There’s a lot to consider when you’re looking for a place to rent, from walkable neighbourhoods to transit access, and of course, affordable prices. However, some cities go over and above when it comes to offering well-balanced living for renters — including a few in Ontario.
A report from Point2Homes analyzed 24 metrics spanning three categories (housing/economy, quality of life and community), and ranked Canada’s 100 largest cities to see which emerged as true havens for renters.
Toronto (to no one’s surprise) didn’t make the top 10 list for best rental cities overall — St. John’s, Nfld., held that distinction with a rentership rate of 39.3 per cent and average rent of $1,073, followed by Sherbrooke, Que. and Québec City. In fact, Québec had a total of seven cities in the top 10 best places for renters.
Still, three Ontario cities made the top five list in terms of quality of life. When it comes to aspects like safety, air quality, walkability, commute times and access to nature within a city — Whitby ranks number one, with a quality-of-life score of 23.35, life satisfaction ranking of 95.5 per cent, perceived life stress of 17.4 per cent and crime severity index of 44.1. Oshawa comes in a close second with a quality-of-life score of 22.33 — this city is also listed as having some of the least-stressed residents! Clarington ranks in fifth place, with a quality-of-life score of 20.41.
For those who are more in tune with nature —Caledon, Ont, is the only city on the list that boasts a perfect score of 100 when it comes to the level of greenness (which basically measures how close to nature an urban, man-made space can get).
Among the country’s 100 largest cities, Oakville has the highest number of schools per 10,000 people, while Windsor and Hamilton rank second and third for air quality.
If housing expenses are the more important factor in determining where you rent, then check out Thunder Ba and Chatham-Kent — 69 per cent of renters in these cities spend less than 30 per cent of their income on housing costs.
In terms of overall “community,” which includes everything from the share of people with post-secondary education to the sense of belonging to a community, as well as the number of spectator sports, hospitals, museums, restaurants, schools, recreational parks and grocery retailers — North Bay ranks fourth (with a community score of 29.09); Aurora takes the sixth spot (with a community score of 28.11), followed by Kingston, with a community score of 28.
In terms of economy and housing, a category where the average rent, housing costs, rental availability, and unemployment rate are the most important metrics — Chatham-Kent, Cambridge, and Kitchener are the top cities in Ontario.
When solely looking at Ontario cities, the top renters’ hot spots in the province (considering all metrics and categories) are Greater Sudbury, Whitby, North Bay, Guelph, Ottawa, Niagara Falls, Kitchener, Welland, St. Catharines and Chatham-Kent.
Alas, Toronto ranks 44th on the list of Canada’s best cities for renters, with a rentership rate of 48.1 per cent. Again, this comes no surprise — faced with elevated cost-of-living prices, over 50 per cent of Torontonians are eyeing other Canadian cities for cheaper housing.
