“Economic recovery and growth boosted demand against supply that was constrained by labour shortages,” said the report.
The CMHC said rent for vacant units were 20 per cent higher than those for occupied units, highlighting an affordability barrier for prospective tenants.
“Affordability remains a challenge for lower-income households that face very stiff competition for units they can afford. This is because those units are also accessible to higher-income households,” said the CMHC.
There were declines in vacancies for all unit types (number of bedrooms). The overall rate in 2022 is the latest result in a declining trend from a peak of 14.5 per cent in 2008. The report suggested that declining vacancy rates over a sustained period reflect the increasingly tight rental market.
Lizzy Ward and her partner were living in a two-bedroom home for $1,350 a month, but when their family grew a year ago, they know they had to look for something with more space.
The family found a three-bedroom home with a studio basement for $2,400 a month, plus utilities.
“We're worried almost every month,” she said. “Oh will this be the month that we can't pay rent? Will this be the month that we can't pay this bill or that bill?”
Ward is like many, who are now spending more than 50 per cent of their monthly income on housing alone.
“The amount of stress and worry and things that therapy can't even help because it's not something that's just you can talk about it and feel better,” she explained.
Real estate agent Rhys Trenhaile says the low supply and high demand means landlord can raise rents, which jumped 11 per cent in 2022.
“When the vacancy rate is that low, what you're doing is you're putting upward pressure on rents because now you start getting renters competing, instead of before we had buyers competing,” he said.
CMHC rent vacancy Windsor
Bidding wars
In 2022, the CMHC said Windsor started seeing “bidding wars” on rental apartments for the first time. The report said this was highlighted in conversations with stakeholders on emerging themes.
“The low vacancy rate is the result of increasing rental unit demand coming up against limited rental unit supply. Fewer units are available to potential renters when more units are taken up than are made available,” according to the report.
Increasing demand
The CMHC said demand for rental units grew migration increased rental unit demand. Windsor’s population grew by 1.2 per cent in October 2022 year-over-year. The easing of pandemic restrictions at the start of the year brought back international migrants and temporary residents. At the University of Windsor, the return to campus brought students back to the area. Higher rental unit demand was supported by economic recovery and employment growth in sectors where the workers tend to be renters.
Home ownership costs impact rental market
Higher homeownership costs kept more people in the rental market supply was also constrained by higher costs of homeownership, suggested the report.
“Higher interest rates increased borrowing costs, and this led to a reduction in the capacity of some households to enter the market,” said the CMHC.
The impact of this was evident in the October 2022 MLS sales, which were 37 per cent below their five-year average. Some renters who would have transitioned to homeownership remained in the rental market. This was all reflected in lower rental-unit turnovers.
In 2021, almost 17 per cent of units turned over, while in 2022, only 13 per cent of units did. There were lower turnovers recorded for all unit types across all zones of the CMA, revealing the widespread nature of the decline.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
The federal budget shows the government's proposed dental-care insurance program will cost more than double what the Liberals originally thought, driving it up by another $7.3 billion over five years.
Tucked into the 2023 federal budget unveiled on Tuesday in Ottawa, the Liberals have announced plans to explore implementing a standard charging port across Canada, in an effort to save Canadians some money and reduce waste.
Serious money is heading for Canadian industries looking to reduce emissions after the federal government unveiled its answer to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act.
The federal budget proposes an across-the-board three per cent spending cut for all departments and agencies, a belt-tightening move after years of massive growth in the federal public service.
Another American community is reeling after a shooter killed three 9-year-olds and three adults at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville. These are the three children and three adults whose lives were taken by the shooter.
Nashville police have released security camera footage of a suspected shooter entering the private Christian elementary school. The shooting claimed the lives of three children, all aged nine, and three adults.
Gwyneth Paltrow's highly publicized ski collision trial is shining a spotlight on the unspoken rules that govern behaviour on the slopes. Testimony over the last six days has repeatedly touched on skier's etiquette -- especially sharing contact information after a collision, and ski turn radiuses -- in what experts have said is the most high-profile ski collision trial in recent history.
The increase in excise duties on all alcoholic products is being temporarily capped at two per cent starting next month instead of a planned six per cent increase.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
A London toddler is fortunate to have avoided serious injury after a giant cinderblock came through her bedroom window in the middle of the night. Around 4 a.m. on March 26, Riiver was sleeping with her head right under the front window of her home on Emerson Avenue.
London fire crews are currently tackling a ‘large grass fire and working barn fire’ in the southeast section of the city Tuesday afternoon and are asking the public to avoid the area.
Drivers north east of London may run into some traffic problems on Tuesday. A single-vehicle collision resulted in a truck ending up on its side in a ditch in the area of Valley View Road and Thorndale Road.
Provincial police say a group of teenagers caused a train to make an emergency stop because they were lying on the tracks as the train approached in New Tecumseth.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
The driver of a pickup truck, a 47-year-old woman, has died after a crash with a tanker on MR55 in the Greater Sudbury community of Lively on Tuesday morning, police say.
Nashville police have released security camera footage of a suspected shooter entering the private Christian elementary school. The shooting claimed the lives of three children, all aged nine, and three adults.
The mother of a five-year-old girl said her daughter was allegedly bullied so badly she was left with a partially amputated finger from an incident in the washroom.
The federal budget proposes an across-the-board three per cent spending cut for all departments and agencies, a belt-tightening move after years of massive growth in the federal public service.
One person is dead after an early morning fire in Kanata, while another person is being treated for smoke inhalation after being rescued from the burning home by a bystander who spotted the fire while driving to the gym.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
The 22-year-old accused of fatally stabbing a teenager at a Toronto subway station Saturday night has been wanted in Newfoundland for almost two years, CTV News Toronto has learned.
The mother of a five-year-old girl said her daughter was allegedly bullied so badly she was left with a partially amputated finger from an incident in the washroom.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
Montreal police say they have identified two more victims found in the rubble of a fire in Old Montreal 12 days ago. Charlie Lacroix and Walid Belkahla, both 18, are the sixth and seventh victims of the fire.
A Quebec provincial police officer was fatally stabbed Monday night while performing an arrest in Louiseville, west of Trois-Rivieres, Que. The Surete du Quebec (SQ) has confirmed the identity of the officer, Sgt. Maureen Breau, who had been on the force for over 20 years. She was assigned to the post of the MRC de Maskinonge. Another officer was injured during the incident, but their life is not in danger.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
Almost three years after a man disguised as a Mountie started murdering people in Portapique, N.S., on the night of April 18, 2020, the senior RCMP officers and staff involved in the tragic case have all either retired or moved into new jobs.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
New Brunswickers suffering from a mystery neurological disorder are calling for an investigation into potential environmental causes of the health problems they've been living with for more than two years.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
Rima Rifai thought her furnace had exploded Monday when the house across the street burst into a ball of fire, sending 10 people to hospital with serious injuries.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
Alberta's police watchdog has released more information about an incident at a Red Deer Walmart in which a man who had been reported missing in Calgary was shot by police.
A B.C. man has been found not guilty of sexually assaulting his ex-girlfriend's daughter nearly a decade ago, when the girl would have been just eight years old.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
CMHC rent report for Windsor. (Source: CMHC)
CMHC rent vacancy Windsor
