More GTA tenants falling behind on rent as housing costs outpace incomes

More GTA tenants falling behind on rent as housing costs outpace incomes

Data from the Landlord and Tenant Board of Ontario shows increasing eviction applications for non-payment

Data from Ontario’s Landlord and Tenant Board shows applications to evict tenants for non-payment of rent have been steadily increasing.

Across the GTA, organizations that support people struggling to pay rent say demand for assistance is reaching unprecedented levels, as rising housing costs and stagnant incomes leave more households behind.

Data from Ontario’s Landlord and Tenant Board shows applications to evict tenants for non-payment of rent (L1s) have been steadily increasing, rising from 37,690 L1 applications in 2022-23 to 41,386 in 2023-24 and 45,435 in 2024-25 — an increase of about 20 per cent in three years.

These eviction for non-payment filings now account for roughly half of all applications received by the board.

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Housing support organizations point to affordability as a major factor.

Gladys Wong, executive director at the Neighbourhood Information Post which runs the Toronto Rent Bank, notes that demand for financial assistance has increased significantly, with distributed grants rising from $6.4 million in 2022 to $8.8 million last year.

"I think that a lot of people whose income used to be relatively decent in the past is no longer able to pay for everything, especially if they have children," Wong said, adding that they are seeing an influx of students struggling to keep up with high rents as well.

"In the past when people applied for the rent bank, their arrears would be a few thousand dollars," she said. "But right now it's not uncommon to see people coming to the rent bank with their arrears over $10,000 or even $15,000."

Municipal housing providers across the region report similar pressures

In Peel Region, service requests for housing supports surged 78 per cent since 2022 to nearly 21,000 last year, while the subsidized housing waitlist reached 37,060 households, a 29 per cent increase since 2022.

Elizabeth Storti, senior director of housing services in Peel, said only 240 households were housed from the waitlist last year, noting a lack of movement in the system.

Halton Region faces similarly high demand for its Housing Stability Fund, where Daryl Kaytor, director of housing services, highlights that insufficient income and high rent remain the primary barriers for residents.

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In Durham Region, rent arrears dominate emergency financial assistance requests, while York Region reports over 22,000 households on its subsidized housing waitlist, a 49 per cent increase since 2022.

Jody DeGagne, general manager of housing and homelessness services in York, notes the region has the highest proportion of residents spending 30 per cent or more of their income on housing in the greater Toronto area and Hamilton.

Mark Richardson, founder of advocacy group HousingNowTO emphasizes the unrealistic gap between the cost of rental housing in the city and wages, despite last week's minimum wage increase.

"Even if you work full time 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, you'll only make around $38,000," Richardson said. "At 30 per cent of your wage, you can only pay around $900 a month. There’s nothing good in Toronto that you can rent for that."

Rising costs impacting landlords too: Landlord association

At the same time, small landlords are grappling with escalating mortgages, property taxes, insurance, maintenance and administrative costs.

"With the cost of the mortgage going up, with the burdens on us going up, I challenge anyone to find a small landlord that is thrilled to be in this business," said Varun Sriskanda, a member of Small Ownership Landlords of Ontario.

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Sriskanda says the amount the province allows to raise the rent is not keeping up with those costs, and in some cases landlords are being forced to sell.

"I think a lot of people when they hear non-payment of rent, they think 'Well, the landlord owns real estate, they can take the impact of a non-payment,' but that's a corporate landlord and it's very different than a mom and pop landlord," he said.

Sriskanda says small landlords make up a large percentage of Ontario's rental supply, and bringing overall housing costs down will also ensure more stability for renters long term.

Talia Ricci is a TV, radio and web reporter at CBC Toronto. She enjoys covering offbeat human interest stories and exposing social justice issues. Talia has also reported in London, Ont. and Winnipeg, Man. You can email story ideas to talia.ricci@cbc.ca.