‘Invisible poor’: Middle-income households making up to $125K annually getting squeezed out of the GTHA: report

A new report reveals that many working-class families in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area—earning between $40,000 and $125,000 a year—are becoming what some are calling the “invisible poor.” Despite steady jobs, these essential workers—like teachers, nurses, and first responders—are feeling financial strain because housing costs are rising faster than their paychecks.

The report highlights that these households spend a whopping 45 to 63 per cent of their income on housing, far above the 30 per cent commonly deemed affordable. Because their earnings exceed support-thresholds, they’re often ineligible for help, yet still struggling to keep up.

One telling example: a nurse earning $80,000 a year now must make more than $200,000 to qualify for a mortgage on an average-priced home in Toronto, thanks to soaring home prices and strict lending rules. Meanwhile, even though the median household income in Toronto sits at around $100,400, housing is becoming clearly out of reach for many.

As a result, Toronto’s price-to-income ratio has soared to 11.8 times the median household income. That means someone earning the average salary would need to spend 76.9 per cent of their income on their mortgage—leaving little for anything else. With such financial pressure, plenty of middle-income families are reconsidering their futures in the region.

The effects are ripple-wide. Over the last decade, more than half a million people have left the GTHA for cheaper parts of Ontario, like Simcoe or Niagara, while another 31,000 moved to other provinces such as B.C., Alberta, or Nova Scotia. At the same time, businesses are finding it harder to attract and keep skilled workers, which is hurting health care, education, emergency services and regional productivity.

The report points to how these financial stresses can bleed into every sector. It estimates the health-care system loses hundreds of millions a year from staffing problems and overtime, schools lose millions due to substitute teaching and turnover, and emergency services lose money because of slower response times and staff shortages. Traffic also costs the region billions annually and tens of thousands of lost jobs. The report urges employers and municipalities to consider housing help, track shelter data more closely, and explore new programs to support this quietly struggling group.