More than
Three-Quarters Say Toronto Becoming Unaffordable
Rent and Real Estate identified as most
contributing to costs
Toronto, September 7th – In a random sampling of public opinion
taken by The Forum Poll™ among 811 Toronto voters, 8 in 10 (79%) say Toronto is
becoming unaffordable. One-fifth (21%) say Toronto is not becoming
unaffordable.
Amongst those that say Toronto is becoming unaffordable, one-third
(36%), say the cost of real restate contributes most, while a quarter (23%),
say it’s rent, and about one-sixth (13%) say it’s wages not keeping pace with
costs.
A few identified property taxes (7%), shortage of funding for public
services (5%), cost of utilities (5%) or private services such as insurance
(5%), the cost of food (3%), or another reason (4%).
More
affordable if property taxes were lower? Majority says no.
Amongst those who pay property taxes, or live with someone who pays
property taxes, more than half (BTM2: 58%) say lower property taxes wouldn’t
make life more affordable, with a quarter (27%) saying they wouldn’t make life
more affordable at all.
4 in 10 (TOP2: 42%) say that lower property taxes would make life
more affordable, but only one-sixth (15%) say it would make life much more
affordable.
Two-thirds
opposed to property tax cut if it jeopardized public services
Amongst all Torontonians, two-thirds (BTM2: 67%) say they are not
likely to support a property tax cut if it meant cuts to city services, with
half (49%) saying they are not at all likely to support such a cut.
A third (TOP2: 33%) said they would support a property tax cut if it
meant cuts to public services, with one-sixth (15%) saying they would be very
likely to support such a decrease.
Opinion
also split on increasing property tax to improve services
Amongst all Torontonians, Opinion is evenly divided on supporting an
increase to property taxes to improve city services with half (TOP2: 47%)
saying they would be likely to support such an increase, and half (BTM2: 53%)
saying they are not likely to support such an increase.
Rent control seen as helpful by
one-quarter
A quarter (26%) say rent
control would make Toronto more affordable, and a fifth (18%) say improving
public services. Roughly equal proportions identified freezing property taxes
(12%), easing restrictions on real estate development (11%), expanding Toronto
community housing (12%), or something else (11%).
1 in 10 (11%) said they
were not sure.
Half said cost of living would make them
consider leaving Toronto
Half (52%) said the cost of
living in the city would make them consider living, with the other half (48%)
saying it wouldn’t.
A follow up question was
asked of those that said they would consider leaving; it asked them how likely,
if at all, they would be to do so.
Amongst that group, 8 in 10 (TOP2: 83%) said they are
likely to leave, with almost half (47%) saying they are very likely to leave.
Only about one-sixth (BTM2:
17%) said they aren’t likely to leave, with 1 in 10 (10%) saying they are not
at all likely to leave.
Amongst those that would consider
leaving, 1 in 10 (12%) said it would be in the short term, 4 in 10 (37%) saying
in the medium term, and 4 in 10 (37%) saying in the long term. One-sixth (14%)
said they do not know.
Tory still at more than 50% support
Amongst decided and leaning
voters, more than (55%) say they would support John Tory if an election were
held today, while a third (30%) say they would support Jennifer Keesmaat.
One-sixth (15%) say they would support another candidate.
Tory seen as most likely to improve
affordability
4 in 10 (37%) say that John
Tory is the candidate most likely to improve affordability if elected, while a
quarter (25%) say it will be Jennifer Keesmaat.
1 in 10 (11%) say it will
be another candidate.
A quarter (27%) say they do
not know.
Tory’s approval still high
More than half (54%) say
they approve of the job John Tory is doing as Mayor, while a quarter (27%) say
they disapprove. One-fifth (19%) say they do not know.
“Affordability is
clearly an issue for many in Toronto, with a staggering number of voters saying
the city is becoming unaffordable,” said Dr. Lorne Bozinoff, President of Forum
Research. “Housing costs, such as the price of real estate and rent are seen as
the cause by many, but currently, while Tory leads on the issue, it isn’t
nearly as big as his lead in voter intention. If Keesmaat, or another opponent can
speak credibly to this issue, it could provide a big opportunity for their
campaign.”
Lorne Bozinoff,
Ph.D. is the president and founder of Forum Research. He can be reached at
lbozinoff@forumresearch.com or at (416) 960-9603.
