Changing the definition of…

Changing the definition of affordable rent from 30% of household income to 30% of the 60th percentile of gross annual income for the municipality will not make rent more affordable. As it stands, the 60th percentile for all regions sits well above $70,000, with the lowest (Algoma) sitting just above $74,000. Under the new definition, municipalities with problematic rental prices would still find themselves facing average market prices, whereas municipalities with truly extortive pricing would still only aid those capable of paying rent prices that sit at numbers which are already too high.

The government should be fighting to lower the price of rent across the board, not just for the upper 40% of renters that would be least-impacted by the prices already. All this bill serves to do is give further allowances to developers to skirt municipal charges, leaving those municipalities to seek recuperation from its own citizens in the form of taxes; the renters themselves will still find life expensive regardless.