Renters report lower quality of life compared to homeowners — especially those in major cities such as Toronto and Vancouver, according to a new Statistics Canada report.
Participants in a survey, which covered 2021 to 2023, could select options indicating quality of life, such as difficulty meeting financial needs, sense of community and quality of mental health. Renters were 11 per cent less likely to report overall life satisfaction compared to homeowners.
“There’s just a lot of… uncertainty and financial pressure that’s being brought to bear on renters,” said Matti Siemiatycki, professor and director of the Infrastructure Institute at the University of Toronto.
Renters were more than 15 per cent more likely to report difficulty making ends meet, the Statistics Canada report shows.
Average rent for a two-bedroom purpose-built apartment rose 8.7 per cent to $1,940 last year in Toronto, while average rent for a two-bedroom condo is $2,862, according to the Rental Market Report by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
At this rate, many apartments are out of reach to anyone not earning more than $90,000 a year, says Douglas Kwan, director of advocacy and legal services at the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario.
Due to the high cost of living in Toronto, many renters are fearful of moving to a new apartment and potentially having to pay even higher rent, says Kwan. The increase in rent for a two-bedroom apartment once tenants move out averages 40 per cent, according to a report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
This can be a big problem for households when life goals change, such as needing a larger apartment to start a family or wanting access to a neighbourhood school, says Kevin Hughes, deputy chief economist at the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
“If your rental apartment no longer meets your needs, obviously that’s going to have an influence on your quality of living experience,” he said.
Renters’ quality of life
Rental housing in Toronto and Vancouver is more expensive than the national average, according to the 2021 census. In Toronto, 30 per cent of households reported that they live in unaffordable housing, where more than 30 per cent of household income goes to shelter costs. About 29 per cent of Vancouver households spend more than half their income on housing.
Lack of bylaws to protect tenants from unreasonable rent increases is contributing to housing unaffordability, says Kwan. The Ontario government created a rent control exemption for buildings built after Nov. 15, 2018, which allows landlords of those buildings to “increase the rents to their heart’s desire,” he said.
Rent for housing built before 2018 can be increased once a year, to a maximum set by the province. For 2023 and 2024, that maximum is 2.5 per cent in Ontario.
If someone thinks they will have to leave an area because they cannot afford their apartment, they are “less likely to develop roots in that community, join the parent council for example,” said Kwan. Renters living in Toronto and Vancouver were less likely to report feeling a connection to their community than people living in smaller places, according to the Statistics Canada survey.
“There’s a particular level of vulnerability a tenant has” in having to worry about rent increases and the need to move, said Kwan.
This stress and sense of rootlessness can affect renters’ quality of life and mental health — particularly young renters who reported nearly 10 per cent lower positive mental health compared to older renters.
Renters may have to move in with family, live far away from their workplace and postpone starting a family because they cannot afford a place to live.
The turnover rate in Toronto — renters moving out of an apartment to another one — is less than two per cent, says Kwan, referencing the Rental Market Report.
“The turnover rate in tighter markets tends to be lower because there isn’t as much choice for people… to find another lodging in the rental market,” said Hughes of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
Lack of options might also leave tenants too afraid to assert their rights with their landlord over issues with the property, says Kwan. Renters can fear “the landlord may try and harass the tenant into leaving the units,” he said.
A mismatch
The Canada Housing and Mortgage Corporation estimates Canada will have a shortage of 3.5 million housing units by 2030. But private developers, who are mostly responsible for meeting this demand, tend to focus on high-end, rental units to maximize profit, says Hughes.
For decades the private sector has dictated what new housing was built. “It’s not just that it’s expensive. It’s that there’s a mismatch, often between the types of units that are needed and the types of units that are being built,” said Siemiatycki of the Infrastructure Institute.
Since lack of affordable housing has become a growing crisis, local and provincial governments are getting more involved in incentivizing new builds in recent years. Last week, Toronto exceeded the provincial government’s housing target by 51 per cent with 30,516 new housing starts.
But housing issues are “not going to be solved just by providing more supply on its own,” said Siemiatycki. “Especially for renters, we need to be making sure that [housing is]… safe and secure and people have… security of tenure in those units.”
A very eye-opening article. It’s disheartening to see how significantly renters’ quality of life lags behind that of homeowners. The stats around financial stress and lower life satisfaction really stood out. Clearly, affordability and housing security are issues we can’t ignore.