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Is it as bad as America? What is the worst city will most homeless in Canada: Vancouver or Toronto? I recently in Montreal, did not see too many.
No, it's not, and America isn't as bad as it was in 2007, the numbers were a lot higher then than now. In Canada there are presently 35 thousand homeless people (that's out of a total population of 40 million). That is 0.0875% of Canada's population. In America there are 584 thousand homeless and the percentage of American homeless is .18% of the total population.
Compared to the rest of Canada, Vancouver and the west coast is worst because so many homeless people from across Canada migrate to the southwest coast and stay because it's more survivable in winter than any other parts of the nation. The majority of homeless on the west coast are transplants from other parts of Canada.
A lot of the homeless people are addicts, so we may think that's the main cause of homelessness. I don't think so. In some cases, yes, there are people who lost their jobs and families because of a previous addiction. But in most cases, that's a consequence of being homeless.
The main cause, I suppose, is the inability to pay for a place to live.
Canada population has been growing fast: from 31 million in 2003 to 35 million in 2013 and going above 40 million now in 2023. That's 9 million new inhabitants in the last 20 years. Almost 1/4 of the country's population. The new inhabitants of Canada in the last 20 years are more than the current population of Quebec, the second most populated province. Had it been built enough new housing units to accommodate a population larger than Quebec in the last 20 years? I don't think so. Then, consequently, housing prices are rising to a point where a typical minimum wage worker cannot afford even to share the rent in a cheap apartment.
It's just supply and demand. The supply did not follow the rise of the demand, and prices went up.
It must be devastating to don't have enough money to pay for rent and buy food, and having to think about living on the streets.
A lot of the homeless people are addicts, so we may think that's the main cause of homelessness. I don't think so. In some cases, yes, there are people who lost their jobs and families because of a previous addiction. But in most cases, that's a consequence of being homeless.
The main cause, I suppose, is the inability to pay for a place to live.
Canada population has been growing fast: from 31 million in 2003 to 35 million in 2013 and going above 40 million now in 2023. That's 9 million new inhabitants in the last 20 years. Almost 1/4 of the country's population. The new inhabitants of Canada in the last 20 years are more than the current population of Quebec, the second most populated province. Had it been built enough new housing units to accommodate a population larger than Quebec in the last 20 years? I don't think so. Then, consequently, housing prices are rising to a point where a typical minimum wage worker cannot afford even to share the rent in a cheap apartment.
It's just supply and demand. The supply did not follow the rise of the demand, and prices went up.
It must be devastating to don't have enough money to pay for rent and buy food, and having to think about living on the streets.
Amen. Homeowners, particularly those who’ve paid off the mortgages are totally tuned out of what’s going on with the cost of rent in this country. Most of the people saying “get a job, pull yourself by your bootstraps” wouldn’t in 2023 as a first time home buyer qualify for a mortgage for not only the house they’re living in, but any house or condo at all. If they were to move out of their place to a rental they’d be looking at 60-70% of their income just to put a roof over their head. People think nothing has changed since they aren’t worried about it anymore but it’s a huge struggle for immigrants and the younger generation now, and i don’t doubt many people have just given up and fallen into the kind of life patterns that eventually lead to homelessness.
Amen. Homeowners, particularly those who’ve paid off the mortgages are totally tuned out of what’s going on with the cost of rent in this country. Most of the people saying “get a job, pull yourself by your bootstraps” wouldn’t in 2023 as a first time home buyer qualify for a mortgage for not only the house they’re living in, but any house or condo at all. If they were to move out of their place to a rental they’d be looking at 60-70% of their income just to put a roof over their head. People think nothing has changed since they aren’t worried about it anymore but it’s a huge struggle for immigrants and the younger generation now, and i don’t doubt many people have just given up and fallen into the kind of life patterns that eventually lead to homelessness.
I imagine the rental prices are influenced there, as they are here, by a variety of factors. Obviously supply and demand, but here the costs associated with owning a rental means the returns are often only 1% or worse. Capital gain is the main motivation for owning them but that is always risky.
Amen. Homeowners, particularly those who’ve paid off the mortgages are totally tuned out of what’s going on with the cost of rent in this country. Most of the people saying “get a job, pull yourself by your bootstraps” wouldn’t in 2023 as a first time home buyer qualify for a mortgage for not only the house they’re living in, but any house or condo at all. If they were to move out of their place to a rental they’d be looking at 60-70% of their income just to put a roof over their head. People think nothing has changed since they aren’t worried about it anymore but it’s a huge struggle for immigrants and the younger generation now, and i don’t doubt many people have just given up and fallen into the kind of life patterns that eventually lead to homelessness.
People my age were buying homes in the late 70s, and 80s. Here are historical prices, wages, backgrounds and comparisons. It doesn’t look to me as though people back then were so much better off than today. https://relativerealty.com/first-tim...80s-and-1990s/
[quote=pdw;65687108]People think nothing has changed since they aren’t worried about it anymore but it’s a huge struggle for immigrants and the younger generation now, [quote]
I don't see it as a huge struggle for immigrants. At least not where I live. Much of the new housing developments where I live are being bought almost exclusively by immigrants. I also don't see very many homeless people that are immigrants, pretty much none.
A lot of the homeless people are addicts, so we may think that's the main cause of homelessness. I don't think so. In some cases, yes, there are people who lost their jobs and families because of a previous addiction. But in most cases, that's a consequence of being homeless.
The main cause, I suppose, is the inability to pay for a place to live.
Canada population has been growing fast: from 31 million in 2003 to 35 million in 2013 and going above 40 million now in 2023. That's 9 million new inhabitants in the last 20 years. Almost 1/4 of the country's population. The new inhabitants of Canada in the last 20 years are more than the current population of Quebec, the second most populated province. Had it been built enough new housing units to accommodate a population larger than Quebec in the last 20 years? I don't think so. Then, consequently, housing prices are rising to a point where a typical minimum wage worker cannot afford even to share the rent in a cheap apartment.
It's just supply and demand. The supply did not follow the rise of the demand, and prices went up.
It must be devastating to don't have enough money to pay for rent and buy food, and having to think about living on the streets.
Lots of good points.....especially 9 million more in only 20 years...more than the entire population of Quebec...which has taken centuries to reach 8.8 million ...
and that's means a lot of new housing needed....
People my age were buying homes in the late 70s, and 80s. Here are historical prices, wages, backgrounds and comparisons. It doesn’t look to me as though people back then were so much better off than today. https://relativerealty.com/first-tim...80s-and-1990s/
I agree that it was tough back then for its own reasons, no argument there. Minimum wage was of course a lot lower back then and yes the interest rates are higher.
Still I read articles every day stating housing has never been less affordable in this country than today and I believe the analysts who are saying that. If you earn less than about $120-$130k per year you are completely shut out of the market in Southern Ontario unless you can come up with 40-50% of the purchase price as a down payment. Interest rates were higher back then but home prices have tripled and the down payments covered a much higher percentage of the home’s cost so the mortgage payments were much lower even at peak interest rates. If you were paying $4k a month in mortgage payments back then you’d probably have been living in a mansion but that’s pretty much average right now for someone still paying off the interest on their mortgage.
I’ve ran the numbers as someone who’s considered entering the market and the bank will not give me a big enough mortgage to buy even a small condo unless I have over $200k down which let’s be honest no one earns just by saving nowadays.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Luisito80
I don't see it as a huge struggle for immigrants. At least not where I live. Much of the new housing developments where I live are being bought almost exclusively by immigrants. I also don't see very many homeless people that are immigrants, pretty much none.
I was referring more to the people who are coming here as renters without having lots of money from selling their houses back home. Some immigrants coming here are wealthy but many are not. I’ve read articles about international students from India sleeping on the streets and eating from food banks because they can’t afford rent.
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