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The Housing market
Finding a place to live in Canada
In Canada,
continued strong demand for housing and increasing house
prices have resulted in a decline in rental occupancy rates
(increase in rental vacancies).
Currently, the
rental market has a strong supply of residential rental
properties (approximately 5%, which is significantly above the
average vacancy rate of 3.3%).
The Canadian
rental market can be described as tenant-friendly.
Historically low interest rates for mortgage-type borrowing
have influenced people to move from renting to owning. The
higher supply of rental properties means landlords are
offering different incentives such as free rentals for a
month, free parking, home appliances and so on. This is
especially true in densely populated cities, such as Toronto.
In Canada, 33% of all properties are rental properties.
56% of all
Canadian immigrants settle in Ontario, the majority in the
Greater Toronto Area, so some of this section focuses on
Toronto. If your chosen Canadian destination is different, you
will still find many of your questions answered here.
In addition to
other large Canadian cities, such as Vancouver and Montreal,
Toronto is where a large number of students arrive from many
countries in the world in order to develop, improve or perfect
their knowledge of the English language.
The housing
market in the rest of the major cities in Canada including
Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary and Halifax is similar to
Toronto. However, the main difference is the price levels for
purchasing property (real estate). See listing below for the
average price of a detached bungalow (single story house with
no common walls with neighbours) in major Canadian cities:
Prices
Average
detached bungalow prices by City/Region (CAD$) - Source: RBC –
Economics Q1-2005
- Canada:
$238,000
- Toronto:
$372,000
- Ottawa:
$238,000
- Vancouver:
$427,000
- Montreal:
$208,000
- Calgary:
$238,000
The different
types of accommodation generally available in urban areas such
as Toronto are as follows:
- Apartment
- House
- Single room
rentals
- Hostel /
Guest House accommodation
- Homestay
accommodation
- College or
University campus residence
- Hotel
- Motel
- Other
shared accommodation
- Government-subsidized housing (usually requires a
long waiting period).
This list is
by no means exhaustive, but it gives an indication of the
choice you have when choosing accommodation.
Where to
look
There are many
different sources of information when looking for an apartment
or a house to rent:
- Our Housing
Classifieds
- Local
community newspapers (Villager, Guardian, etc.)
- City
newspapers (Toronto Sun, Vancouver Sun, Globe and Mail,
Toronto Star, Montreal Gazette, etc.)
- Free rental
publications available in public places such as subway and
bus stations (Homes for Rent publication, etc.)
- Personal
contacts (family, friends, etc.)
- Management
offices of rental properties (buildings, co-operative
housing, etc.)
- Government
offices
- Real estate
agencies (not many do rentals)
In most cases
for Toronto and major Canadian cities, the closer you are to
the city center, the higher the rent/mortgage will be. In
Toronto, average rental prices are:
- Approximately C$850/month for a one-bedroom apartment
in the city of Toronto is (between $500 and $1,200 depending
on the proximity to city center and the amenities included)
- Around
C$1,000 for a 2-bedroom apartment (between $900 and $1,500
depending on the proximity to city center).
There is a
small supply of luxury apartments priced up to several
thousand dollars a month.
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