If Toronto is so great, why did all my friends leave?
I love Toronto. There is nothing that I appreciate more than living in a diverse city full of conveniences, where I can run down my building and grab a cup of coffee, walk to school/work/the grocery store, access public transit within steps, eat out and socialize at a variety of restaurants and bars and enjoy access to arts, museums, the waterfront, urban trails and much more. Toronto meant even more pre-pandemic — my large circle of friends all lived and worked downtown; spontaneous meetups after work and weekend brunches were the norm.
Two years later, I am the only one among my circle of friends (not including my new Munk friends) who still lives in downtown Toronto. With the changing nature of work and the impacts of lockdown, my friends gradually moved away from the city, becoming home-owners in Brampton, Mississauga, Pickering, Peterborough, Guelph and Newmarket.
Conversations with my friends all point to common sentiments for leaving Toronto. Prior to the pandemic, most lived in Toronto to be close to work or school and to avoid daily commutes. For condo-dwellers, 1 bed-room became too tight for a couple working from home. Pandemic-led lockdowns and restrictions meant one couldn’t enjoy amenities of the city such as restaurants and theatres nor meet up with friends. It was difficult justify the high monthly rental cost to live in the city without reaping the benefits. Some friends had babies; others decided to get covid-puppies. Your home’s square footage suddenly became more valuable during the pandemic — changing lifestyles demanded a larger space.
In Canada, where everyone seems to be in a race against time to become a homeowner and move to larger spaces, my friends were no different. From mid-2020 to mid-2021, more than 64,000 people left Toronto to move to other parts of Ontario, up 14% from the previous 12-month period. In 2020/2021, Toronto experienced the largest net loss to migratory exchange with other regions of Ontario since 2001/2002. At the same time, rural areas in Ontario saw the highest gains from interprovincial migration since at least 2001/2002.
For young professionals looking to start families and grow roots, Toronto’s unaffordable real estate prices and high cost of living has served to drive people away for years. The pandemic has exacerbated this urgency to move further and further away from cities to hop on the homeowner train before you miss out. This exodus has led to a real estate boom across suburban and rural Ontario, with similar trends across Canada.
So where does that leave Toronto? While immigration may fill the population gap caused by the pandemic-exodus, housing unaffordability will continue to remain an issue. With real-estate being the fastest mechanism in Canada to build wealth and equity, in the long run those with the privilege of timely homeownership will undoubtedly come out on top, widening the socio-economic divide more than ever. It bodes a question: Should those without that privilege simply resign themselves to a life of unaffordability and tiny spaces? You tell me.
