October 4, 2024
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If the city’s housing crisis is not fixed soon, Toronto risks becoming a polarized community of only those rich enough to stay and those too poor to leave, writes Mike Moffatt.

Young, talented workers aren’t just thinking about leaving Toronto. They’re already on their way out, and the fallout will be enormous

Although some seniors are cashing out of their properties and leaving Toronto, more than half are between the ages of 20 and 38, along with many children under the age of five. If we don’t fix this, and soon, Toronto will lack the young, talented workers that are at the heart of any city’s economy.

The young, middle-class families Toronto needs to function and thrive are packing up, leaving the city’s viability at risk.

A recent Angus Reid poll found that more than 40 per cent of Greater Toronto Area residents are “seriously thinking of leaving Ontario because of the cost of housing here.” Quality of life and other cost-of-living concerns were also cited as reasons to leave the province. Recent immigrants to Ontario expressed the highest desire to move. Many consider Alberta, with its high wages and relatively affordable housing, as a prime destination. Others said they were considering moving to the United States.

 

Policymakers from all three orders of government should take these insights seriously.

It is one thing to muse about leaving; it is another to make the move. And Statistics Canada data confirms residents in the GTA are increasingly moving to more affordable locations in other provinces. Twelve years ago, the number of people moving out of the GTA to other provinces was equally balanced by the number moving into the area. That is no longer the case. Last year over 16,000 more residents moved out of the GTA to other provinces than moved to the GTA from other provinces. Additionally, nearly 100,000 more people moved out of the GTA to other, less expensive parts of Ontario last year than moved in. The data shows that, although some seniors are cashing out of their properties and leaving the city, it is disproportionately young adults making the move. More than half of the net leavers are between the ages of 20 and 38, along with many children under the age of five.

Interesting Read…

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