Vancouver, Toronto renters lament quality of life: StatCan

VANCOUVER — Renters across the country faced record low vacancy rates and record high rent increases in 2023, but Statistics Canada says Toronto and Vancouver residents who don’t own their homes face the greatest financial and mental pressures. 

The agency says survey results over the last few years show renters are more prone to reporting lower quality of life than homeowners, especially in Vancouver and Toronto. 

Statistics Canada says young people surveyed in 2023 were less likely to report “high overall life satisfaction” and “excellent or good mental health” compared with older Canadians 55 and up. 

People aged 15 to 29 also reported feeling lonely and less “hopeful about the future” than older people from 2016 through 2022. 

Statistics Canada says those living in Toronto and Vancouver in 2021 through 2023 reported lower life satisfaction than others in B.C. and Ontario, and also had a lower sense of “belonging to their community.” 

The agency says during that same time residents in Toronto and Vancouver were much less likely than people living elsewhere in their provinces to report having good mental health, with the financial strain of shelter costs possibly affecting their feelings about their quality of life.