It is not surprising that Toronto has the most expensive average rents of any city in Canada but what does this mean in practical terms?
Padmapper has reported that Toronto is the most expensive Canadian city in which to rent an apartment, with the average one bedroom apartment costing $2,300 a month to rent. This is nearly $1000 higher than Oshawa’s average, which is $1,299 for a one bedroom apartment.
The average wage in Toronto is around $52,000 but Toronto is home to a lot of businesses who have staff on high salaries, which are included in the calculation of the average. Consequently, this figure will never be representative of the demographic looking to rent cheaply in the city. So, what does this mean for people who are earning minimum wage and looking to find a place to live on their own?
If you earn minimum wage in Toronto and work 36.5 hours a week, you will earn around $27,732.50 a year. Renting a one bedroom apartment in Toronto at $2300 a month will cost you $27,600 a year. This means that you would have $132.50 left over for bills, food and travel – for a year! Clearly, this isn’t a feasible option.
In Montreal, the average cost of renting a one bedroom apartment $850 a month. Living in Montreal and earning minimum wage for a 36.5hr per week salary, you’d be paying $10,200 a year for your rent. That would leave you with $17,532.50 for bills, food and travel. That’s a pretty drastic difference!
Toronto rentals reports that: ‘Over the past decade, the housing market has been hotter than ever with housing prices increasing 33% between 2016 and 2017 alone.’ Pretty shocking statistics but this isn’t going to stop people living in Toronto – over 2.7 million people call the city home and that number will probably increase, rather than decrease as we move into the 20’s.