Renting This Week in Canada: Swifties, Diwali and Halloween

Condo owners in Toronto and Vancouver are scrambling to cash in on Taylor Swift's approaching concerts, landlords are now suing vocal tenants for libel, and a lot of people are lying on rental applications.

Catch up on these hot rental trends and more with Renting in Canada This Week.  Enjoy (and Happy Diwali and Happy Halloween!):

Ana Pereira in the Toronto Star reports that Toronto condo owners are looking to cash in on Taylor Swift's performances at the Rogers Centre, charging Swifties up to $850 a night for a short-term rental.

According to Abigail Turner of CTV News, condo owners in Vancouver plan to do the same. Guessing there are plenty of Swifties who will gladly pay.

 

Are investors (and not immigrants) who've run wild the root cause of Canada's rental crisis regarding affordability and availability? Tannara Yelland of The Breach takes a look.

According to a figure provided to Zakiya Kassam of STOREYS by Menkes Developments, around 50 percent of rental applications they've processed in the last six months have been fraudulent in some capacity.

A recent tax ruling says Canadian homeowners who regularly rent out rooms on Airbnb and other sites must pay a 13 percent tax on property value when they sell. Newcomers arriving in Canada rely heavily on short-term rentals to get settled. Will these costs be passed on to them?

Meanwhile, a new survey says that Canadians believe short-term rentals negatively impact housing affordability and want new regulations.

 

 

Watch what you say. Renters in three Canadian cities who made their battle with their landlords public are now being sued for libel. That's chilling. 

It just isn't fair, right? If you were lucky enough to rent an apartment in expensive Victoria, B.C., 15 years ago, you're likely paying half of what new renters today are paying. 

For renters in Canada who are anxious to buy a home, experts say the country's housing market remains in a "wait and see" mode. But given the continuing cuts to the interest rate, how long will that last? 

 

 

David Aizikov, author of Rentsync Demand Report, says, "It is clear that the Canadian rental market will remain firmly a renters market" for the foreseeable future.  The report also predicts landlord competition for tenants will increase as the number of people actively looking for a rental continues declining.  Are renters now firmly in control?

A Statistics Canada report shows that International students and temporary foreign workers pay higher rent than Canadians. Somehow, that doesn't seem very, uh, Canadian.

Oct. 31 is fast approaching, and it's time for trick or treating. Here are some spooky tips for newcomers about how to celebrate Halloween in a multifamily rental building

Finally, It's also time to celebrate Diwali in Canada. Diwali celebrations in Canada serve as a platform for cultural exchange and foster intercultural understanding. Canadians of all backgrounds attend cultural performances and immerse themselves in the richness of Indian culture. In doing so, they forge connections and strengthen the bonds of unity.

Steve Tustin is the Content Editor for Rentals for Newcomers and a contributing editor for Prepare for Canada. He is also the former managing editor of Storeys.com and a former senior editor at the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star.

*No AI-generated content was used in the writing of this story, and all sources are cited and credited where possible.

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