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Stuck. Many Torontonians say they’re clinging to affordable rental units and fearing what comes next

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Hannah Hadfield and her partner have a comfortable two-bedroom apartment in Toronto’s west end with relatively affordable rent. But like many renters in the city, she doesn’t know what she’d do if they lost it.

Her landlords are fantastic, but getting older. Meanwhile she and her partner are at the point in their lives where they have an eye to the future, potentially starting a family and looking for somewhere with a bit more space.

But in Toronto’s current rental market, the prospect of finding another place to live is a cause for concern.

“If the market was normal, [losing our apartment] would be unfortunate but fine. We would go out and we would just get another two-bedroom apartment,” she said.

“But going out into the market right now is truly terrifying. Like, I don’t know where we would end up or what kind of apartment we would end up in.”

CBC Toronto has asked you to tell us about your rental experience. So far, hundreds have responded to our callout, with many saying they can afford their unit but are worried about losing it or finding somewhere better.

Some respondents told us they feel stuck, while others are worried about the future they envisioned for themselves and family.

That creates a number of challenges, from rentals that should be entry-level not opening up to many existing in a state of housing anxiety. One expert also says the issue takes away some of the things that have traditionally been a positive of renting housing, like the flexibility to move closer to jobs or daycare services.

Teenagers to expecting couples are worried about moving out

Kathrin Jassmann has an apartment near High Park and said she can’t afford more rent than she’s paying now.

“It’s just depressing because I have a really decent job, I make a six-figure income and I’m scraping by and I can’t afford a house or an apartment or a condo,” she said.

Ideally, Jassmann wants to leave the city for somewhere smaller. But she’s finding rental markets outside the city are no better and ownership is unattainable.

 

Understanding Toronto’s rental market pain points

Toronto’s rental market has several pain points. CBC Toronto’s Shannon Martin speaks to several housing experts to better understand how Canada’s largest city has been pushed into a rental crisis.

Jim Quick and his wife recently moved into a new place after their previous building was sold. The apartment is slightly smaller than where they were before but has two bedrooms, which will accommodate their baby on the way.

But the idea of owning feels far away.

“Between the two of us, we’re making about $170,000 and the idea of having a home, like our own place, is unattainable,” he said, especially with his wife soon to be on maternity leave.

“It’s very frustrating. I feel like the goalposts keep getting moved further and further away from us,” he said.

George Freeland-Haynes is 16 years old and shares a basement apartment with his mother where he’s lived since he was a couple months old. (Submitted by George Freeland-Haynes)

George Freeland-Haynes is 16 years old and shares a basement apartment with his mother where he’s lived since he was a couple months old. They pay about $1,300 for a one bedroom and learned last summer they may need to move out — something that has since been delayed.

If they had to move out, Freeland-Haynes said they’re privileged in the sense that they’d be able to stay with family, but finding another apartment in the area wouldn’t be possible.

“The idea that I was going to be spending the first four months of [school] without necessarily a place that, a home that was mine, was admittedly scary.”

Issue is not a new one for some: expert

Nemoy Lewis, an assistant professor at the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Toronto Metropolitan University, said this issue is not a new one for some communities.

“Housing precarity and insecurity has been very much prevalent in a lot of racialized and economically disenfranchised communities,” he said. “More recently, even as a result of the pandemic, housing precarity has landed on the doorstep of a lot of households that historically never experienced housing precarity.”

He agrees with the argument that more housing supply is needed.

“But I think we need to be building supply that Canadians can actually afford,” he said. “A big problem is that the housing that’s actually being built right now is vastly unaffordable.”

Ricardo Tranjan, a senior researcher at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, said the weakening of rent regulation in Ontario is what’s led to people feeling like they can’t afford to move.

Toronto’s rental market is in dire need of more supply. But back in the 1960s and 1970s the city had a healthy stock of apartment buildings. So what happened? CBC Toronto’s Shannon Martin explores the timeline of when Canada’s biggest city started running out of rentals.

He pointed to rent control only applying to buildings first occupied before Nov. 15, 2018 and a lack of rent control on vacant units.

“So you create a huge, huge difference between what is being paid in occupied units and what is being paid in vacant and non-controlled units,” he said.

He said regulatory measures like rent control for occupied and vacant units is needed.

Geordie Dent, the executive director of the Federation of Metro Tenants’ Association, says strengthening tenant’s rights could also help.

“If there were easier, quicker ways that tenants can get justice, if there were strong penalties for landlords that actually broke the law, again, people wouldn’t feel so stuck.”

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Telus prioritizing ‘most important customers,’ avoiding ‘unprofitable’ offers: CFO

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Telus Corp. says it is avoiding offering “unprofitable” discounts as fierce competition in the Canadian telecommunications sector shows no sign of slowing down.

The company said Friday it had fewer net new customers during its third quarter compared with the same time last year, as it copes with increasingly “aggressive marketing and promotional pricing” that is prompting more customers to switch providers.

Telus said it added 347,000 net new customers, down around 14.5 per cent compared with last year. The figure includes 130,000 mobile phone subscribers and 34,000 internet customers, down 30,000 and 3,000, respectively, year-over-year.

The company reported its mobile phone churn rate — a metric measuring subscribers who cancelled their services — was 1.09 per cent in the third quarter, up from 1.03 per cent in the third quarter of 2023. That included a postpaid mobile phone churn rate of 0.90 per cent in its latest quarter.

Telus said its focus is on customer retention through its “industry-leading service and network quality, along with successful promotions and bundled offerings.”

“The customers we have are the most important customers we can get,” said chief financial officer Doug French in an interview.

“We’ve, again, just continued to focus on what matters most to our customers, from a product and customer service perspective, while not loading unprofitable customers.”

Meanwhile, Telus reported its net income attributable to common shares more than doubled during its third quarter.

The telecommunications company said it earned $280 million, up 105.9 per cent from the same three-month period in 2023. Earnings per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 was 19 cents compared with nine cents a year earlier.

It reported adjusted net income was $413 million, up 10.7 per cent year-over-year from $373 million in the same quarter last year. Operating revenue and other income for the quarter was $5.1 billion, up 1.8 per cent from the previous year.

Mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.85 in the third quarter, a decrease of $2.09 or 3.4 per cent from a year ago. Telus said the drop was attributable to customers signing up for base rate plans with lower prices, along with a decline in overage and roaming revenues.

It said customers are increasingly adopting unlimited data and Canada-U.S. plans which provide higher and more stable ARPU on a monthly basis.

“In a tough operating environment and relative to peers, we view Q3 results that were in line to slightly better than forecast as the best of the bunch,” said RBC analyst Drew McReynolds in a note.

Scotiabank analyst Maher Yaghi added that “the telecom industry in Canada remains very challenging for all players, however, Telus has been able to face these pressures” and still deliver growth.

The Big 3 telecom providers — which also include Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc. — have frequently stressed that the market has grown more competitive in recent years, especially after the closing of Quebecor Inc.’s purchase of Freedom Mobile in April 2023.

Hailed as a fourth national carrier, Quebecor has invested in enhancements to Freedom’s network while offering more affordable plans as part of a set of commitments it was mandated by Ottawa to agree to.

The cost of telephone services in September was down eight per cent compared with a year earlier, according to Statistics Canada’s most recent inflation report last month.

“I think competition has been and continues to be, I’d say, quite intense in Canada, and we’ve obviously had to just manage our business the way we see fit,” said French.

Asked how long that environment could last, he said that’s out of Telus’ hands.

“What I can control, though, is how we go to market and how we lead with our products,” he said.

“I think the conditions within the market will have to adjust accordingly over time. We’ve continued to focus on digitization, continued to bring our cost structure down to compete, irrespective of the price and the current market conditions.”

Still, Canada’s telecom regulator continues to warn providers about customers facing more charges on their cellphone and internet bills.

On Tuesday, CRTC vice-president of consumer, analytics and strategy Scott Hutton called on providers to ensure they clearly inform their customers of charges such as early cancellation fees.

That followed statements from the regulator in recent weeks cautioning against rising international roaming fees and “surprise” price increases being found on their bills.

Hutton said the CRTC plans to launch public consultations in the coming weeks that will focus “on ensuring that information is clear and consistent, making it easier to compare offers and switch services or providers.”

“The CRTC is concerned with recent trends, which suggest that Canadians may not be benefiting from the full protections of our codes,” he said.

“We will continue to monitor developments and will take further action if our codes are not being followed.”

French said any initiative to boost transparency is a step in the right direction.

“I can’t say we are perfect across the board, but what I can say is we are absolutely taking it under consideration and trying to be the best at communicating with our customers,” he said.

“I think everyone looking in the mirror would say there’s room for improvement.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:T)

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TC Energy cuts cost estimate for Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico

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CALGARY – TC Energy Corp. has lowered the estimated cost of its Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico.

It says it now expects the project to cost between US$3.9 billion and US$4.1 billion compared with its original estimate of US$4.5 billion.

The change came as the company reported a third-quarter profit attributable to common shareholders of C$1.46 billion or $1.40 per share compared with a loss of C$197 million or 19 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 totalled C$4.08 billion, up from C$3.94 billion in the third quarter of 2023.

TC Energy says its comparable earnings for its latest quarter amounted to C$1.03 per share compared with C$1.00 per share a year earlier.

The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TRP)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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BCE reports Q3 loss on asset impairment charge, cuts revenue guidance

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BCE Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter as it recorded $2.11 billion in asset impairment charges, mainly related to Bell Media’s TV and radio properties.

The company says its net loss attributable to common shareholders amounted to $1.24 billion or $1.36 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $640 million or 70 cents per share a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, BCE says it earned 75 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 81 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

“Bell’s results for the third quarter demonstrate that we are disciplined in our pursuit of profitable growth in an intensely competitive environment,” BCE chief executive Mirko Bibic said in a statement.

“Our focus this quarter, and throughout 2024, has been to attract higher-margin subscribers and reduce costs to help offset short-term revenue impacts from sustained competitive pricing pressures, slow economic growth and a media advertising market that is in transition.”

Operating revenue for the quarter totalled $5.97 billion, down from $6.08 billion in its third quarter of 2023.

BCE also said it now expects its revenue for 2024 to fall about 1.5 per cent compared with earlier guidance for an increase of zero to four per cent.

The company says the change comes as it faces lower-than-anticipated wireless product revenue and sustained pressure on wireless prices.

BCE added 33,111 net postpaid mobile phone subscribers, down 76.8 per cent from the same period last year, which was the company’s second-best performance on the metric since 2010.

It says the drop was driven by higher customer churn — a measure of subscribers who cancelled their service — amid greater competitive activity and promotional offer intensity. BCE’s monthly churn rate for the category was 1.28 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent during its previous third quarter.

The company also saw 11.6 per cent fewer gross subscriber activations “due to more targeted promotional offers and mobile device discounting compared to last year.”

Bell’s wireless mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.26, down 3.4 per cent from $60.28 in the third quarter of the prior year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:BCE)

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