The latest rental data is putting some real-world numbers on what B.C. families are facing with the ongoing affordability crisis.
Monthly rents in Vancouver and the province’s other big cities are eating up a huge portion of many people’s take-home pay.
New data from Rentals.ca suggests B.C.’s fastest-growing city, Surrey, has seen rental rates skyrocket by eight per cent year over year.
Surrey’s rental rates equate to over $2,100 per month in August for a one-bedroom.
However, Surrey is still a much more affordable place compared to Vancouver, where rent averages $2,700 per month for a one-bedroom and that’s with a 9.4 per cent dip in rental rates compared to the same month last year.
The most affordable large city in the province is Abbotsford, with an average rent of $1,830 for a one-bedroom.
Stats Canada said the number of households living in unaffordable housing has seen little change in recent years.
In 2022, 22 per cent of Canadian households spent 30 per cent of their income or more on shelter, which was about the same rate that was recorded in 2018.
“Renters have it twice as bad as homeowners,” Tyler Orton with Business in Vancouver told Global News.
“The survey reports that they are twice as likely to spend more than 30 per cent of their income for housing so right now more than 245,000 households are on a waitlist for subsidized housing so it’s a tough go for many Canadians and a lot of folks here in Metro Vancouver can relate to that.”
According to Rentals.ca, Alberta’s average rental rate went up 11 per cent to $1,800 and the highest jump in the country was in Saskatchewan, which was up 21 per cent to just $1,300 for a one-bedroom home.