Cost of housing in Canada

[Eaglelord17]

I get enjoying what a place like Toronto, Victoria, or Vancouver has to offer. But if your so poor because of how expensive it is to live there you can't do/enjoy those things why would you want to live there? I have family stuck in their apartment in Victoria for example, beautiful fun place to live, but they can't move because if they do their rent will skyrocket by at least 1k. So they are basically locked in where they are at as otherwise they will be forced to leave the city.

Where I live the average income needed to live just rose to 18$ a hour. The average income in town is substantially higher than that. It is one of the few places left in the country where it is urban but you can afford to live in it and if you like rural things it isn't much of a drive to get to nature. Thanks to the internet I can order most things I want to my front door easily. The only things we are really lacking in is some different food choices (it is getting better over the last few years), and the bar scene sucks (more or less died out once they really started cracking down on drinking and driving due to how the city is structured).

If your fine without that then your good to go. It also offers a lot that you can't find in Toronto. I can afford to participate in many outdoor activities if I wish to from hunting and fishing, snowmobiling, boating, hiking, camping, etc. If I even wanted to I could do a monthly trip to Toronto to do the fun things in Toronto and still live comfortably.

Reading that article it can be summed up as I didn't do my research, and my life is fairly empty without quick meaningless distractions to keep me from realizing how empty my life is.

 

[dimsum]

Keep this article handy in case TBS starts asking why we need HHTs.

We are one of the few, if not only, militaries that do HHTs. I wouldn't be surprised if we're one of the only orgs in the GoC who do that too.

Our allies (incl ones who don't have US levels of dependent support) just post people there and put them up in a hotel for a few weeks while they sort everything out. After working with some of them, they were shocked that the CAF would pay for an extra trip, plus TD and living costs, to scope out a place before you get posted there.

 

[kev994]

We are one of the few, if not only, militaries that do HHTs. I wouldn't be surprised if we're one of the only orgs in the GoC who do that too.

Our allies (incl ones who don't have US levels of dependent support) just post people there and put them up in a hotel for a few weeks while they sort everything out. After working with some of them, they were shocked that the CAF would pay for an extra trip, plus TD and living costs, to scope out a place before you get posted there.

Technically the US does include an HHT (at least the way it was explained to me) but they all keep the cash instead and use the days to vacation enroute.

 

[dimsum]

Technically the US does include an HHT (at least the way it was explained to me) but they all keep the cash instead and use the days to vacation enroute.

The US version of leave really confuses me, or at least the way it was explained to me.

The way it was explained to me, weekends are counted as "leave" so they didn't have the weeks of block leave like we are currently doing. They'd take a few days off for Xmas, etc but be back at work for 26-30 Dec or something. It may be a unit-specific thing but enough folks from different units said roughly the same thing that I'm starting to think it's a US military-wide thing.

 

[kev994]

The US version of leave really confuses me, or at least the way it was explained to me.

The way it was explained to me, weekends are counted as "leave" so they didn't have the weeks of block leave like we are currently doing. They'd take a few days off for Xmas, etc but be back at work for 26-30 Dec or something. It may be a unit-specific thing but enough folks from different units said roughly the same thing that I'm starting to think it's a US military-wide thing.

Yeah, that’s accurate. You could just not put in for the weekend and hope for the best, but if you want 2 weeks off you’d need to take the two days in the middle as leave.
Edit: and if they cancel your leave they don’t pay for your plane tickets, that part blows my mind.

 

[dimsum]

Yeah, that’s accurate. You could just not put in for the weekend and hope for the best, but if you want 2 weeks off you’d need to take the two days in the middle as leave.
Edit: and if they cancel your leave they don’t pay for your plane tickets, that part blows my mind.

 

[dapaterson]

NJC relocation directive and RCMP equivalent both include HHTs.

While the CAF represents the overwhelming majority of GoC relocations, I don't see HHTs going anywhere, as PS unions and that of the RCMP would likely strongly push back.

 

[kev994]

I should also caveat that if you want to be out of the area on the weekend that’s a leave day. , but I never looked into how far you could go without being on leave

 

[dimsum]

I should also caveat that if you want to be out of the area on the weekend that’s a leave day. , but I never looked into how far you could go without being on leave

CAF or US?

This has been mentioned before but "out of local area = leave on a weekend". I suspect it's a misunderstanding and/or so units know where their folks are if not in local area.

From the Leave Policy Manual:

2.1.04 Weekends and Holidays​

Weekends and Holidays are included on Form CF 100 when they form part of a leave period in conjunction with other types of leave that are reckoned in working days. A CF 100 is not required for a member proceeding exclusively on weekends and/or designated or other holidays, except when:

• when travelling to a foreign country, or to a country other than the one where the member is employed;
• when travel benefits are requested (eg. LTA); or
• when required for ration accounting purposes for members authorized to draw rations on a continuous basis.

Now, this conversation has strayed so far from housing in Canada that I have no idea how to bring it back.

 

[kev994]

CAF or US?

This has been mentioned before but "out of local area = leave on a weekend". I suspect it's a misunderstanding and/or so units know where their folks are if not in local area.

From the Leave Policy Manual:



Now, this conversation has strayed so far from housing in Canada that I have no idea how to bring it back.

I’m talking USA and their lack of weekend leave

 

[brihard]

Now, this conversation has strayed so far from housing in Canada that I have no idea how to bring it back.

Well, I mean, normally you just reach the end of your OUTCAN.

 

[RangerRay]

It’s too bad they closed Kapyong Barracks in Winnipeg and moved 2PPCLI to Shilo. Now all those rich people in Tuxedo will be living next to the Rez. I hope they build the biggest, gaudiest casino west of Niagara Falls there.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Just talking with my friend the rent for his warehouse in the Fraser valley is going up 3x, so he is looking to move and downsize his operation.

 

[dimsum]

Just talking with my friend the rent for his warehouse in the Fraser valley is going up 3x, so he is looking to move and downsize his operation

Sadly, not surprised.

 

[mariomike]

Saw a 650 square-footer rented out at $2,450 per month in Toronto.

Tiny home Toronto neighbourhood fought to stop now renting for $2450

Toronto has entered into something of a laneway house renaissance as tiny homes populate backyards and laneway frontages across the city, but not e...

www.blogto.com

 

[Colin Parkinson]

As I mentioned elsewhere, it might be cheaper to build a base overseas in Eastern Europe with ample apartment and PMQ blocks and house a few units and their dependents over there. It might solve the base housing crisis and show commitment to our allies.

 

[mariomike]

Anyone interested in Canadian cities where home prices are cheaper than the national average.

GTA average $1,164,400

May, 2023

These are the Ontario cities with home prices cheaper than the national average

After a turbulent 2022, home sales and prices in Canada have been trending upward this year, with the national average home price reaching $754,700 i…

www.blogto.com

 

[CBH99]

Anyone interested in Canadian cities where home prices are cheaper than the national average.

GTA average $1,164,400

May, 2023

These are the Ontario cities with home prices cheaper than the national average

After a turbulent 2022, home sales and prices in Canada have been trending upward this year, with the national average home price reaching $754,700 i…

www.blogto.com

So the average price of a house in Canada is 3/4 of a million dollars...What an absolute f**king joke...

How can young people ever buy a starter home? How can young working professionals ever buy a home if you need to qualify for almost a million dollars just so one can own where they live?



Even if people default on their mortgages (which I'm sure a ton of people will when it comes time to renew their mortgage & the interest rate is 2% higher than it used to be) and a home goes into foreclosure... The bank can't say "Just pay what's owing on it, steal of a deal!" if that amount is $500k+

We are bringing in 500,000 immigrants a year currently - most of which from countries that aren't as affluent as us. Where do they live? How do they raise a family?



The Canadian housing market needs to burst. It's going to suck for a lot of people, and I know my own parents will be among them.

But the average home costing upwards of $1M is insane...



(Rant off...)

 

[IKnowNothing]

Even if people default on their mortgages (which I'm sure a ton of people will when it comes time to renew their mortgage & the interest rate is 2% higher than it used to be) and a home goes into foreclosure...

Maybe it's the out of touch tone deaf cranky old man in (early 30's me), but the prospect of this ridiculous, and as much as the housing bubble is a very real problem, to me this prospect speaks more to people's sense of QoL entitlement than a pending necessity. Most mortages are still within their stress test, or very close to it. The math still works. People* just need to be willing to budget properly, make some cuts, and find the money.

* The ones with the incomes and co-signors that got approved for these bloated purchase prices, living Instagram lives with no plan for tomorrow.


As for the burst sucking... depends how far of roll back we're talking. The vast majority of homes are on the books at pre-run up prices.

 

[Brad Sallows]

We are bringing in 500,000 immigrants a year currently - most of which from countries that aren't as affluent as us. Where do they live? How do they raise a family?

Depends on the immigrants. Some are willing to live with a couple of generations or a couple of families in one house. For them, that effectively cuts the cost per family. Some are willing to pool funds across established families in order to assist new ones. Some are willing to have the teenagers work and kick in a little to the family income.

At the margins, one or more of those advantages is decisive for some of them. It's not just immigrants, either. These are habits available to anyone. The most powerful habit is the one in which the whole gang kicks in to buy a house outright without any financing. Imagine how much money that saves; even being called upon to pay it forward to the next few to set up housekeeping is much cheaper.