In Halifax, where about 40 per cent of residents are renters, a new Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives report says an individual would have to earn $22.57 an hour to afford the average two-bedroom apartment.

That makes the CCPA’s so-called “rental wage” almost double the Nova Scotia minimum wage of $11.55 an hour.

The study used Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s October 2018 urban rental market survey to calculate rental wages, which are the hourly rates of pay that must be earned so that no more than 30 per cent of a tenant’s pre-tax earnings are spent on rent. The calculation assumes a household with a single-income earner works 40 hours a week for 52 weeks a year.

At minimum wage, the CCPA report says an individual would have to work 78 hours a week to pay for the average two-bedroom without exceeding the 30-per-cent threshold.

Downtown Halifax and the surrounding peninsula – the most densely populated part of the municipality – are among the least affordable areas, according to the CCPA’s findings.

The rental wage for a two-bedroom downtown apartment is $34.63 an hour. At minimum wage, an individual would have to work 120 hours a week to afford that.

Not far behind is the south end of the peninsula – home to two of the province’s largest post-secondary institutes, Dalhousie University and Saint Mary’s University – where the CCPA says the rental wage is $29.58 per hour for a two-bedroom.

The study found that the most affordable parts of Halifax are on the outskirts. Together, the suburban neighbourhoods of Waverley, Fall River and Beaverbank have an average rental wage of $13.24 an hour for a two-bedroom apartment.

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