What to know
- A Toronto worker earning Ontario’s $17.60 minimum wage would need to work approximately 145 hours to cover the average rent of $2,543.
- That represents roughly 84 per cent of a 40-hour work month, leaving the equivalent of about $500 in gross pay for food, transit and other expenses.
- North York had Ontario’s highest burden at 146 hours, while every GTA locality included in the report required between 118 and 146 hours.
- Zoocasa’s calculation uses gross wages and does not account for taxes or other housing expenses, meaning the impact on take-home pay would be even greater.
A minimum-wage worker in Toronto would have to put nearly an entire month’s earnings toward rent just to afford the average apartment, according to a new report highlighting the city’s affordability gap.
Zoocasa’s analysis, published earlier this week, examined average rents in 60 Canadian cities and divided them by the minimum wage in each province. In Toronto, where the average rent was listed at $2,543, a worker earning Ontario’s current $17.60 minimum wage would need to work about 145 hours to cover rent alone.
For someone working 40 hours a week — about 173 hours a month — that represents roughly 84 per cent of their monthly working hours. It would leave them with the equivalent of only about 28 hours of gross pay, or approximately $500, for groceries, transit, phone bills and every other expense.
The squeeze would be even greater for someone working a 37.5-hour week, with rent taking up close to 89 per cent of their monthly hours.
Toronto’s outer districts offer little relief
Moving outside the downtown core does not necessarily make renting more manageable.
North York had the highest burden in Ontario in Zoocasa’s analysis, requiring 146 hours of minimum-wage work to cover the average rent. Across the GTA localities included in the report, including Toronto, North York, Etobicoke, Scarborough, East York, Mississauga, Vaughan, Brampton, Oakville and Burlington, the total ranged from 118 to 146 hours.
Mississauga required about 135 hours of work for an average rent of $2,360, while Brampton required 127 hours for a unit averaging $2,231. By comparison, a minimum-wage worker in Sarnia needed 95 hours, the lowest figure in Ontario.
Toronto was also among the most expensive places in the country by this measure. North Vancouver topped the list at 164 hours, followed by Vancouver at 150.
Across Canada, only eight of the 60 cities studied required fewer than 100 hours of minimum-wage work, while 29 required at least 120 hours.
The calculation does not include taxes
The report’s figures are based on gross pay, meaning they do not account for income tax, Canada Pension Plan contributions or Employment Insurance deductions. The actual share of a worker’s take-home pay needed for rent would then be higher.
The calculation also compares one person’s wages with the asking rent for an apartment. It does not capture renters who share housing, live in smaller units or pay below-market rent under an existing lease.
At the same time, it excludes other housing costs that may be charged separately, such as hydro, internet, parking or tenant insurance.
Ontario’s general minimum wage is scheduled to rise from $17.60 to $17.95 an hour on Oct. 1, according to the provincial government.
If Toronto’s $2,543 average rent remained unchanged, that increase would reduce the time needed to cover it to about 142 hours, still nearly 82 per cent of a 40-hour work month.
The wage also remains well below the Ontario Living Wage Network’s 2025 rate of $27.20 an hour for the GTA. The network defines a living wage as the amount needed to cover basic expenses and participate in one’s community, based on local costs.
The latest findings also fit into Toronto’s wider housing crisis. City data shows almost one-third of households face affordability challenges by spending more than 30 per cent of their income on housing.
Among private renters already struggling with affordability, more than one-quarter spend over half of their before-tax income on housing costs.
