Housing rents are rising every year

Rentals.ca, a portal for landlords and tenants, and the Globe and Mail summarized data on average housing prices. It is believed that spending on housing should not exceed 30% of a family's income per month for housing to be considered affordable. There's another rule: All regular family spending, including rent and utilities, should not be more than 55% of after-tax family income.

We've already listed a table of mortgage affordability in various Canadian cities, now let's look at the cost of rental apartments.

The average rent for housing across Canada in February 2022 is $1,807 a month, up 4.4 per cent from a year ago. But cheaper than in 2019 and 2020, when renters paid $1,855 CAD and $1,879 CAD per month, respectively.

To afford a mid-sized two-bedroom apartment in cities like Vancouver, Toronto and Victoria, renters must earn at least $100,000 CAD a year. Many people realize that soon they won't be able to afford not only a mortgage but also to rent the apartment they used to live in. In addition, there are landlords who want to quickly get the income lost due to the pandemic when they had to keep rents at the same level.

The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Vancouver is $2,176 CAD per month. So a prospective tenant would need an annual income of at least $95,000 CAD to keep the family's budget intact. For a two-bedroom apartment the income requirement is about $130,000 CAD. And keep in mind that life in Vancouver is not very cheap at all: Check out the average Vancouver family's spending on various budget items.

Slightly cheaper to rent in Toronto, where landlords ask on average about $2,000 CAD a month for a one-bedroom apartment and at least $2,700 CAD a month for a two-bedroom apartment. In Montreal, renting a one-bedroom apartment requires an income of at least $70,000 CAD a year, about the same amount you should earn if you want to rent in Ottawa. For a two-bedroom apartment in both cities, renters need an annual income of $80,000 CAD.