Housing

The housing crisis is increasingly dire: more Torontonians are unhoused and taking shelter in encampments and rents have almost doubled, while housing completions have not kept pace with the booming population.

Toronto’s shelters are still full and turning away more residents, leaving more people to take up tents in encampments.

In September 2024, there were an average of 230 daily callers looking for a match to a shelter for the unhoused and only seven (about 3%) were referred to a space.xxii The shelter match rate dropped sharply through 2023 and into 2024.

In March 2024, there were more than 200 tents in encampments across 72 parks, compared to 82 tents across 24 parks at the same time last year. xxiii

Housing completions have not kept pace with population growth, rental costs for condos have nearly doubled and residents remain very concerned about paying rent or mortgages.

A total of 22% of Torontonians are very concerned about paying their rent or mortgage (down 2% from 24% in 2023, and up from 15% in 2022).xxiv

Toronto CMA one-bedroom condo rentals have increased by nearly 50% in the most recent eight years (to $2,399 in October 2023, from $1,638 in 2015) and almost doubled since 2007 ($1,291), largely driven by the fact that most new rental units have been condos on the secondary rental market.xxv

Housing completions were up in 2023 and reached more than 20,000, well shy of the population growth of more than 125,000 people.xxvi

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ENDNOTES:

Infographics:

1. See Shelter System Requests for Referrals, available at: Shelter System Requests for Referrals – City of Toronto

2. Doherty, Brennan, Roy, Inori, and Leung, Wendy. (2024, October 17). Toronto’s Encampments, By the Numbers. The Local. https://thelocal.to/toronto-encampment-analysis/

Data:

^xxiiSee Shelter System Requests for Referrals, available at: Shelter System Requests for Referrals – City of Toronto
^xxiii Doherty, Brennan, Roy, Inori, and Leung, Wendy. (2024, October 17). Toronto’s Encampments, By the Numbers. The Local. https://thelocal.to/toronto-encampment-analysis/
^xxiv Data provided by Mental Health Research Canada (MHRC). All analysis is by the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of MHRC. See the footnotes in Health from the data source for more details on method. Data provided is from across its 2022–2024 polls. Respondents were asked: “How concerned are you about your rent/mortgage being paid each month? The question was scored on a 10-point scale with 1 being ”not at all concerned” and 10 being ”very concerned.” Those who scored themselves an 8, 9, or 10 were classified as very concerned about paying rent or mortgage.
^xxv CMHC. Toronto — Historical Condominium Apartment Average Rent ($) by Bedroom Type. https://www03.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/hmip-pimh/en#TableMapChart/2270/3/Toronto%20CMA
^xxvi Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Housing Market Information Portal. https://www03.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/hmip-pimh/en#Profile/1/1/Canada