The rest of Canada is right—Toronto does suck.

According to new figures released by Padmapper, a rental listing website, the median price of an available one-bedroom in Toronto is now $2,200.

Obviously, that is deeply unaffordable for most people in the city, particularly young people. But how unaffordable, you ask? The answer will make you want to move to Montreal or back to whatever godforsaken Ontario town you came from.


The rule of thumb has usually been that you should be only spending about 30 percent of your income on rent (although, that rule, which Canada defines as “affordable," is increasingly under scrutiny, given the current market). OK, here comes some math from a guy who got a B in high school math.

And in order for you to afford $2,200 a month—or $26,400 annually—at only 30 percent, you need a before-tax income of about $88,000.

Yes, dear reader, you need to pull in nearly six figures to rent a completely average one-bedroom in a completely average city. Given that the median household income in Toronto was $65,829 in 2015, according to government data, this is highly problematic.

Besides the obvious advice of moving to Montreal, here’s the best solution I can think of—shack up with the first person you get to three dates with and I’m sure it’ll all be fine. Just like late capitalism.

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