Thunder Bay renters better off than many Canadians

According the newly launched Canadian Rental Housing Index website, Thunder Bay tenants are slightly better off than the rest of the country.

The site, which profiles several hundred communities across country, shows the average monthly rent paid by Canadians is $848, utlitiles included.

In Thunder Bay the average is $700.

However, the average household income for renters in Canada is $46,100, while in Thunder Bay it’s just $39,160.

On average Thunder Bay renters spend about 21 per cent of their income on rent, a percentage point less than renters elsewhere in the country.

Thirty-nine per cent of local renters (5,525) spend 30 per cent or more of their income on rent, while 17 per cent (2,410) spend more than 50 per cent. That compares to 40 per cent and 19 per cent in all of Canada.

The data shows of the 46,945 households in the city, 14,220, or 31.8 per cent, are rentals.

A total of 980 renter households are reported to be living in overcrowded conditions, a seven per cent total. Nationwide it’s at 11 per cent.
Overall, according to the index score awarded the city, Thunder Bay placed 325th of 523 communities surveyed.

It’s a slightly different situation in Kenora, where 44 per cent of renters are spending more than 30 pe cent of their household income on rent. Just 13 per cent spend 50 per cent or more.

The average rental price in Kenora, though lower than the Canadian average, is slightly higher than Thunder Bay, at $739.

About eight per cent of the community’s 6,520 households are rental units, and about eight per cent live in overcrowded conditions.

Twenty-eight per cent of Dryden households pay rent, where the average monthly cost is $754, about 24 per cent of the average renter income of $38,084.

A whopping 48 per cent are paying 30 per cent or more of their income on rent, while 15 per cent are spending more than half their income on shelter.

As a whole, Ontario is listed with a critical ranking, the worst on the survey’s scale.

The average rent, including utilities in Ontario, buoyed no doubt by high costs in the Greater Toronto Area where it tops $1,000, is $926.

Forty-two per cent of Ontarians spend 30 per cent or more of their monthly income on rent, while 20 per cent spend more than 50 per cent. The average Ontarian spends 23 per cent of their income on rent.

The Canadian Rental Housing Index offers an online map with interactive features. It’s backers include credit unions an non-profit housing associations across the country.