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Sudbury rental market remains tight

Sudbury continues to be among the tightest rental housing markets in Ontario. That was the finding of a released by the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association and the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada (CHF), March 2.
Northern Ontario Business Staff

Sudbury continues to be among the tightest rental housing markets in Ontario.
That was the finding of a released by the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association and the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada (CHF), March 2.
The report, entitled Where's Home? A Picture of Housing Needs in Ontario (2008), analysed 22 housing markets across Canada.
In Northern Ontario, a combination of strong demand for rental housing and a lack of rental construction has been made it tough to tenants to find new digs in Sudbury, North Bay and Timmins, where "virtually no rental housing was completed between 2003 and 2007."
The most extreme example is Sudbury where vacancy rates plummeted from 11.1 per cent in 1999 to 0.7 per cent in 2008. The waiting list for social housing rental units increased by 15 per cent despite a booming mining economy.
Affordability poses a major problem according to the report. In North Bay, 20 per cent of tenants spend more than half of their income on rent.
"Housing affordability problems are getting worse and Ontario's low and moderate-income households are losing ground," said Harvey Cooper, CHF Manager of Government Relations. "While many municipalities are attempting to improve the situation, they can't do it alone. Senior governments have to do their part."