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I feel the same way about my hometown of Halifax. It's impossible to live here, now. It's impossible to live anywhere in Nova Scotia. Nova Scotians are poor. We are a poor province. We cannot afford 1M+ dollars for a three bedroom house. Common Nova Scotians just don't have that kind of money. Regular folks cannot afford a 5K/month mortgage. I live with my family in an apartment, with a leaky roof and cockroaches, in a decent neighbourhood, and it's 2160.00/month and I know this is a good deal in this city. Crime is rising here, as well, because jobs are disappearing and wages aren't increasing. I think this is country wide. We have a huge homeless problem in Halifax, and it is not following the past statistics. Most of the people living in tents have full-time jobs and families. But, there are literally thousands of empty houses. New appartments and condos get built, and there are no vacancies before the building is open. And not a single person is living in them. They get bought by out of province and out of country investors to fortify their investment portfolios. This is ridiculous. What is happening?

THE BIRD FEEDER ANALOGY \n \nI bought a bird feeder. I hung it on my back porch and filled it with birdseed. What a beauty of a bird feeder it was, as I filled it lovingly with seed. Within a week we had hundreds of birds taking advantage of the continuous flow of free and easily accessible food. \n \nBut then the birds started building nests in the boards of the patio, above the table, and next to the barbecue. Then came the poop! It was everywhere, on the patio tile, the chairs, the table…everywhere! \n \nThen some of the birds turned mean. They would dive-bomb me and try to peck me even though I had fed them out of my own pocket. The other birds were boisterous and loud. They sat on the feeder and squawked and screamed at all hours of the day and night and demanded that I fill it when it got low on food. \n \nAfter a while, I could not even sit on my own back porch anymore. So I took down the bird feeder and in three days the birds were gone. I cleaned up their mess and took down the many nests they had built all over the patio. \n \nSoon, the backyard was back to like it used to be…quiet, serene, and no one demanding their rights to a free meal. \n \nNow let us see here… \n \nOur government gives out free food, subsidized housing, free medical care, and free education and allows anyone born here to be an automatic citizen. \n \nThen the illegals came by the tens and hundreds of thousands, millions. Suddenly our taxes went up to pay for free services; apartments are housing 5 families; you have to wait 6 hours to be seen by an emergency room doctor; your child’s 2nd grade class is behind other schools because half the class doesn’t speak English. Illegals squawking and screaming in the streets, demanding more rights and free liberties. When asked why they breed like cockroaches, the reply is that it is a cultural thing. \n \nIt's long overdue for the US government to take down the bird feeder. Otherwise, we will continue cleaning up the poop!

Thank you Lynn, for speaking up the truth. When I came to America i never realized that people are living in apartments in upto 24th floors high rise building and we suffered with culture and their accent and everything. Even there is secondary clothes here stores here here that all white and black Asian...goes to. We told free clothes, sofas.... but nothing. You work hard they take it back living paychecks to paychecks. The system pushed you to get even in debt. First you have to borrow from them to develop your credit history, otherwise you can not buy a house have to have over 650 credit score. Their system is crazy. People must know everything before they come to wherever they going to. These agents taking money from the people and laying to them. Shame on them.

This is really the main reason why I am seeing many Canadians, US & British people now living in newly built apartments in BGC and owning units since it is way cheaper to own this in Asian countries like the Philippines.

YEP. DO NOT MOVE TO TORONTO. I think you're beings very kind. It's a mess. No planning has led to a city that is out of control and ugly. The worst part is the water front.... which simply has disappeared. \nYeah, anyone living in Toronto needs to be seeing a therapist...unfortunately you won't be able to afford one!\nI live outside Toronto in an apartment, (I never, ever thought I'd live in an apartment) and I pay $3000. And there is plenty of random violence where I am as well. I had a first hand experience. It's really, really sad \nI would leave this country no problem, but living here through lockdown and stuff has me rather down?

The thing is…\n1. It’s not only refugees in the streets…During summer most homeless people choose to sleep in the parks coz the weather is good and then as the weather changes they go back to the shelters..\nThere has been a lot of refugees coming to the country..now imaging adding those number of refugees plus the homeless people trying to go back to shelters..it became overwhelming \nBut this is all part of an ecosystem..\nIt starts with the lack of housing in the city..there are more people than the city can hold..\nThis leads to the people who are in shelters not being able to move to their own apartments (which the government helps them pay for) and if they don’t move out they can’t be able to create space for the homeless to move into shelters.\n2. However since that second TikTok was shot (the one with the mayor talking). The government has released an additional $210 million to help with housing refugees and therefore I think the situation is getting better now

Last time I was in downtown Toronto, about a decade ago, I was surprised by the amount of homeless people that I saw… sounds like it’s only gotten much worse since then, not enough housing and too many people moving into the city. I couldn’t believe how much my sister and brother in law paid for their little apartment in downtown Toronto, makes me very happy to live in rural Saskatchewan. Lol!

Blame TRUDEAU for bringing in all THE FAKE REFUGEES AND GIVING THEM THE SHELTERS AND GOVERNMENT FUNDED APARTMENTS, AND PRODUCING BABIES LIKE FACTORIES AND GETTING ALL THE FREE GOVT MONEY AND NEVER WORKED ONE DAY IN CANADA. THEY ARE LIVING THE RICH LIFE IN CANADA.\n\nCANADA SHOULD HAVE THEM SIGN A LEGAL DOCUMENT THAT THEY CANNOT RETURNED TO THEIR COUNTRIES THAT THEY APPLIED FOR FAKE REFUGEES AND ASYLUM SEEKERS. AMERICA HAS THAT LAW. IN A AMERICA THEY HAVE TO PUT ALL THEM BABIES AND CHILDREN IN DAYCARE, GET WORK PERMITS ASAP AND FIND JOBS. AGE DOES NOT MATTER. STOP SUCKING MONEY FROM THE TAX PAYERS.\n\nEXTREMELY SAD

I live in Edmonton Alberta, Canada my friend who is a Real Estate Agent in Toronto called me last week to ask about the situation in Edmonton with housing because there are lots of immigrants coming to Toronto and there is literally no houses. Lots of people are on the streets. There are also lots of scammers claiming to have apartments that do not exist and they are getting people.\nYes the cost of living is extremely high. Is mind blowing how families survive here .

In general I like Toronto, I lived there for a couple of yrs a long time ago, but with these prices, I won't move back, forget it. It is impossible to live there, period. I live in London and even over here the prices became much higher than before. My mom is in real estate, renting out bachelor apartments and she is nice, she doesn't rip ppl off, she rents them for reasonable prices, utilities, parking included like in the good old days and ppl sometimes beg her to pick them to move in, it's that bad. No one wants to move out once someone moves in. Gee, I wonder why.

kenyans with money should try to invest in manufacturing sector so that we can create jobs for our own. This thing of building apartments na clubs should end. Also, someone who can pay for a ticket and fees to Canada can easily make it at home.

It all depends for me I'm.making it in cabada n Iv owned 2 mansions n apartments in kenya within an year

Everyone's experience is different. I've lived in America for many years, I have masters degree and a good job. I've managed to build several high end apartments in Kenya, buy a house here and invest in the stock market and fund a retirement account. Same applies to my brother and sister. You can make it here and you can make it anywhere in the world. He shouldn't generalize.

I've lived in Toronto for almost 20 years, and I can't wait to get out. The plan is to move somewhere else in the spring, just figuring out where. Toronto now breaks my heart-- you see people seriously struggling everywhere, and it's hard to see it in contrast with the opulent wealth that much of the city has. We're lucky to be in a rent-controlled apartment and we've been here for over a decade, and there's no way we'd find anything even remotely similar here now (the apartment we live in would go up at least $1000 if we leave). The safety is also an issue- I live in a fairly busy area that used to be extremely safe (I used to walk home alone at midnight in high school) and now I rarely leave my apartment after dark. There's very angry, erratic people, many on substances, and I've had some rough encounters already. And don't get me started on public transport.... My sister saw someone almost get randomly pushed into the subway tracks yesterday, and obviously that doesn't get reported. It's worse than people think, and it's only gonna get more horrible once winter hits.

Funny how at around 9 minutes of the video they show a graph of cities in Canada comparing minimum wage vs what you need to make to rent a 2-bedroom apartment, yet Montreal, the second biggest city in Canada by far at 4.2 mil people (metro area) is not even in the graph! Is Montreal that much better that it won't even make that list or the news just snubbing the city? Or maybe they know Montreal is just cheaper, nicer, with much less crime and it would just make Toronto look bad! ;-P

I guess because Toronto is so huge and because I stayed in the main touristy areas I only noticed a few homeless people during my trip. They were more noticeable to me in Calgary in the spring. But the worst I've seen is Portland, Oregon and Seattle, WA and in 2021 Washington DC was pretty bad off...though the encampments I saw then had been cleared out by DC when I returned in 2023.\n\nI really really enjoyed my stay in Toronto over Labor Day weekend, my first time ever to visit. But just looking around me I got the same sense I did in NYC...it's a beautiful place to visit but living here would be ungodly expensive. The luxury apartments across the street from my hotel seemed to have rather low occupancy, from what I could see from my hotel room window at night. A lot of rental real-estate are speculative investments and any thought of addressing housing needs, keeping occupancy rates high, etc. are purely secondary concerns...zombie buildings with unaffordable rents that remain sparsely occupied while the need(s) are so dire is morally offensive and government should step in with rent controls and occupancy requirements and tax those owners more heavily who have occupancy below a minimum threshold. The increase in crime is a completely expected outcome of economic desperation. The US answer is usually more police & harsher penalties but I hope Canada is more rational and humane in addressing these societal ills.

Just want to ask question...why are rents so expensive, there? . Iam from New York... do not live there anymore...but when I lived there. .The financial sector has been buying apartments for more than 20 years. I think that is one of the reasons. As their is another reason that I will not mention because it will look that I am racists.. but as well you can make double or triple the wage in N.Y.C . Probably not now since this latest scam on the people causing mayhem in the supply chain and businesses rendered bankrupt by shutdowns. Anyway..just curious what is going on? May the people get justice and have a home. God bless to all that are suffering. AMEEN.

Downtown Toronto always expensive. Better to look for apartment in suburbs. I used to live in Toronto many years ago and am now in Nova Scotia. Halifax has many of the same problems now.

If I were rich I STILL wouldn't want to live in Toronto/GTA. I'd move immediately to Tokyo or some other part of Japan. Even if you could afford to live in the GTA why would you when there's so many nicer and more safe and peaceful places to live in? \n\nI've seen enough of Japan to know that that would be the place I'd love to live in. Somewhere where you don't have to worry about crime and violence happening in your city everyday. No shootings or stabbings or robberies or carjackings or scams etc. and where the vast majority of people are nice, kind and friendly and non-violent and non-criminal.\n\nThere's a Twitch livestreamer that I watch regularly that lives in Tokyo and he regularly leaves his $3000+ bike all over the city almost without a care in the world. All he has to do to secure his bike is to lock his bike wheel to the frame without even having to attach it to a pole or bike stand etc. so that no one steals it. That is when I knew that Japan is the place for me. When you can leave your expensive stuff alone and come back and its still there. That is the kind of society I wish to live in and be apart of.

it seems apart from khalistani terrorists, Mr Trudeau has an affinity with many shady characters.....this is cultivating lawlessness on a wide front.Trudeau and his ilk continue to remain popular, Canadians seems to prefer the status quo despite complaining about their elite

You have to gain over 100k to afford a living here… Infrastructure is very bad with long commuting hours and transit worst in Canada. It’s very widespread and there is nothing to see in the city itself expect if you love skyscrapers… The only reason people move here is due to job and salary if you are really an indispensable professional with a career, more welcoming and open to immigrants and apart from that nothing to do there… very crowded.. unsafe.. and you don’t really experience the vibe of the city like maybe Montreal that has its own downsides as well!! But its worth a try if you have that desire for some change in your life considering those caveats above.

I currently pay $734.96 per month for my bachelor apartment in Parkdale, Toronto. All inclusive. I found the place in 2015, and it started at $660.00 per month. It's a smaller building where I know most of my co-tenants. Quiet neighbourhood most of the time. I've been one of the lucky ones for sure. I love this city! I'm from Peterborough and I will never move back. Some of the best memories of my life have been here. But you're right Alina, it has changed. Much like most other major cities in the world. The economic hardships being the #1 issue. Rent going up, wages staying the same, and inflation not slowing down. But with Toronto, the transit system is far behind the progress of cities like New York. Toronto should have multiple subway lines going east and west. Queen St. and Dundas lines for sure. The overall culture of the city is not as vibrant as it was during the 2010s. That could be Covid related. Or things are taking awhile to come back to pre-Covid form. But a lot of great venues and restaurants have been shutting down. And being replaced with the construction of condos. The real estate is insane here. It feels like things have gone downhill since the Raptors won the NBA championship in 2019. Because that really united everyone when there were a million people gathered for the parade. I'm hoping things turn around and there's more affordable housing for newcomers. I know I'm staying here for a while longer. Because of my cheap rent. And career attachments to the city. Great job on the video! ?

Hi Alina can you tell us where to live in Canada and elsewhere that's better. I've been living in a Bachelor apartment for 12 years now in midtown Toronto I pay 966$ a month, now the same apartment is priced at 1600$ a month this is insane :( the new generation has no chance only those who built there wealth before 2012 are having it good.

And the worst part about the government is doing nothing to fix the housing crisis, except allow more trailer parks and allowing people to rent a trailer on their property in town instead of building more houses and apartments they are changing policy to allow people to live in a trailer in town. My best goal to live comfortably would be save enough money to buy a trailer and live in a trailer park because rent will probably be cheaper there than any other one bedroom room.

Hamilton is another Canadian city that has undergone major changes. There are now tent cities in every city park. Rents are unaffordable for many people. I know someone who just leased a two bedroom apartment for $2600 plus hydro. Food prices seem to be on the rise everywhere in Canada. A house will never be affordable for many working couples. Crime is much more than five years ago. Much of this has to do with the tolerance and accommodation that occurred during COVID.

600 dollars for a shared apartment.. omo thats really cheap.. where are you please cos in kitchnener minimum is 850 for a reasonable place

I saw your video and remembered when I came to the USA as a refugee in 2003. It was a tough ride. I had to take three buses to go to work. I also shared an apartment with a young girl from Kenya. It will get better. Hang in there and keep your eyes on Jesus. Today, I am a United States Citizen, I have two bachelors degrees ( Nursing/Psychology). I am now in school for my Masters in Nursing while establishing my own business. I own my home and no longer have to take the bus- I own two cars. Sister, surround yourself with positive people and don't focus on the negative. IT WILL GET BETTER.❤❤❤

My rent in Carlton Street jumped to $1200 in 2002 so, I moved. That same apartment is now $2400. It's overlooking Allan Gardens. Good luck, Alina and, Thank you so much for your honesty.

Khakistani Pakistani terrorists and criminals will soon take over Canada and turn Canada into Khalistan. Canada will tear itself apart because of its love for terrorists. And grant citizenship to immigrant criminals and terrorists in Canada. The reality is that even worse days are ahead for Canadians.

I live in Regina Saskatchewan. I visited Toronto recently and I have to say I don't like it at all. Even though, I have already saved up enough money while working in Saskatchewan to buy an apartment in Toronto without mortgage, I won't consider moving to Toronto at all. The traffic drive me crazy. There are so many vehicle on Hwy 401 and all other roads even at mid night, going to work will be more or as stressful as your work. I am surprised to find out most of my friend who has better or same qualification as me only get about less than 70% as I get paid. Life quality must be terrible compare live in a more afford city like Regina Saskatchewan.

33 of course i mean how can you tell them apart ?

Yes it's really difficult for many people. I'm facing retirement and will have to rent always a senior apartment for lower rent. The world is changing, and it will take some time to see how this all shakes out. Like what will happen to small business owners? How can people afford to run a business in a large city these days?

Alina - you can move to Finland , the happiest country in the world for four consecutive yeard 2019 to.2023. I was in Helsinki and Tampere last month for two weeks. In Tampere every things is new. Public buses Yutomg are new. Trams are new. Caffes are new, more new apartments. It is not Crowded like Toronto and it has no homless people. All Finnish speak very good English. So pls visit Finland but the Soumi language is very difficult.

Please how can i get a shared apartment before landing in Canada? I will be coming in winter so i would love to secure one before coming

This Canada ?? I said before the government should do something about the school they closed. They use them for the homeless. A make them in to apartment s .

I moved out of Sherbourne and Richmond area to Ohrid Macedonia 2 years ago. \nMy 550 sq ft apartment cost me $86000 and the build quality is by far better than an average condo it TO, the weather is better, the food is better, the people are nicer, we have a thriving expat group, etc etc on and on ????

Lots and lots of apartments, houses and town houses in Alberta and they are still building more and more. People should move to the province of Alberta. Only that, it is very cold here in the winter

The homeless situation is man made created by Liberals. They opened boarder to the every one from across the world specially from African countries who flew their country for crimes.. Now its all over.. They also brought almost 2 million student without any housing and healthcare fix. Now I can see 4 to 5 students live in one room basement apartment each pay $700 a month.\n\nWe are now dropping below other G8 countries in terms of living standards. I remember back in early 90s when Harper was Prime Minister. He use to bring most wealthy business people to come here to open business and employ Canadian. That has boosted the Canadian economy until Trudue came to power and destroyed every thing been built. \n\nWe are fearful our future generation what kind of Canada they will get after 10 to 20 years from now. I hope the Liberals will be out and new PM will do some real work on to stop these useless immigration, international students who mostly come here live not for study as they give up after a year or so due to high cost of fees..

I've lived in Canada before - twice, and it changed drastically between those two times. These days, I wouldn't touch Canada with a ten foot pole. You may remember, I was living in Lviv, Ukraine — and then the invasion happened. That pushed me out; I have moved to Croatia. I found cheap rent on a 5 bedroom apartment — in a seaside city with a Mediterranean climate — and signed a 5 year lease. By now, I am more than 1.5 years into living in Croatia. (And, Croatia developed a reputation like Sweden, for very little Covid restrictions. So I have 1.5 years living with no medical questions, no mandates, no masks, and no vaccine passports. Outside of Sweden and Croatia, the rest of Europe is less interesting, because of how they were during Covid.)

The Government provided me, via ODSP, an income that was equivalent to earning a whopping $4.99 per hour. And they were kind enough to freeze that ODSP income for almost 5 years. But I did manage to get a lovely 1 bedroom carpeted apartment in Scarborough for darn near nothing per month.

There are just not that many options of places to live in the US that are good, especially if you don't want to be isolated. As an American I thought about moving to rural New Hampshire.. which doesn't have city problems, but still, kind of cold and isolating and they might have meth problems. I decided on Miami as a home-base, its expensive, but there aren't many other good options out there.. Living in another country is psychological hard after awhile and dealing with visa issues.. I thought about moving to somewhere like Budapest which is very nice, but if you aren't part of the culture or know the language, its hard.. Its better sometimes just to settle down somewhere, I can't get anything done as a nomad, constantly worried about where I am going to next, living in other people's apartment isn't always comfortable..

I am a resident of Toronto for the past 11 years now. I moved here from Calgary because back then I had a better opportunity. I was an aspiring pastry chef. I landed in pretty stable and well paid job. I've already noticed the changes in city a few years before the pandemic. The drug addiction and mental health problem were already quite evident as injection sites were popping up around the cities including public parks. Then the pademic happened, it exposes the cracks in our society, some people are becoming selfish and intolerant. I lost my job due to the pandemic, it was very traumatic, I developed severe anxiety/depression. Luckily, i had some savings when it all happened. Fastforward, I've been working in the last 2 years now but I can no longer find the same job and pay I used to have. Most companies are now more ruthless. They let go employees any minute as soon as they felt the business is slow. There's no more job security. The only reason why I am surviving is because I am living in the same apartment since i moved here. However, my new neighbours who just moved in are paying twice as much. I've been attempting to leave the city but that would mean that i would be paying at least twice of my current rent and there aren't much opportunities elesewhere. I honestly felt trapped in my current situation but I am still grateful that I am still better off than many people who are already living on the edge. Sadly, the situation is only getting worst according to many analysts. I think the country is at a breaking point in many aspects.

I live in Canada I recently visited my hometown. When I grew up there was maybe a handful of homeless on some of the downtown streets but now it’s over run with homeless and drug addicts. New immigrants from India, China and Middle East pool their money together with friends and family and rent apartments. 2-3 families will cram into a small infested apartment

yeah just force Americas legs apart and penetrate

I’ve been living in Montreal my whole life, coming from a family with a very modest revenue. For my parents, buying a house was already well out of the equation going back 25 years. I’m now 22 years old and, for one buying real estate is not even worth thinking about, but the rental market so out of hand too that I can’t even see myself renting an apartment alone for the foreseeable future. The average rent for a one bedroom apartment is more than half my monthly earning and moving off the island can’t save me because what I’ll save on rent will be spent on living expenses and a car/license (which I don’t have). It really feels hopeless out here at times

Not clever enough, the Goverment don't help for poor people, build a Apartments 1 room only

And they come here get apartments food stamps take all jobs for cheap steal rob have a bunch of kids bet uant the wall now

This a sign that black and white need to stick together bc if we don't I'll country will fall apart I love my country USA we was here first before Mexican no disrespect.?

America needs to hold the Venezuelan government accountable but they can’t be accountable for themselves. What a shame that the west is falling apart.

The doctor having a chauffeur and a beautiful home, a fine practice; and beautiful weather... food; left all that to be a third class Canadian; freezing in an apartment? For six months a year? Something's really wrong with his thinking! ?