Unable to find decent housing in the Queen City, a teacher from Toronto ditches friends and work to start her life over in Montreal.
“All I want is to find a decent apartment without cockroaches! But it’s impossible to find today in Toronto for less than $1,800,” complains Fadia Nacef, 36, who received The newspaper in her modest apartment, which she has lived in for six years.
In her tiny 2 1/2, the professor and administrator at the Toronto School of Management, who makes about $3,000 a month, lives with roaches and mice for roommates, in addition to mold in her bathroom.
“I have breathing problems now because of this, and the owners do nothing even though I pay $1,200 for it,” she laments, looking at her window, which she never closes to let the air circulate.
In his building, some apartments similar to his now rent for more than $1,700 a month.
“In my opinion, they’re just waiting for me to leave to double the price of my rent,” she thinks as she sits in her living room, which doubles as her bedroom and office.
$1800 and nothing
Last summer she was forced to live for several days in her car or on her friends’ couch to escape cockroach attacks.
Even looking for housing at prices up to $1,800, an amount that already represents more than 65% of his salary, it is impossible to find a housing that meets his needs, either with a closed bedroom and without being too far from his place. occupation.
“To find cheaper housing, you have to live far away. But when you live far away, you’re faced with two choices: either you take your car to work every day in Toronto and you live in traffic jams, or you take public transportation and you have to travel for hours,” he explains. -She.
Especially since at the weekend some transport is non-existent, she adds.
“Is it normal to work full time and not be able to find housing because the rents are too high? The governments have to do something!” exasperated the one who left his native Algeria 11 years ago.
A choice to make
Faced with the situation, Fadia Nacef decided to drop everything and come and settle in Montreal.
“I found an apartment where I have to have a closed bedroom. It’s a clean place, away from mold and cockroaches,” she says with relief.
It is therefore in LaSalle that in a few weeks she will pack her bags, in a larger and better maintained apartment, but which will cost her the same price as the one she is leaving in Toronto.
“I’m leaving everything here, albeit reluctantly, because I love Toronto and my job. But I can’t go on living like this,” she says.
“The problem is that everything is expensive here. The apartments, the taxes, the food. We have to make sacrifices on food. Before I could eat whatever I wanted, but now I have to choose between tomatoes, onions and dairy products,” she laments.
