As Canada’s federal election nears, millennials who come from different ends of the political spectrum all bemoan the housing affordability crisis.

Meet Lucas Giovennetti from the Vaughan-Woodbridge riding, who has a knack for art and animation.

The creative 23-year-old voted for Justin Trudeau’s Liberals in 2015 because of his promise to legalize recreational marijuana. But this time, “I feel disenfranchised with all of them,” Giovennetti said of the leaders of Canada’s main parties.

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“I don’t feel that I’ve got any candidates that represent what I want right now,” said Giovennetti, who lives at home with his parents despite earning independently as a brand manager at a federally licensed provider of medical cannabis, CannCentral, in Toronto.

“Honestly, I’d like for the federal government to prioritize making life a little bit more fair for everyone,” he said, citing expensive costs for goods and services — most importantly housing.

It’s the lack of affording housing that irks Giovennetti the most.

“The most important asset that one has to own in this city or province is at least a house, and the prices are way beyond what someone can afford on a regular salary.”

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Rex Xia, a 27-year-old from the Vaughan-King riding, who works at the Markham office of the Silicon Valley giant AMD, said it would be “ideal” to move out from his parents’ home, but considering the housing market he is delaying his plan to save up more money.

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“My colleagues who moved out, almost half of their cheques goes to housing,” Xia said.

Xia, who has voted for the NDP in the last federal election, and previously has opted for Liberals provincially, fears a populist tide coming from Canada’s southern neighbour.

Gurneet Kaur Dhami, a 25-year-old who has been living in Woodbridge for two years before moving to Halifax to complete her masters of science and human nutrition at Mount Saint Vincent University, questions how she as a millennial can save for the future.

Dhami, who voted NDP in last federal election, is taking OSAP but at a much lower rate at $4,000 per semester this year as opposed to receiving $18,000 for the entire year of 2017. She is trying her best to make ends meet in Nova Scotia.

Asked if it’s hard for people around her age to move out of their parents’ home, Dhami agreed.

“I’d say it’s funny because in my whole (Woodbridge) neighbourhood, we have a lot more cars than in my old neighbourhood (Etobicoke). You just see a lot of families cohabitate.”

While she dubbed this “intergenerational aspect” as “nice,” she sees the other side, which is “not being able to afford or move out to own your own space.”

When it comes to elections issues that are top of mind, urban millennials say they want a government that will tackle affordable housing. (Frank Gunn / The Canadian Press File)

Nationally, health care and food equity as well as social justice, especially for Canada’s Indigenous population, are all key issues. However, when it comes to her riding, Dhami said there is “a lot of gentrification” that’s taking place, forcing out people who can’t live in the neighbourhood.

Daniel D’alessandro, a 24-year-old electrician from the Vaughan-Woodbridge riding, laments not enough young people are going into the trades, but he believes it’s not only people his age.

“I have relatives close to their 30s, if not in their early 30s, who have either gotten married or are planning to get married, or they’re at that point now where they do want to move out, but they can’t because of how expensive housing is,” he said.

D’alessandro, who has voted Conservative in the 2015 election and most likely is going down the same path this election, believes housing is the top issue in Toronto or the GTA.

“Yes, absolutely, the housing is going to be very expensive in the area. Once you start going north of Orangeville, houses aren’t as expensive.”

However, “who wants to do that drive?”

“I think it’s fairly hard for one person to own a home, you need at least two incomes to do so,” he said.