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Debbie Ross has the same chance of snagging an affordable apartment in Toronto as she does picking a long-shot at the Kentucky Derby.

Ross is hoping to win one of 75 rental apartments in a lottery run by the city’s public housing agency. She’s up against 3,779 others, so the odds of winning are only about 50:1 but figures it’s as good a chance as any of finding a place to live.

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Long priced out of home ownership, Ross is now being squeezed out of the rental market as the country’s biggest population boom since 1957 sends prices surging in Canada’s biggest city.

The 56-year-old unemployed office worker pays $1,026 (US$776) for her one-bedroom apartment. Her savings and unemployment insurance are running out and she’s been looking for a cheaper place but units that were in her price range only a few years ago have nearly doubled.