Toronto may be the most lively city in the country, and Ontario, the most populous province, but more and more people are coming to terms with the fact that the region is just not the choice for them due to its prohibitive housing costs.
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute on the topic of interprovincial migration asserts that more people from Ontario are currently contemplating moving somewhere else than people from anywhere else in Canada.
The findings, released Wednesday, show that while 28 per cent of Canadians are seriously considering leaving the province they live in because of high rent and real estate prices, a much greater 39 per cent from Ontario specifically are considering relocating.
In other provinces, this figure ranged from as little as 15 per cent (in Saskatchewan) to as much as 36 per cent (in B.C.), with Ontario taking the cake for residents dissatisfied enough with housing expenses to leave.
Graph of survey results from Angus Reid.
Of those who said yes, most — 45 per cent — said they would settle elsewhere in Canada, while another 15 per cent said they’d head to the U.S., and another 27 per cent, abroad to somewhere other than the U.S. Twelve per cent were unsure of where they’d go.
While the question posed to respondents specifically pointed to the cost of keeping a roof over one’s head, additional queries revealed that another eight per cent of Canadians are debating leaving their home province to find a better quality of life, four per cent would do so for better access to healthcare, and another four for a cheaper cost of living not just in the housing department, but overall.
And regarding housing, it was renters who are more likely to be inspired to seek cheaper accommodations, though they were only slightly less hopeful about the future of Canada’s housing market than homeowners.
A total of 51 per cent of renters agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “I’m hopeful that housing affordability will improve over the next few years,” compared to 52 per cent of owners with mortgages. Far more owners who had no mortgages to worry about, on the other hand, felt optimistic (60 per cent).
Graph of survey results from Angus Reid.
“The rapidly rising cost of housing has become a cross-country story in recent years. Last year, the housing market cooled somewhat as higher interest rates took hold, but there is an expectation that it will heat up again,” the research firm writes.
“Though the countrywide ramp up of housing prices has slowed, rent has continued to rise across the country, with some provinces seeing year-over-year average rent increases of more than 17 per cent.”
It also added that while the proportion of Canadians considering a move away from their province is highest in Ontario, it is also highest in the Greater Toronto Area than in other urban centres.
