One in Five Renters Affected By Affordable Housing

“Having affordable housing can mean the ability to feed yourself and your loved ones, the ability to finish schooling, the ability to work through an addiction, the ability to make a life”, he wrote in an email.

Six affordable housing groups across the country Thursday unveiled the Rental Housing Index, an in-depth look at the finances of Canadian renters. Despite constant headlines that seem to suggest home ownership is a Canadian obsession, more than four million households in Canada rent – that’s about 30% of all the households in Canada.

“The federal government is divesting in social housing”, said Ross.

Ridings in the GTA account for 11 of the 15 most expensive ridings for renters, according to the index.

The report found that 38.6 per cent of Alberta households spend more than 30 per cent on rent while 18.8 per cent spend more than 50 per cent.

Montreal may be the most rental-heavy city in the country, due to rents that were for a long time comparatively low for a city of its size. “It is also calling attention to a part of our housing market that is in desperate need of attention and one that market forces alone aren’t – and won’t – address”.

Tim Ross, the executive director of the Non Profit Housing Association, said the amount of money that renters are dishing out for their rent is a problem. According to a recent survey one in five renters are spending more than half their income on shelter costs.

Among the notable provinces when it comes to rental housing affordability is Manitoba.

Anyone can use the index to assess regions based on a number of indicators including affordability, overspending, income gap, overcrowding, bedroom shortfall and overall index.

28-year-old Dylan Innes is one renter who agrees.

That puts them in the category of “crisis level of spending”.

The NDP and Conservatives have not yet released their plans for affordable housing.