The harsh reality of Ontario’s rental market has crossed a critical threshold, with a troubling number of tenants now sacrificing basic nutrition to keep roofs over their heads. According to a new report released yesterday by the Federation of Rental-Housing Providers of Ontario (FRPO), nearly 60 percent of renters across the province have been forced to reduce their spending on food and groceries just to make monthly rent payments.
“What we’re seeing isn’t just an affordability gap—it’s a full-blown survival crisis,” says Tony Irwin, President of FRPO. “When people are choosing between adequate nutrition and housing, our system has fundamentally failed them.”
The comprehensive survey of over 2,000 Ontario renters revealed that the situation is particularly dire in Toronto, where average one-bedroom apartments now command upwards of $2,600 monthly. Nearly 70 percent of Toronto respondents reported making significant cutbacks to their food budgets, with many relying increasingly on food banks and community meal programs.
The report highlights a troubling demographic trend as well. Young professionals and families with children are being hit hardest, with 73 percent of households with dependents reporting nutritional compromises. Emma Chen, a 34-year-old paralegal and single mother of two in Mississauga, exemplifies this struggle.
“I’ve started skipping meals so my kids can eat properly,” Chen told CO24 News. “My rent went up $350 this year alone. That’s our entire grocery budget for two weeks gone.”
Housing experts point to a perfect storm of factors driving the crisis. The province’s vacancy rate sits at a historic low of 1.2 percent, while new rental construction has slowed dramatically due to increased interest rates and construction costs. Meanwhile, population growth—particularly in urban centers—continues to outpace housing supply by significant margins.
The health implications are equally concerning, according to Dr. Maya Patel, a public health researcher at the University of Toronto. “When people cut food budgets, they typically reduce consumption of fresh produce and protein first. We’re seeing increased rates of nutritional deficiencies, particularly among children and seniors in rental housing,” Patel explained to CO24 Canada News.
Provincial housing minister Paul Calandra responded to the report by highlighting the government’s recently announced rental construction financing program, which aims to incentivize the creation of 10,000 new rental units across Ontario. However, critics argue these measures fall well short of addressing the immediate needs of struggling renters.
Opposition housing critic Jessica Bell called the situation “a preventable humanitarian crisis” and pressed for immediate rental assistance programs. “The government must implement meaningful rent control and direct financial assistance to vulnerable renters before this becomes a public health emergency,” Bell stated during question period at Queen’s Park.
Food banks across the province corroborate the report’s findings. The Daily Bread Food Bank in Toronto reports a 40 percent increase in clients who identify as renters over the past year alone. “We’re seeing people who never imagined needing a food bank,” says executive director Neil Hetherington. “Working professionals, students, seniors—the common denominator is they’re all renters.”
Economists at the Royal Bank of Canada warn that without significant intervention, the situation could worsen. Their analysis, published in conjunction with the FRPO report, suggests that rental costs in Ontario will likely increase by another 8-12 percent over the next eighteen months, further squeezing household budgets.
Community advocacy groups are calling for comprehensive policy solutions, including expanded rent subsidies, acceleration of affordable housing construction, and stricter enforcement of existing tenant protections. The Toronto-based advocacy coalition Right to Housing has launched a provincial campaign demanding emergency measures to address what they term “the nutritional sacrifice zone” created by the rental crisis.
As policymakers and stakeholders debate long-term solutions, the immediate reality for hundreds of thousands of Ontario renters remains stark. With winter approaching and food inflation continuing to outpace general inflation, the nutritional compromises documented in the report risk becoming even more severe.
What remains to be seen is whether this growing crisis will finally catalyze the kind of transformative policy action needed to ensure Ontarians don’t have to choose between adequate housing and putting food on the table. As the province grapples with competing priorities, can we afford to ignore the human cost of our collective failure to ensure basic needs are met?
