Are you currently shelling out everything short of your grandma to cover rent for your apartment in Canada? Well, prepare to be touched by the long, green claw of envy because boy, did renters ever used to have it good.
We recently asked our readers, via a Facebook prompt, to tell us the lowest rent they've ever paid for an apartment in the Great White North. The responses were very shocking — so much so that we think the Canadian Dictionary should screenshot the chat below and use it as the official representation of "inflation."
The prompt.Facebook
One commenter on the post, Beverly Mills, recalled just how little she had to pay as a post-secondary student splitting rent in the 90s, and it'll have you yearning for the days of frosted tips and boy bands.
"[$180 a month| back in 1999 while I was a college student. I was sharing a house with 3 other students. We had to split utilities. Those were the days," Mills wrote.
Another reader, April Lynn, revealed how she managed to snag a basement apartment in Scarborough in the early '90s for just $350. Yep, the same Scarborough that's part of the Greater Toronto Area, where nowadays, you might pay that much for a monthly parking spot.
"I paid 350 for a basement apartment in Scarborough in 1990," she recalled.
Not every good deal mentioned was from 30 years ago though — a user named Nuvan Masum Jujuly revealed that he'd scored a heck of a deal in St. John's, Newfoundland a mere decade ago.
"300 plus utilities for a room in St. John’s, Newfoundland back in 2013 when I was student," he noted. Although, unlike the next commenter, he didn't mention whether or not views of the ocean were included.
That reader managed to live near the water in B.C. for a bargain, a feat that may as well be labeled "impossible" in 2023. "$350 a month. 1993 Vancouver Island. Almost right on the beach," he wrote.
Living in B.C. these days is synonymous with playing a boat load for rent. You need to cough up a whopping $2,533 per month just to lease a one-bedroom, unfurnished pad in West Vancouver.
Despite how fun it is to reminiscent about the past, a user named Katelyn Whitelock managed to bring the chat hurling back to reality with a single comment about the current state of Canada's rental market.
"So far $1950 for a 400 square foot basement this was in 2020 Ontario," the seemingly young renter remarked.
The comment hardly comes as a shock though, according to the 2023 Financial Stress Index, money is keeping 1-in-2 Canadians up at night these days. Sheesh.
But, there you have it, folks. A walk down memory lane of rental prices. It might not have been our favorite trip, but hey, at least we can all dream of the golden days!