Economy 20,011 Report Posted June 10 (edited) https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.thestar.com/amp/opinion/contributors/2017/12/04/its-time-to-declare-an-emergency-on-homelessness-in-toronto.html Deaths in Toronto due to homelessness now exceed deaths due to homicides and violence Each year more and more homeless are sent away from shelters because beds are full, many as a result must sleep outside in winter which results in many deaths The city of Toronto wants the Government to declare homelessness a National emergency as the housing shortage is pushing more and more people to the brink 181,000 people are also on a critical waiting list for housing Extreme examples such as this reporter who makes a good wage and has to couch surf or stay with parents is increasingly becoming the norm as well The Canadian homeless rate now surpasses the US homeless rate Edited June 10 by Economy 2 3 Quote Share Link to post Share on other sites Facebook Twitter
Economy 20,011 Report Posted June 10 In the mean time rents were up 11% in 2018 and 10% in 2017 Home prices were up 33% on 2017 and stalled in 2018 because of the new stress test mortgage rules making many people unqualified However there are worries the stress test will only make rents worse as ppl are forced to rent longer as they delay home purchase Individual cases are more extreme. The reporter in the video above faced a 50% rent increase in 1 year! Quote Share Link to post Share on other sites Facebook Twitter
ChromeAngel 2,519 Report Posted June 10 I’ve heard there’s enough vacant homes to house every homeless person with some left over. The world is an awful place 1 Quote Share Link to post Share on other sites Facebook Twitter
Born To Slay 10,994 Report Posted June 10 12 minutes ago, ChromeAngel said: I’ve heard there’s enough vacant homes to house every homeless person with some left over. The world is an awful place We can’t just give people homes tho. Then everyone would want a free home. 1 Quote Share Link to post Share on other sites Facebook Twitter
Flopplause 30,875 Report Posted June 10 11 minutes ago, Born To Slay said: We can’t just give people homes tho. Then everyone would want a free home. and making them unaffordable for the middle class isn't working either 1 Quote Share Link to post Share on other sites Facebook Twitter
brucee 621 Report Posted June 10 Before you write anything remember being homeless is not a choice. It brings quickly severe mental illness. 1 Quote Share Link to post Share on other sites Facebook Twitter
Economy 20,011 Report Posted June 10 6 hours ago, ChromeAngel said: I’ve heard there’s enough vacant homes to house every homeless person with some left over. The world is an awful place 6 hours ago, Born To Slay said: We can’t just give people homes tho. Then everyone would want a free home. There's an extreme housing shortage in Toronto with some parts of the city having a vacancy rate as low as 0.3% while 3% is considered a healthy balanced market Sure that 0.3% might technically house most or all of the homeless but the point is the shortage is causing severe unaffordability Canada has a serious bad combination of policies that are making this terrible: #1 High immigration rate. We accept 330,000 immigrants a year. That's nearly triple the US rate relative to population. It doesn't help that Canada only has a few cities like Toronto where they actually wanna move to so all the growth concentrates in those cities #2 slow construction approval process. Canada is known among construction companies for having complicated zoning laws and slow approval times. A new condo in Toronto can take over 10 years to get approved Slow construction (it's actually a lot of construction but I mean slow relative to population growth demands) in combination with high immigration is not a good mix Canada needs to either reduce immigration or find a way to make these innefective slow approval processes slowing construction a little faster It's rediculous that in 2017 with sky high prices, the average home of a price in Toronto still rose some 33%. The stress tests and tougher downpayment rules have cooled the market but as a side effect is making rents surge and ppl are now forced to rent longer before they can qualify for a mortgage Also experts warn that demand is being postponed with tough mortgage rules not eliminated. People will simply buy them later when they have more downpayment so the government may have stopped price appreciation in 2018 but right now so far in 2019 it's going up again This is actually really bad. Older ppl who bought a home decades ago are all millionaires while ppl who don't own yet are now either locked out of the market or forced to pay insane prices Just look at what happened to this reporter with a high paying job, her rent increased by $950 a month on renewal and she's now couch surfing: Quote Share Link to post Share on other sites Facebook Twitter
hardcore1996 736 Report Posted June 10 typical canada pretty non-violent but turning a blind eye to people in need 1 Quote Share Link to post Share on other sites Facebook Twitter
Economy 20,011 Report Posted June 10 6 hours ago, Flopplause said: and making them unaffordable for the middle class isn't working either The government doesn't control prices so they aren't "making them unaffordable" Although indirectly they are with the slow approval of construction Quote Share Link to post Share on other sites Facebook Twitter
Economy 20,011 Report Posted June 10 27 minutes ago, hardcore1996 said: typical canada pretty non-violent but turning a blind eye to people in need The fact that this is so true I used to be one of the 90% who never helped homeless because I had the mentality they put themselves in that situation by not sticking to a job or being drug addicts, alcoholics etc But now that I've been in need with some bad luck since being married and being screwed without family help I see the other side of the coin too. Ordinary ppl can end up homeless. It just takes a lost job, some unexpected bills and if u have no one to bail u out ur screwed! Also even if ppl are there because of addiction still! Addiction is complicated and often emotional trauma caused ppl to became victims to addiction so even if they are doing it to themselves they still deserve help! And once ur homeless it's hard to get out of the cycle So now I try to go out of my way to buy them food (preferable to giving them money since it may or may not be used well) and if I don't have time sometimes I give a little cash I can't help every single one everytime cuz I got limited resources myself But now I try to help a homeless at least once a week It's so sad 1 Quote Share Link to post Share on other sites Facebook Twitter