A new survey by online marketplace rentals.ca shows that many Canadian renters feel priced out of the housing market, with several factors driving unaffordability.
The 2025 Federal Election Survey questioned hundreds of Canadian renters and discovered that over 40 per cent blamed the housing crisis on wage stagnation compared to housing prices.
A total of 47 per cent of renters surveyed also identified stagnant wages and rising housing costs as a key issue in the upcoming federal election.
“Renters are just as concerned about affordability pressures and economic fairness as they are about supply constraints,” stated the report.
“While issues for currently undecided voters were similar to the broader population, they did skew more towards concerns with inflation and wage stagnation, indicating that addressing the overall cost of living could be the key for parties hoping to win over these swing voters.”
A recent report from Normandin Beaudry, an actuarial consulting service, said that Canadians could expect modest raises in 2025 but that salary increases have been dropping over the years.
Source: rentals.ca.
The rentals.ca survey of 500 renters shows that government policies or inaction and lack of housing supply are among the biggest factors contributing to the housing crisis. Many renters continue to rent as they are unable to afford to buy a home.
Both Prime Minister Mark Carney and Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre have made housing policy issues a key part of their campaign.
Carney announced a new policy to eliminate the federal government’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) on home sales up to $1 million for first-time homebuyers, while Poilievre announced that, if elected, he would remove the five per cent federal Goods and Sales Tax (GST) on all newly built home purchases under $1.3 million.
Carney’s Liberals also promise to create a new national affordable housing development entity as part of a multifaceted plan to double Canada’s rate of new home construction.
Federal New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh is appalled at the lack of affordability in Canada’s biggest cities. In an interview with Daily Hive, Singh said that housing is the biggest problem for millennials and Gen Zs, and he wants to address it.
Currently, the federal government already offers a smaller rebate amount of up to $6,300 or 36 per cent of the GST payment that would be required for a home that costs $350,000 or less. If the home costs more than $350,000, the rebate is gradually reduced, with the rebate reaching zero for a home price of $450,000 and over.
The rentals.ca survey indicated that 60 per cent of Canadian renters feel that housing policy is very important to them, though confidence in any party’s housing plan is currently low.
According to a recent bulletin by the Canadian Real Estate Association, home sales in the country fell sharply from January 2025 to February 2025.
Home sales activity nationwide dropped 9.8 per cent month-over-month in February 2025, marking the lowest level for home sales since November 2023 and the largest month-over-month decline in activity since May 2022.
Fareen Karim
With files from Kenneth Chan
