by Adrian Bueno – Friday, Oct. 19, 2018

With the election coming up, the issue of affordable housing is the most pressing issue concerning Ryerson community members, a new poll suggests.

The survey found 38.4 per cent believe affordable housing was the most pressing issue out of  seven other issues. The poll was conducted by second-year Ryerson journalism students, and polled 1,081 Ryerson community members across campus.

According to the City of Toronto, the definition of affordable housing is anything below the average market rent, a statistic collected by the Canada Mortgage and Housing corporation.

The average market rent for two bedroom apartments in Toronto has risen from $1,341 in 2017, to $1,426 in 2018.

“I have to sympathize with some of my tenants because some of them are students. It’s shocking to hear how much they have to cover in terms of cost of living,” said Scott Parravicino, a landlord in the Yonge and Wellesley area.

“I work a full-time job and I don’t even look forward to getting paid. The rent takes it all,” said Eric Tran, a 4th-year human resources student at Ryerson.

 

 

The Solutions?

With city council shrinking from 47 to 25 wards, Ryerson now falls under ward 13. Many of the candidates running for ward 13 have announced their plans to address the affordable housing issue.

The current councillor, Kristyn Wong-Tam, plans to invest new funds in community housing, present affordable housing forward as the first priority in land transactions and ensuring that affordability is promoted in a way that supports diversity, according to her website.

George Smitherman, a former member of parliament, plans to regularly meet with Toronto Community Housing to discuss plans of action, and use the majority of funds from section 37 of Ontario’s Planning Act to subsidize new units, according to an interview done with the Toronto Star.

Walied Khogali, a local activist, plans to improve Toronto Community Housing, and put a strategy in place to eliminate the wait-list for social housing according to his website.

Despite the promises, Cathy Crowe, a visiting practitioner at Ryerson University feels disappointed by the lack of urgency expressed by the candidates.

“The real issue of affordability – making sure people are not paying more than 30 per cent of their income on housing – is not being addressed,” said Crowe. “It’s a lot of talking on their part.”

The Municipal election is scheduled to be held on October 22.

 

Ryerson School of Journalism students conducted in-person surveys about Toronto election issues with 1,081 undergraduate and graduate Ryerson students in October prior to the municipal election. The results are considered accurate to within plus or minus three percentage points, 19 times out of 20.