Highly profitable landlords should pay their FAIR SHARE. Only a very small proportion of households in Canada are homeowner-landlords renting out a suite to help pay their mortgage.
Struggling homeowners not your typical landlord: The case for rent forgiveness. The March 31, 2020 BLOG by Ricardo Tranjan of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives reveals that very few households are homeowners renting out a suite to help pay their mortgage: 4% (340,000) of the total 9.5 million households who own their principal residence. 66% of these homeowner-landlords have a mortgage to pay. “…Asking these landlords to forgive rent in arrears would put them in a vulnerable financial situation, especially if their own employment has also been affected…”
But the 340,000 renter households who rent from homeowner-landlords account for only approximately 6% of the total 5.9 million renter households in Canada. As Ricardo Tranjan states in the CCPA BLOG: “But these are not your typical landlords.” [Emphasis added]
The CCPA BLOG also reveals that the more typical landlords to renters in Canada are apparently highly profitable Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) that manage assets on behalf of investors. “…And that’s why a rent forgiveness conversation is still in order…The large financialized landlords should NOT expect to continue to post double-digit profits; their shareholders shouldn’t collect the lion’s share of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit and other income support programs put in place to assist Canadians impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. Rent forgiveness will be a difficult but unavoidable conversation…” [Emphasis added]
See also the following reports from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives:
1. The Rent is Due Soon. Financial Insecurity and COVID-19. - Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Ricardo Tranjan - March 23, 2020
2. Unaccommodating – Rental Housing Wage in Canada - Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, David Macdonald - July 18, 2019.
MY TAKE-AWAY: It is NOT a NEW problem that there are highly profitable landlords at a time of increasingly unaffordable rents/rent gouging in Calgary and other cities in Canada. So let’s FAST FORWARD the solution to fix it NOW at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic - at a time that affordable housing/renting could make the difference between life and death as well as the financial survival and the mental health/well-being of many - including individuals and small- and medium-sized businesses who are NOW so struggling.
THANK YOU, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, for your excellent and timely research and reports!!
THANK YOU, fellow Canadians, for signing the petition!! It really does help. Let’s PROTECT RENTERS: let’s make it a WIN-WIN-WIN solution for Renters and Community as well as Landlords. Please pass the petition on to others!
Stay safe, stay healthy!
Anne
We the Courageous.