Pensions must play part with housing

As Toronto city workers clean up from Labour Day parades this week and more than 300,000 students begin a new school year in Toronto's publicly funded school board classrooms, many recent college and university graduates are starting their first jobs in public service.

- MARK RICHARDSON

Young new teachers are at the front of our classrooms, new registered nurses are starting shifts at Toronto hospitals and new paramedics are transporting patients to receive critical care.

All of these newly hired essential workers in the public service will earn less the Toronto's median household income of $84,000 per year an income level at which the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) advises household should not spend more than 30 per cent of gross-income, or $2,100 per month, on rent.

Following CMHC's guidance, most of Toronto's essential workers in the public service should spend no more than $1,300 to $1,900 per month on rent. However, according to rentals.ca, the current asking rent for a one bedroom market-rate apartment in Toronto in July 2024 was $2,443 - which would require a minimum household income of almost $98,000 per year to comfortably afford.

The gap between current market rents in Toronto and the salaries that are paid to our cities essential workers have a huge gap, which leads to many problems with recruitment and retention of the next generation of public sector workers that our city depends upon.