Janet Robertson had few choices after being evicted from her apartment of two decades in Vancouver, Canada’s most expensive city.
Even listings in nearby suburbs were out of reach after years of paying 900 Canadian dollars, or $650, monthly for her studio apartment. She kept going until she could find something she could afford and ended up renting in a town about 60 miles east of Vancouver.
“I really didn’t have any other options but to come to Chilliwack,” Ms. Robertson said.
Chilliwack, a farming community encircled by snow-capped peaks, was once looked down on by city dwellers because of its rural and isolated character. Now, it has become a magnet for people from Vancouver who can no longer afford living there.
Across Canada’s urban centers, climbing housing prices are pushing renters out and making buying a home a distant dream, especially for first-time buyers. The housing problem, which many in Canada describe as a full-blown crisis, is a top concern for voters heading to the polls on April 28 to cast ballots in national elections.
Canada’s urban centers and, increasingly, its suburbs are now on lists of the most expensive places in the world to find a home.
In Toronto, the standard price for a single-family home, according to an index used by Canadian real estate agents to compare home sales, is around 1.4 million Canadian dollars, about $1 million, compared with 970,000 dollars, or $700,000, in 2020.
In Vancouver, the standard price is even higher, roughly 2 million dollars ($1.5 million) compared to 1.4 million ($1 million) five years ago.
The average rent in Vancouver is about 2,500 Canadian dollars per month, or $1,800, requiring a low six-figure salary to be considered affordable, according to Canada’s national housing agency.
While high living costs have become a source of concern in wealthy countries around the world, in Canada, many voters blame the ruling Liberal government for the country’s affordability crisis. Beyond soaring housing costs, Canadians also face higher prices for groceries and gas.
The economic misery could get worse because of tariffs imposed on many Canadian exports by President Trump which could lead to major job losses and even a recession.
Providing relief to beleaguered Canadians has been a main focus of the two men leading the two main parties competing in Monday’s election. Prime Minister Mark Carney of the Liberal Party and Pierre Poilievre of the Conservative Party have both promised tax breaks for first-time home buyers. The two parties have also pledged various other tax breaks for low-income and middle-class families.
“They’re throwing money at voters in this election campaign, which I see as a response to cost of living concerns,” said Kathryn Harrison, a political science professor at the University of British Columbia.
Mr. Carney, a former leader of the central banks of Canada and England, has helped Liberals overcome what had been a double-digit-point lead in polls by the Conservatives in part because of his past experience dealing with economic crises.
“Carney’s résumé was tailor-made for this moment,” Ms. Harrison said. Mr. Poilievre, however, has blamed the Liberal Party for what he has described as a “lost decade” of economic prosperity during the government of Justin Trudeau, the former prime minister.
Amid the corn and berry farms that dominate the land around Chilliwack, billboards promoting condos and new homes dot the roads, luring economic refugees who have made the town one of the province’s fastest growing communities.
Still, despite moving to Chilliwack in search of cheaper housing, Ms. Robertson, 64, said she still struggles to pay her rent of 1,500 Canadian dollars, or $1,100, for a one-bedroom apartment.
She supplements the fixed government income she receives because of her mental health diagnosis with part-time jobs at a lottery booth and a fast-food restaurant.
“It is expensive on my own to do everything, like internet, Netflix, having a gym membership,” she said. “That’s why I’m looking for a third job.”
Her economic worries are a key reason she believes Mr. Carney is best suited to lead the country. “I really feel that he’s the best choice right now considering what’s going on,” she said.
Gursharan Dhillon, 38, and his family sold their house in Surrey, a city just outside Vancouver where home prices have also surged, a few months ago to settle in Chilliwack. He works as a long-haul trucker and took another job driving a taxi to make ends meet.
Even so, he and his wife are hoping to have their parents move to Chilliwack to take up farm work and help with expenses.
“It’s very tough,” Mr. Dhillon said, as he helped load groceries into the family car in the parking lot of a Real Canadian Superstore.
Kirk Jacobsen, 56, a job recruiter, also sold his house in Surrey, in part because he was concerned that higher living costs would eat into his retirement savings and he was able to buy one in Chilliwack for less money.
“There are so many families that struggle and their children by extension will struggle too, unless they catch a break,” Mr. Jacobsen said.
From her expansive yard encircled by towering cedar trees, Emily Jordan, 41, said she feels fortunate to have ended up in Chilliwack. In Vancouver, she operated a tiny day care out of her apartment, where she could take in only two children.
So Ms. Jordan’s family helped pay for a down payment on a home in Chilliwack, and she’s been able to expand her business.
“I wouldn’t have been able to find anything like this in Vancouver, nor would I have been able to afford it,” Ms. Jordan said. But having just recently opened her new day care, she still faces debt, she said. “I’m always kind of worried because I’m spending money that I don’t have.”
Even in Chilliwack, home prices are climbing. “Your basic house price is pushing a million bucks now,” said Ken Popove, the mayor. “The word ‘affordability’ is kind of a moot point.”
Still, its relatively low real estate prices have helped turn Chilliwack into a boom town. Its population has risen in the past five years by 10,000 people to about 108,000. Residential construction projects are everywhere. “We’ve now got a rush hour,” Mr. Popove said.
With growth have come economic opportunities, including a new Red Bull ingredient processing plant, as well as other businesses and a revitalized downtown.
But development has also inflicted pain on some longtime residents. Lynne Larsen, 82, said the thrift store she manages was closing its doors after 26 years because a new landlord doubled the rent.
The economic challenges facing many Canadians that are now cropping up in Chilliwack are convincing some voters, like Shirley Fetterly, a retired teaching assistant, to support Mr. Poilievre’s Conservatives.
“We need a change in government right now,” Ms. Fetterly said. The last time the Conservatives were in power, she said, life felt more affordable and the economy was thriving. “It’s time to give them another chance.”
Vjosa Isai is a reporter and researcher for The Times based in Toronto, where she covers news from across Canada.
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