Like millions of young Canadians, 18-year-old Arianna Chua will be casting her vote this election with economic issues in mind. For her, the high cost of living in Canada has become impossible to ignore.
“Housing is my biggest priority,” said Chua, a first-year political science student at the University of Ottawa. “I need a place to live … somewhere I feel safe, and can afford.” Chua currently pays about $950 a month to rent an apartment in downtown Ottawa that she shares with three other students.
“That price point is kind of scary, especially being a student. How can you muster up, like, over a thousand dollars every single month?” she said.
In an April 5 Abacus poll, 46 per cent of gen-Zers such as Chua cited cost of living as their top election concern, followed by housing at 33 per cent. Just 23 per cent identified “Dealing with Donald Trump” as a key election issue. Gen-Zers are individuals born between 1997 and 2012, putting them between ages 13 and 28 today.
For older voters, the picture looks very different. Nearly half of baby boomers identified Trump as their key concern, followed by cost of living at 41 per cent. Just 10 per cent identified housing affordability as a top concern. Baby boomers are born between 1946 and 1964, putting them between ages 61 and 79.
“ [Baby boomers] face a different sort of reality … when it comes to finances,” said Oksana Kishchuk, director of strategy and insights at Abacus Data. “They’ve had more time to compile savings. They are more likely to own a house and have assets.”
‘Housing is unbearable’
For a young person like Brady Kuzma, owning a house can feel like a pipe dream. Kuzma, 20, is just focused on covering his rent.
“Especially in a university town like Waterloo, housing is unbearable,” said Kuzma, who is studying computer science at Wilfred Laurier University. The city of 150,000 is about an hour’s drive west of Toronto.
“I’m paying more than $1,000 a month for a room with a washroom and a common area that’s kind of outdated.”
Kuzma says his primary voting concern this election is Canada’s international reputation, but cost of living is a close second. The federal government could do more to address the issue, particularly for younger Canadians, he says.
“ I think lower rent and having some sort of ability for students to not have to pay thousands and thousands of dollars a month just to live closer to their school … should be taken into account,” said Kuzma.
The leading parties are not clearly responding to this call.
The parties have promised to address housing affordability. But their measures would most immediately and directly benefit home buyers, rather than renters.
The Liberals have pledged to cut the GST for first-time home buyers on homes under $1 million; the Tories would cut GST on new homes under $1.3 million.
Some of the parties’ other housing measures would take longer to affect overall housing supply and, in turn, rental prices.
The NDP have promised a renters’ bill of rights and national rent control rules. However, rental tenancies are governed by provincial laws, making it unclear what actions the federal government could take on this issue.
‘Obliterated economy’
While the Abacus poll suggests Trump is not a top concern for gen-Zers, the Trump administration’s decisions could have profound effects on the issues this demographic prioritizes.
“ I think the priorities around cost of living or Americanization and Canadian sovereignty are not necessarily outweighed by one another,” said Jaden Braves, founder and CEO of Young Politicians of Canada, a youth advocacy group.
Braves said young people are asking whether they will face “an absolutely obliterated economy, and major tariffs on trade, which is really, really detrimental to the Canadian economy.”
Economists say it will take time for the Canada-U.S. trade war to show up in economic data. But early indicators suggest the uncertain business climate is already affecting the economy — and young people’s job prospects.
Young people in particular are seeing higher rates of unemployment now than in the recent past. Over the last two years, the unemployment rate for young people aged 15 to 24 has shot up by 4.5 percentage points, from 9.2 per cent in March 2023 to 13.7 per cent this March.
By contrast, Canada’s overall unemployment rate has risen just 1.7 percentage points in the same period, from five per cent to 6.7 per cent.
Chua, the University of Ottawa student, says she is “trying my hardest to get [a job] for the summer and during school. But the job market has been so bad.”
The parties have all pledged to support businesses and workers affected by the trade war. But here, too, their supports may do little for young people not yet in the work force.
The Liberals are promising to temporarily waive the one-week waiting period to access Employment Insurance. Individuals who are not currently employed are not eligible for this benefit.
The Conservatives have promised to protect existing jobs by creating a $3-billion fund that provides short-term credit lines and low-interest loans to affected businesses.
One bright spot is the parties’ skilled trade announcements. The Liberals have pledged an apprenticeship grant of up to $8,000 to remove a key financial barrier to skills training. The Conservatives have promised apprenticeship grants of up to $4,000. These programs could counter the decline in skilled trades among youth.
Orange to red
This federal election will be the first in which Chua and Kuzma are eligible to cast votes. Both say they plan to vote Liberal. They are far from alone.
The Liberal Party under Mark Carney is currently the favoured choice among gen-Zers. In an April 15 Abacus poll, 47 per cent of respondents aged 18 to 29 said they would vote Liberal, followed by the Conservatives with 31 per cent support. The NDP, historically an attractive option for young voters, is seeing only 10 per cent support.
“ Among gen Z, the NDP vote share has collapsed,” said Kishchuk, of Abacus Data. “[These gen Z voters] have shifted towards the centre a little bit more, and that’s why the Liberal Party is gaining where it is.”
Gen-Zers’ voter turnout rate is expected to be higher this year than in 2021. Still, “Generation Z are least likely to vote out of all the generations,” Kishchuk said. In the Abacus poll, just 42 per cent of gen-Zers said they would “definitely vote,” compared to 84 per cent of boomers.
Generation Z also accounts for about one-fifth of the population, versus boomers at one-quarter.
These numbers may help to explain why the parties have released numerous proposals targeted specifically at seniors, while offering few goodies specifically for the young.
For voters like Chua, this is bad news. Chua says the high cost of living has left students like herself feeling distressed — and in some cases, unsafe.
“I know there’s a lot of students who have to find really cheap and unsafe housing, especially girls … There is nowhere for people to go.”
How in the world would gen zers vote Liberal when that is the reason we are in this mess to begin with. Both boomers and z ers don’t seem to realize 4 more years of Liberal could easily plunge our dollar to 30 cents USD. Your retirement is gone and housing doubles in cost.