Imagine spending 50% of your income on rent in Metro Vancouver.
You don’t have to imagine if you’re a minimum wage worker; that’s your reality, according to the latest Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) rental report.
CMHC’s report highlights that 2023 didn’t offer much hope for folks looking to rent in Vancouver, and international student enrolment and immigration complicated matters further in 2023 regarding supply and demand.
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In 2023, the vacancy rate in the purpose-built rental market was 0.9%, the same number as the condominium apartment market.
Average two-bedroom rent was $2,181 in the purpose-built rental market and $2,580 for two-bedroom condo apartments. The numbers from CMHC are a fair bit lower than the asking price for available rentals via the monthly Rentals.ca report.
Considering those numbers, the minimum wage in BC is $16.75 per hour, which, at full-time hours, means a salary of approximately $33,000 per year. That puts the affordability of a two-bedroom condo apartment ($2,580 per month) entirely out of reach.
The average rent increase for all bedroom types reached 9.7%, up from 6.3% in 2022.
“Lower-income renters are also more likely to seek more affordable but smaller units or shared living arrangements that will fit their budget but that may not meet their housing needs.”
CMHC says that the rental market in the Vancouver census metropolitan area stayed constrained in 2023.
“In the few areas that showed an increase in vacancy, the increase likely resulted from newly completed rental buildings that weren’t completely rented out.”
Immigration was the primary driver of population growth in the first half of 2023.
“While net interprovincial migration declined, hitting negative levels during the survey
period, net international migration to British Columbia grew by 56% compared to the first half of 2022.”
Things weren’t any better for Vancouver homebuyers as affordability declined in 2023.
“The monthly mortgage payment of a typical 2-bedroom condominium sold in 2023 was 7.3% higher than the same payment for a unit sold in 2022. The cost gap between choosing to stay in a condominium on the rental market and choosing to own a similar unit continued to grow.”
CMHC
Are you a minimum wage worker renting in Vancouver? How are you managing?
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