Nearly a quarter of renters in Toronto are spending more than 50 per cent of their household income on rent and utilities, creating a “crisis of affordability,” according to the 2018 Canadian Rental Housing Index.

The findings, released Tuesday and based off 2016 census information, paint a picture of worsening affordability as rising rents outpace incomes, forcing renters to spend a larger percentage of their pay on housing.

“Simply put, too many Canadians are paying too much of their incomes towards rent,” Jill Atkey, acting CEO of the BC Non-Profit Housing Association, told reporters Tuesday morning.

Spending 30 per cent of a household’s gross income on rent is considered the threshold of affordability, Atkey said.

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Nationwide, the index found 40 per cent of renters in Canada are spending over that threshold, with 18 per cent spending more than half their income on rent and utilities. In Toronto, 47 per cent of households are spending more than 30 per cent of their income on rent and utilities, and 23 per cent are spending more than 50 per cent.

“Spending more than you can afford on rent is becoming the new normal in Canada,” Atkey said. “If you’re spending more than half of your income on rent, how are you paying for food, transportation, child care, soccer and music classes for the kids?”

Steven Love, a renter who lives in Parkdale, estimates about 60 per cent of his income goes toward rent. Love receives disability benefits and pays $722 a month for a bachelor apartment.

He says he has to be careful with other parts of his budget, such as food and clothing.

“As far as little things in life, like going to a movie or going out for a coffee, these things are impossible,” Love said. “They’re not part of my reality.”

Love, an affordable housing advocate and one of the organizers of the successful Parkdale rent strike, says he sees affordable housing as an issue throughout his community and other parts of the GTA.

“I went online once and I looked (at rental properties) in Brampton,” he said. “Even in Brampton, the rents are very high.”

The index also identified that housing affordability has become an issue outside of downtown cores.

“What was once a problem in the urban core has now spread . . . as renters move further and further out in search of affordability,” Atkey said. “But the data that we’re releasing today shows that they’re not finding it there.”

The index also found that, for the first time in a generation, the rate of Canadian renters has outpaced the number of people buying a home.

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As rising prices prevent Canadians from buying homes, more people are entering or remaining in the rental market, said Jeff Morrison, executive director of the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association, in a statement.

“This marks the first time in a generation that the rate of Canadian renters has outpaced the number of Canadians buying a home, and speaks to the need to increase the supply of affordable housing.”