to pay for a 2-bedroom rental apartment. In Ontario, you’d need to work 100 hrs/month at $15.50 min wage.
• $29.90: The hourly wage required to afford a 2-bedroom rental apartment in Ontario. In British Columbia, you need to earn $33.10/hr to afford a 2-bedroom rental.
• $42.60: The hourly wage needed to afford a 2-bedroom apartment in Vancouver. In Toronto, it’s $40.03/hr.
• Three: There are only three cities (CMAs) left in Canada where the one-bedroom rental wage is lower than the minimum wage. All are in Québec: Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivières, and Saguenay.
• One-third: in 2018, four of 12 neighbourhoods in Windsor, Ontario had affordable one-bedroom units. By 2022, there were none.

The wage increases that people fought so hard for should improve the material conditions of working people and families, not go back into the pockets of the property-owning class. Read the full report here: https://monitormag.ca/reports/cant-afford-the-rent/