Is Toronto becoming unaffordable to the poor working class?

BY MICHAEL THOMAS

According to research put forward by CISION which was done by Lowestrates.ca\Cost of living in Toronto, the figures tell a sad financial tale of how much it costs just to get by here in Toronto in 2020.

The average cost of a one-bedroom unit in Toronto hit $2,314/month last November, and the average cost of a two-bedroom reached $2,966, if you are a transit rider add $138.55 for a Presto adult card and then there are groceries which have increased in prices by about 11% from last year.

According to the City of Toronto’s Nutritious Food Basket Calculator, a single male between the ages of 19 and 30 now spends $283.52 a month on groceries, and a single woman between the same ages spends $220.39, giving us an average of $251.95.

Phone and internet services is another story all by itself.
● Bell: $89.95
● Rogers: $89.99
● Teksavvy: $62.95
That gives us an average of $80.96 a month for the internet and $75 for phone and a combined bill of $155.96 per month on the lower side. Then there is entertainment that would have cost $178.96 per month again on the modest side, but sadly these days there is hardly any seen as how the population has been imprisoned since March.

Health and fitness which would have cost you at least $64.75 monthly is out the window as gyms in the city are closed, and residents are not very welcome in out-of-town facilities thanks to certain media platforms and their relentless fear-mongering tactics.
Here is a breakdown of what it takes to get by in Toronto in 2020 for renters who drive and commute, and homeowners who drive and commute respectively.
● Total: $3,541.24 monthly, or $42,494.88 annually (for renters who commute)
● Total: $3,840.23 monthly, or $46,082.76 annually (for renters who drive)
● Total: $5,415.73 monthly, or $64,988.76 annually (for homeowners who commute)
● Total: $5,714.72 monthly, or $68,576.64 annually (for homeowners who drive)
These figures don’t add up to a prosperous existence for many in this city, especially if you are black when one takes into consideration the minimum wage. To add insult to injury Stats Canada released a report on a study called “Changes in the socio-economic situation of Canada’s Black population,” that said.
● One-quarter of black children are living in a family in poverty
● The employment rate is lower for black men than for the rest of the male
population
● The median annual wage for black men is lower than that for other men
● One-quarter of black children are living in a family in poverty
It is easy to see that minimum wage in Ontario being $14 per hour equals $25,000 per year. Now try matching that up with the cost of living that is mentioned above in this article, and immediately one can smell the bad breath of serious poverty in his or her face.

This coupled with some landlords who are asking for ridiculous prices for small apartments here in Toronto, and the insane real-estate market values leave many asking how long can this go on before there is wide-spread: social unrest, homelessness, and vagrancy on a scale that this city has never seen before.