Jason Kenney is calling. Housing-weary Torontonians are listening
Alberta’s ploy to lure Torontonians west with promises of affordable housing and jobs proves to be an easy sell
Thestar.com
Sept. 29, 2022
Kelly Skjerven
“Find things you’d never expect, like an affordable house,” reads an ad in the Bloor-Yonge subway station. Another one nearby asks: “What’s the average price of a detached home? Toronto: $1.4 million. Calgary: $700,000.”
The ads, which first appeared last week, are part of broader campaign launched by Alberta Premier Jason Kenney in August that’s aimed at luring Torontonians westwards. And, surprise, it seems to be touching a nerve in a city where the housing market has been a pain point for years.
One Calgary realtor says there’s been a “massive uptick” of people moving to the province from the GTA and Vancouver markets since the pandemic started and more employees started working remotely.
Justin Havre, founder and team leader of Justin Havre & Associates of RE/MAX First said buyers are seeing Calgary as an affordable place to live.
The ads are roughly accurate, if not underselling Alberta’s housing allure. In August 2022 the average price of a detached home in Calgary was $633,000, according to the Calgary Real Estate Board. The average price of a semi-detached home was $569,300.
In the Toronto area meanwhile -- as if any fed up house-seeker needs a reminder -- the average price for a detached home was $1.38 million in August 2022 and $998,000 for a semi-detached home, according to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board.
Alberta’s campaign is part of an effort to attract much-needed skilled workers. (Another subway ad reads: “What did the Albertan say to the Torontonian? You’re hired.”). And it comes at a time when Ontario has seen record levels of out-migration to other provinces. From July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022 Ontario experienced a net loss of 14,000 people to Alberta, according to Statistics Canada.
Asked about its response to Alberta’s campaign, the City of Toronto said in a statement that it “invests in infrastructure, community development, events, industry support and more, all of which make Toronto an attractive place to live and work.” It also cited ongoing efforts to create “additional housing options.”
Havre said it’s not just first-time home buyers moving west. His team has had many clients sell their home in Toronto and buy a single-family, detached home in Calgary, mortgage free. Some have even chosen to become semi-retired.
Adino Narine and his wife Ashley purchased a southeast Calgary condo for $184,000 in April 2021, after selling their 3-bedroom North York condo for just under $500,000.
“We looked at a bunch of places within Ontario, as far as Courtice, and everything with pricing was a bit too ridiculous. Pretty much you’d be house poor,” Narine said
The couple, who are both in their 20s, started expanding their search to Nova Scotia as well as Alberta. Their search finally narrowed down to Calgary, despite never visiting the city.
Nearly a year-and-a-half into living there, Narine says he prefers the not-so-fast-paced lifestyle. He can get downtown in 20 minutes, maybe 25 if there’s traffic. And not having to pay sales tax means having “more money in your pockets for different endeavours,” he said.
Now his extended family is following their path. Narine’s mom will be moving into her brand-new condo in Calgary this fall. His sister and brother-in-law also sold their home in Toronto and will be out west in a month.
Adino isn’t a fan of the gravel on Calgary roads in winter that chips windshields, and he doesn’t have as easy access to products from Trinidad, where he was born. But he said the positives of his move outweigh any negatives.
Havre said it’s mostly younger families who are looking to purchase a home in Alberta. “They’re realizing that they can have a much better lifestyle here.
Some of the stories that we hear is that a lot of the time they work just to pay for their house in the GTA. Whereas here they will have expendable income to do extra activities whether it’s travel or going out more and entertainment.”
“Earlier this year it seemed like Toronto buyers brought the Toronto market to Calgary,” Havre said. “We were seeing a ton of unconditional offers and bidding wars and we’re still seeing some bidding wars today, however they are way closer to asking price and sometimes even at asking price or a little bit under.”
When Evens Fleurilien showed his family photos of the home he could afford to buy in Calgary -- a 1,300 square foot townhome with two bedrooms for $445,000 -- he said it was “no-brainer.”
Fleurilien had previously rented a one-bedroom basement apartment for $1,100 in East York. Realizing he’d be paying almost double for a smaller space in downtown Toronto when he was searching this year, he started to think about where else he could live and landed on Calgary.
“The Toronto market is insane. I tapped out to be honest,” Fleurilien said, who moved in August.
Fleurilien said he’s seen the advertisements the Alberta government has put up in Toronto and says he agrees with the message behind the campaign.
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