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• Housing bubble


  Rapidly rising housing prices fueled by demand, speculation, and exuberant spending
• Housing bubble formation

  1. Increase in demand, in the face of limited supply

  2. Speculators pour money into the market, further driving up demand

  3. At some point, demand decreases or stagnates at the same time supply increases, resulting in a sharp drop in prices—and the bubble bursts
• Housing career


  How housing consumption changes as you move through life
• Components of appropriate housing

  • Adequacy
  • Suitability
  • Affordability
• If any of the conditions of adequate, suitable, and affordable housing are not met, the individual/household is in core housing need
• In 2006, over 17% of Canadians were living in overcrowded conditions
• Shelter costs (rent and mortgage) should remain < 30% before-tax income
• In 2011, 12.5% of Canadian households (about 3 million) lived in substandard housing
• In 2011, about 42% of all households in core housing need lived in Toronto (20%), Montréal (13%) or Vancouver (9%)
• In 2016, 13% of Canadian households were in core housing need
• Vacancy rate


  The percentage of all available units in a rental property that are vacant or unoccupied at a particular time
• Since the mid-1980s, rents of private rental apartments in Toronto have been extremely high
• Close to 30% of immigrants to Canada settle in Toronto
• Types of housing in Toronto

  • Home ownership (60%)
  • Public rental (11%)
  • Private rental (29%)
• Toronto has very low vacancy rates
• Rent controls were removed in Toronto in 1998
• By 1995, no new social housing funding in Toronto resulted in very long waiting lists
• As of May 30, 2017, landlords in Ontario cannot increase the rent for most private rental units each year by more than the rent increase guideline
• In 2017, the maximum rent increase was 1.5% of the current rent
• In 2023, the rent increase guideline was 2.5% for increases between January 1 and December 31, 2023
• Homelessness


  A broad term that can encompass a range of housing conditions
• Types of homelessness

  • Absolute (living on the street or in emergency shelters)
  • Relative (housed but in substandard shelter and/or at risk of losing their homes)
  • Hidden (without a place of their own, living in a car, with family or friends, or in a long-term institution)
• Durations of homelessness

  • Chronic (long-term or repeated)
  • Cyclical (resulting from a change of circumstance)
  • Temporary (relatively short in duration)
• Groups at risk of homelessness

  • People above 50 with mental illnesses
  • Women
  • Youth
  • Immigrants and refugees (mostly hidden)
• The Ontario Safe Streets Act was passed in 2000 to manage a growing number of visibly homeless individuals in the city
• The Ontario Safe Streets Act is criticized for criminalizing homelessness or the activities that people who experience homelessness engage in as a means of survival
• Causes of homelessness (supply side)

  • Low vacancies in the rental market
  • Unaffordable rent (removal of rent control)
• Tent City


  It was situated in the downtown core of Toronto, near the waterfront, and was home to 140 people who were homeless. In September 2002, the residents were evicted by the owner of the property, Home Depot. Over 100 formerly homeless Tent City residents received housing almost immediately after their eviction in the form of a pilot rent supplement program.
• Tent City turned out to be the largest and longest act of civil disobedience by homeless people since the 1930s Depression
• The number of homeless sleeping in the square had skyrocketed despite the fact it is banned by a city bylaws (to between 50 to 100 people)
• Tent City under Gardiner Expressway

  August 07, 2018
• Indicators of rental housing disadvantage

  • High rent (more than 30% of before tax income) - Affordability
  • Dwelling is in a state of disrepair, tenants continue to live under unacceptable conditions - Adequacy
  • Tenants rights and needs are not met, e.g., safety precautions are ignored - Adequacy
  • Overcrowding - Suitability
• Defining Neighbourhoods in Relation to Rental Housing Stress in Urban Canada
• Housing Experiences of Immigrants and Refugees in Canada
• Immigrants as a group are better housed than Refugees
• Compared to immigrants, refugees, especially those with low economic and human capital, face more difficulties in finding full-time employment; therefore they generally end up unemployed, under-employed, or working part-time. Many are also on social assistance.
• As a result of their level and source of income, the refugees are severely discriminated against in Canadian housing markets
• Most refugees live in costly rental apartments, in inadequate and unsuitable dwellings.
• Among immigrants there is no common experience
• Visible minority groups are primarily renters within the first 5 years of their arrival in Canada. They also face more discrimination in the housing market from private landlords.