Crowding and Poverty Rising in Thorncliffe

TORSTAR NEWS SERVICE: January 11, 2010

Severe overcrowding and poverty is heightening stress and ethnic tensions in Canada’s most populated immigrant neighbourhood, says a study of the Thorncliffe Park community released today.

The U of T study of changes in the Toronto neighbourhood between 2001 and 2006 found more than 30,000 residents — mostly newcomers — are crowded into 34 highrise and lowrise apartments in a 2.2-square-kilometre concrete jungle behind Don Mills Road and Don Valley Parkway. Front-line workers are worried the population is outpacing programs and services, hindering their ability to quickly integrate.

“Thorncliffe Park will continue to attract high volumes of newcomers, relative to most neighbourhoods across Greater Toronto. Settlement services, therefore, should remain a high priority,” says the report. “If population and household numbers continue to climb at the same rates, overcrowding and other issues will present increasingly greater challenges.”

The study found each household has an average 1.4 bedrooms compared to 2.7 across the city, but twice as many sleeping in a bedroom as in an average Toronto home. Half of residents live below Statistics Canada’s low-income cut-off, three times the rate for Toronto.

2009 A Good Year for Toronto Real Estate

Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 87,308 MLS® transactions in 2009 – a 17 per cent increase over 2008. This result included 5,541 sales in December. The 2009 result was in line with the healthy levels of sales experienced between 2004 and 2006, but lower than the record of 93,193 set in 2007.

“After a slow start to the year, existing home sales rebounded during the second half of 2009,”
said TREB President Tom Lebour. “As consumer confidence improved, many households
moved to take advantage of affordable home ownership opportunities in the GTA. The strong
residential real estate sector was a key contributor to overall economic recovery in Canada.”

The average home price in 2009 climbed four per cent to $395,460. The average price for
December transactions was $411,931.

“Market conditions became very tight in the latter half of 2009. Sales climbed strongly relative to the number of homes listed for sale, resulting in robust price growth that more than offset average price declines in the winter,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis. “A greater supply of listings in 2010 will see home prices grow at a sustainable pace.”