The housing crisis in Canada is particularly acute in Toronto. High interest rates have lowered house prices, but rents have skyrocketed. The shortage squeezes residents – from young professionals to new immigrants.
The solutions might be rooted in human values, not cold math. As The Monitor’s Sara Miller Llana approached to report a story about responses to the situation, she focused on the intergenerational tension she saw play out.
“I was just trying to think about the dynamics behind this tension,” she told the Monitor’s “Why We Wrote This” podcast. “And I realized that empathy is a value that really drives or shapes some of this debate.”
What she found: Small movements working to encourage changes in thinking about housing. They encourage wealthy landowners in large spaces to consider the plight of potential residents who cannot get their foot in the door – and to consider being open to higher-density housing in which people from different strata could mingle. Potentially “a win-win for everyone,” says Sara, who sees Canada yearning to make this work.
His story eventually suited the monitor. “I think there are a lot of solutions related to empathy and compassion,” Sara says. “One of them is [re-examining] the status quo.”
Episode Transcript
Samantha Laine Perfas: Welcome to “Why We Wrote This”. I am Samantha Laine Perfas.
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Perfas wool: With me today is Sara Miller Llana, Americas bureau chief for Monitor, based in Toronto. Sara has reported from over 40 countries in multiple languages and has traveled to some of the world’s most intriguing places, including the Brazilian Amazon, the Galapagos Islands, Patagonia, Moscow, Ukraine and the Canadian Arctic. Now living in Toronto, she’s seen the country’s affordable housing crisis first-hand and will share some of her reporting on the issue. Sara, thanks for joining me.
Sara Miller Llana: Thank you for.
Perfas wool: To start, could you tell me a bit about the housing crisis in Toronto?
Miller Llana: Safe. This fall in October, UBS named Toronto the worst real estate bubble in the world. It is even ahead of London, Hong Kong and Sydney. Only 10% of people living here, wage earners, could even afford to buy a house in the first place. The story has now changed a bit. Due to soaring interest rates, we now see prices falling, but rents have now skyrocketed. My neighbors across the way, to cite just one example, are Brazilian doctors who have two excellent jobs. Their landlord sent them a note and said, we’re going to raise your rent by 16%. Now they face eviction. It’s a very common story here in Toronto. It really changes the nature of a place. If two Brazilian doctors can’t live here, who will move in? It just becomes a much more homogeneous place.
Perfas wool: What are some of the causes that led to what we see today?
Miller Llana: Some of the things that get a lot of attention are the usual suspects, like foreign buyers or Airbnb. But I think it really comes down to a lack of supply here. There’s a lot of NIMBYism, and that means Not in My Backyard. I live in a townhouse, but most of the houses here are detached. And every time there’s a proposal to build something, there’s a huge outcry, because people worry that their schools are overcrowded or public transport is overcrowded, or just that nature or the identity of a community changes. And that tends to be split across generations, because the people who don’t want the neighborhood to change are landlords who tend to be older. And it’s the young people who can’t get their foot in the door.
Perfas wool: This idea of intergenerational tension is really interesting. Have you met anyone or spoken to groups that put this aspect of the crisis into perspective?
Miller Llana: Yes of course. So, I was just talking about NIMBYism, but there is a counter-movement called YIMBYism, which means “yes in my backyard”. And I met a group of mostly young Torontonians who started an organization called More Neighbors Toronto. They are trying to get their message across that more housing is not scary. It’s actually the solution a city like Toronto needs. And so they show up at these development meetings. Often people proposing development plans will hear, complaint after complaint, all the reasons why this development project should not come to fruition. So this group, they’ll raise their hands and they’ll say, “That’s a great idea. Or, “It’s a place where we could see ourselves living or our friends living.” And that really helps put a human face on this issue. And it’s split across generations, because the people at these meetings tend to be older people who don’t want their communities to change.
And then there’s another band that really made me think about it called Generation Squeeze. They propose to impose a surtax on houses whose value exceeds $1,000,000. All they mean is that young people have sacrificed so much and they can’t get their foot in the door. And so it really requires older people with real estate to look in the mirror and say, you know, how am I involved in this issue?
Perfas wool: Did you feel that approaching this story as a Monitor reporter gave you a different perspective?
Miller Llana: Absolutely. I have long been intrigued by this idea of intergenerational tension. And so I was just trying to think about the dynamics behind that tension. And I realized that empathy is a value that really drives or shapes some of this debate. So More Neighbors Toronto, when they show up at these meetings, I wouldn’t say their goal is to generate empathy for their cause, but that’s a by-product. You know, you go there and you can see real people and a generation that really can’t get their foot in the door. And it’s the same with Generation Squeeze. They did this whole campaign right before Thanksgiving in Canada, which is before Thanksgiving in the United States, because they knew families were going to sit around the table together and they just wanted people to have conversations about what it means for the older member to have that house and a younger member sitting around the table who can’t get a house because of all the housing inflation. And how there are solutions within families if we really address the inequality at play here.
Perfas wool: Could you tell us a bit more about this value of empathy and compassion? How might this help different generations to think about this in a new way?
Miller Llana: Part of our mission at the Monitor is also to present solutions. And I think there are a lot of solutions that are tied to empathy and compassion. One of them is considering the status quo. I’m looking out the window right now in Toronto, and right next to me is a 90-year-old Ukrainian woman. On the other side of the street there is also a Ukrainian. I live in the old Ukrainian neighborhood here. He’s in his 90s. They both live in really big houses, and that’s not necessarily an ideal fit for them. If we allow higher density housing but, you know, in low-rise condominiums and that type of housing, maybe those people could move to somewhere more suited to their needs, but they can have the same neighbors and go to the same supermarket and just get acquainted. And that helps them. This helps the young family who cannot afford a detached house. It really is a win-win for everyone.
Perfas wool: Going forward, do you see anything that could make Canada focus a little more on this issue?
Miller Llana: I think this is recognized as a major problem at all levels of government. Solutions are constantly being proposed. And I think in the last few months there’s been even more attention given to this because of the population growth in Canada, because of immigration. So Canada has really overtaken the United States in terms of immigration, and Canada is very proud of that identity. He announced in November that he would bring in 500,000 immigrants every year for the next three years. That’s 1.5 million immigrants. Acceptance is part of his identity. But you’re just starting to see people asking the question, “Okay, well, where are they going to live?” How does this fit into the housing crisis? I don’t think it’s going to turn into an anti-immigration thing at all. I think it’s going to turn into a “We really, really have to fix this housing issue if we want to be the Canada we aspire to be.
Perfas wool: Thank you very much, Sara, for sharing your thoughts on this.
Miller Llana: You’re welcome.
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Perfas wool: Thanks for listening. To find the transcript and our show notes, which include links to some of Sara’s work. Go to CSMoniter.com/WhyWeWroteThis. This episode was hosted by me, Samantha Laine Perfas and co-produced with Jingnan Peng, edited by Clay Collins. Alyssa Britton was our sound engineer, with original music by Noel Flatt. produced by the Christian Science Monitor. Copyright 2023.
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