'It is very easy to be homeless here in Toronto, because rents are really high'
Is it worth it to move to Toronto to make a living? Apparently not, according to a couple of those who did.
In a video that has gone viral, an immigrant from Bangladesh detailed the situation in the capital city of Ontario.
“This place is crazy… in so many different ways,” Tim Hortons worker Manoy – who has been in Canada for six months – said in the video.
He cited as an example one customer at the coffee shop.
“There is a customer here at Tim Hortons and he speaks like a university professor, but is homeless.”
The housing crisis is happening not just in Toronto. Recently, the British Columbia General Employees' Union (BCGEU) called on the provincial government to implement vacancy control measures to help out workers amid the rising cost of rent.
Working at the coffee house opened Manoy’s eyes to the reality in Toronto, he said.
“It’s a good thing that I started [working] at Tim Hortons so that I could see a lot of stuff that Canada doesn’t show the world,” he said in the video posted on social media platform X.
“This place is f*cked up, to be honest. It is very easy to be homeless here in Toronto, because rents are really high and are people going to afford that?”
He added that he will be going back home, given the chance, saying: “First, I used to [think] that… I will earn money and go back. And now [it’s] ‘Yes, I have to go back.”
Manoy is also looking for “any good job in computer programming”, which is what he’s been studying.
A homeless experienced worker
One experienced Canadian himself also shared just how life has been for him living in Toronto.
Jordan, a 33-year-old from Scarborough, said in an Instagram video that he is jobless despite having multiple credentials.
“I have 15 years of heavy equipment operating experience, mostly… front-loaders, but I also went to school for excavator[s] and bulldozer[s]. So I can pretty much run all those machines very well.
“And then I’ve been learning dog training for the last five years, doing dog training apprenticeships under very successful dog trainers.”
Should an employer come calling, Jordan would jump on the opportunity to work, but it would be difficult given his homeless situation, he said.
“I would definitely be willing to try, but I think it is hard to catch a normal sleep. Sometimes, I’m falling asleep during the day because I can’t always sleep for too long. Somebody would come up to me crazy on drugs in the middle of my sleep, so I’d have to get up and move.”
In tough markets, some employers provide cheaper housing for staff – but there are risks, one lawyer previously said.
