Last Updated On 23 May 2023, 10:14 AM EDT (Toronto Time)
People migrate to Toronto, Canada’s biggest and most populous diversified metropolis for a variety of reasons including better job opportunities, education, and quality of life.
However, there are also a lot of different reasons why some people might prefer to move away from Toronto.
From 2016 to 2021, the Toronto’s overall population grew by only 2.3%.
Below listed are 8 major reasons why people are preferring to move away from Toronto.
High Cost of Living
With high housing expenses, tax rates, and transit fees, Toronto is one of the most costly cities in Canada.
In the month of May 2023, the typical monthly rent for an apartment in Toronto, Ontario, with one bedroom was $2,400. When compared to the prior year, this is a 17% increase.
According to statistics from the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board, the average price of a home in the Greater Toronto Area rose 4% from March to April, reaching $1.153 million.
Traffic Congestion
The city’s population has risen at a rapid rate over the past several years, which has led to an increase in the amount of traffic congestion and longer commute times.
In a recent study, it was ranked third in North America and seventh out of more than 1,000 cities of world for traffic congestion.
Last year, people in Toronto lost 118 hours stuck in traffic. That was a jump of almost 60% from 2021, when the city was ranked 22nd in the world for having the longest traffic times.
People often joke by saying “Toronto is 1 hour from Toronto” because of longer drive times from one end of city to another.
Air Pollution
The large number of traffic and industrial activity in the city both contribute to poor air quality, which can have a severe influence on one’s health.
The Toronto Public Health says that all types of air pollution in Toronto cause 1,300 early deaths and 3,550 hospitalizations each year.
As per City of Toronto, the amounts of the five most common air pollutants have been going down recently, which shows that the air quality in Toronto is getting better.
Harsh Winters
Winters in Toronto are typically quite cold and snowy, making the city’s terrain more challenging to travel for certain people.
The usual temperature in Toronto in January is -5.5 °C (22 °F), which is pretty cold for winter.
There are blizzards and cold waves in Toronto in the winter, but the weather is usually uncertain.
But there are also waves of extreme cold in the winter, when the temperature drops to around -20/-25 °C.
Limited Green Space
Toronto has total area of 63,406 ha and 13% of total city land is parkland as per the 2022 report.
There are many parks and green spaces in Toronto; yet, these sites might get busy at times and may not give the same amount of access to nature as other regions do.
Due to high population and one of international tourist spots, these parks can get overcrowded.
Safety Concerns
Worries regarding safety even though Toronto is, on the whole, a very secure metropolis, certain areas of the city have higher crime rates and raise safety concerns.
The Annex, which is next to the University of Toronto, has been known to have the most property crimes in all of Toronto.
In 2022, there were 14.1% more crimes in The Annex (462 cases), 144.4% more car thefts (44 cases), 38.1% more sexual assaults (29 cases), and a 31.6% rise in thefts over $5,000.
Similarly, the total number of crimes in the Beaches went up by 35%, to 185 in 2022.
The number of assaults went up by 29.4%, to 88, the number of car thefts went up by 70%, to 34, and the number of breaking and entering went up by 33.3%, to 32.
Employment prospects
Despite the fact that Toronto has a robust economy and job market, some people may discover that there are few employment prospects in their chosen sector or that their pay does not keep pace with the city’s high cost of living.
In 2022, there were 33,080 more jobs in Toronto than there were in 2021. This was only 2.3% increase in employment as opposed to increase in job seekers during the same period.
With multiple professionals applying for the same job, competition is huge and it could be difficult to find a job in your field.
Overcrowding
As the population continues to rise, it is possible that some areas could become less attractive places to live as a result of increased population density.
From 2016 to 2021, the city’s population grew by only 2.3%, and for the first time, the Toronto census metropolitan area had more than six million people.
But the number of people living in the centre downtown area grew by a whopping 16.1% during that time period.
Over the past five years, Liberty Village and the Fashion District, St. Lawrence and the Distillery District, the heart of Old Toronto, St. Lawrence and the Distillery District, and parts of South Etobicoke have seen the most growth in population.
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