With the rise of remote work and increasingly absurd housing costs, trying to live alone in Toronto is more of a luxury than taking to the road, Rob Csernyik writes.Supplied
Rob Csernyik is a contributing columnist for The Globe and Mail and a 2022 Michener-Deacon fellow.
Recently my mother asked when I would return to Canada from travelling abroad. It’s a fair question, since my original timeline keeps getting extended and my list of destinations keeps growing. In a few months, I said, though admittedly I’m not 100 per cent sure. That didn’t go over well.
She said I’d travelled enough and had reached the age to pick somewhere and settle down. While this has been the opening salvo to countless parent-child arguments throughout history, something – age, a perspective shift – kept me from bristling and getting defensive. Instead, I posed a rebuttal: If I can’t afford to “settle down” in this economy, and I don’t need to be back in Canada to do my work, what’s the rush?
For people of my mother’s generation, long-term travel is a luxury or something people do to escape adult responsibilities. But with the rise of remote work and increasingly absurd housing costs, I think trying to live alone in Toronto is more of a luxury than taking to the road.
I’m not alone. Since that conversation, I’ve met others in their late 30s who are also travelling long-term instead of “settling down.” The impetus for their adventures is also that so-called real life is too expensive. Like me, they want time to figure out their next steps to further their careers and income – without going to the poor house.
I’ve noticed, particularly when I speak with Canadians, that finances play a large role in the desire to pause life back home. There’s a feeling that the economy isn’t working for Gen Z and millennials and that those in power are failing to fix this. As long as settling into a traditional life is scraping by paycheque to paycheque, such escapism is going to be the new normal.
The best place to make changes is to fix the housing crisis, which makes it harder than ever to stay in one place as a younger Canadian.
I’ve been abroad since February, 2023, and have read little encouraging news about the matter. Consider what’s happening in my home province of Nova Scotia. Despite a plan to double the population to two million, there are no concrete plans to house those new residents.
In New Brunswick, where I lived for nearly four years before heading abroad, tenant protections against rent increases are weak, and no hard cap exists.
Even attempts at solutions are anything but. A Globe analysis from April of CMHC-funded rental projects found that 87 of 177 deemed “affordable” exceed what typical renters can afford. This sleight of hand stems from rents being considered “affordable” when compared with the median household incomes of the general population instead of the lower median incomes of renters.
Across the spectrum, politicians seem more concerned with anything and everything but fixing housing and rental prices. They’d rather endlessly litigate gender identity issues, change the retail model for beer or trade social media barbs with opponents – anything to avoid the ghost at the feast.
I suspect much of this lies in the reality that housing initiatives and policies prompt a lot of criticism. Some group of developers, homeowners or landlords is bound to be vocally irritated by a move for the greater good. Taking such stands can mean losing elections. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau put it best: “Housing needs to retain its value.”
But the whole point of governing is to serve the people. The rest of us are used to a sense of impermanence when doing our jobs, so join the club. Canadian politicians of all stripes should reflect on how comfortable they are with constituents globetrotting to escape the cost-of-living crisis in a country they breathlessly call eminently livable. If the answer is no, then it’s time to make hard choices to fast-track new housing, curb rapacious rent increases and create a Canada where it’s easier to build a life long-term and contribute to the economy than spend our hard-earned dollars elsewhere.
I will return to Canada soon enough – there are career opportunities and relationships that lure me back. How I’ll be able to afford that return is less certain, but more likely if elected officials at all levels step up to attack the housing crisis. Maybe my mother should direct her complaints to their constituency offices instead.