A group of would-be homebuyers, furious at the spiralling costs of local homes, have launched a campaign to draw attention to the seriousness of the problem.
Housing costs in Canada’s largest city, Toronto, are so out of control (as many Aussies could empathise) they’ve now surpassed the likes of traditionally expensive cities such as New York and Los Angeles.
The average price for a detached house in Toronto recently hit $1.75 million Canadian dollars (or $A1.86 million) and rising.
Someone leaked these emails to us. Hi @gordperks, we are not some shadow operation here. We are not affiliated with any groups. We are just some Redditors, regular Canadians… check out our Discord, look at our history. Why is it so hard to believe people are unhappy rn? pic.twitter.com/9KcGyv6HYz
— Canada Housing Crisis (@rCanadaHousing) May 20, 2021
Now a new protest group has popped up calling itself Canada Housing Crisis. Its 14,000 members are “mad as hell” about home prices and “fighting to fix” the issue.
As per its Reddit page, it says the group is fighting for Canada’s future. “We want common sense housing laws that ensure: transparency, ample housing stock, and sustainable price appreciation.”
The group’s pooled its cash via a crowdfunding effort and unveiled a cheeky billboard campaign that’s popped up around Toronto with slogans that are as witty as they are depressing.
Much like Australia, the running joke for any Canadian under 35 wanting to get a step up on the property ladder is that the only way in is the ‘bank of mum and dad’.
A recent survey found that a quarter of Canadian Gen Ys now needed (or expected) $100,000 Canadian dollars from their parents to secure a deposit on their first property.
The group’s GoFundMe page reads: “We’re not going to push for sustainable housing like any old boring nonprofit. We’re doing it in the Reddit way. Noisily. Aggressively. And by disturbing the comfortable.
“We can’t create ads promoting our exact message of ‘sustainable price appreciation.’ Because that is boring and no one will notice or care. So instead, we worked together to devise some material that should grab people’s attention.
“The intention is to get people to notice what’s going on, get them to realize there’s a movement afoot to fix these problems, get them to have an emotional reaction,” the page continues.
“The goal is to pull potential allies off the sidelines and get them engaged. And, inspired by r/wallstreetbets, the goal is to rattle the status quo and show the almighty power of angry internet people.”
