In Calgary Canada the average price for renting an apartment has been on the rise. The cost of a two bedroom apartment has gone from $595 on average in 1996 to $1089 in 2007. A poll conducted in 2008 showed that half of those sleeping on Calgary streets were employed including 200 working families. Some Calgarians found themselves among the 2500 tenants unilaterally evicted as the landlords raced to convert entire rental complexes into more profitable condominiums.
As one experience can be noted Marni Armstrong, whose landlord hiked her rent by 150 percent. Her rent went from a small $600 a month to $1500 pr month. Despite widespread calls for providence to implement rent controls, a measure overwhelmingly supported by homeowners (78 percent) and renters (92 percent) in both Calgary and Edmonton, the Stelmach government flatly rejected the idea.
In order to rent a two bedroom apartment in Calgary in the private rental market one would need to make $20.62 per hour, which as an hourly shortfall of $11.82 over the current minimum wage. Stated another way it would take 2.3 people on the minimum wage scale to make enough to afford a two bedroom apartment. To end affordable housing should never be considered a privilege, but a basic human right.
Title: Secondary suites and the right to affordable housing
Source: news for the rest of us, March 3 2011
URL: rabble.ca (http://www.rabble.ca)
Student researcher: Sean Lawrence, Sonoma State University
Evaluator: Patricia Pollock. Masters of Education, Sonoma State University