Millennials Are Flocking To Toronto, But We’re Not Sure Why

Millennials Are Flocking To Toronto, But We’re Not Sure Why

Young adults are flocking to the city. This is according to the latest Census 2016 release from Statistics Canada, which show the number of people aged 20 – 34 is increasing in the City of Toronto. It may not sound important, but this demographic is suppose to be the future of economic growth, man-bun and all.

Why You Should Give A Crap About Millennials

Toronto is attracting a high ratio of young adults. This should be a good thing for both the city and young people, but it’s not really that great this time around. You’ve probably heard (or made) a joke or two at the expense of Millennials, but humour aside, we need to start thinking about Millennials as the next “great generation”. Don’t laugh. Seriously, don’t.

Those phone obsessed, side-hustlers should be the generation that drives the next wave of consumer spending and pushes our economy forward. Millennials should be making enough money at their job to start pumping money back into our economy. They should also be the ones purchasing starter homes, providing upward mobility for Gen X-ers looking to upgrade. So yeah, Millennials are a big deal, even though it may not seem like it right now.

Unfortunately, Millennials got dealt a pretty crappy hand. They took out massive loans to pay for advanced degrees, “essential” for a good job. They graduated just in time to see full-time jobs disappear, and the largest segment of employment shift to seniors. Home prices are also out of control in the city, and wages are stagnant. This makes it pretty difficult for them to drive the whole economy forward, a problem even if you’re not in that demographic.

Toronto’s Is Seeing More Young People

Despite the tough economic climate in Toronto, the ratio of young people in the city is increasing. There were 1,256,135 people between the age of 20 – 34, representing 21.18% of the city’s population. This is an increase from the previous Census in 2011, when this age group represented 20.7% of the population. At the very least, the increase shows there’s a lot of raw potential that could be tapped. That is if politicians can convince companies that they’re a valuable (not cheap) asset.

Located Downtown, Around University Campuses

Despite a high number of young adults, they’re mostly clustered in pockets around the city. Downtown Toronto, Fort York, and Liberty Village all had ratios higher than 50%. In fact, Liberty Village had the highest ratio of young adults, representing 65.3% of residents. Smaller but still large numbers were observed around the York University Campus, where 46.1% of the population is Millennial. It should be noted that many of the areas listed above have been touted as some of the more affordable neighbourhoods to live in.

In a country where seniors outnumber young people, Toronto’s ability to attract young adults is impressive by any measure. However, the general idea that life is better for young people in the bustling city of Toronto remains to be seen. Unless the city works towards fulfilling employment opportunities, better wages, and a smart solution to the city’s housing crisis – they’re going to have a hard time keeping them.

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6 Comments

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  • Reply
    Millennial Falcon 7 years ago

    Those neighbourhoods *were* affordable when most millennials moved into them between Census. Most of us couldn’t move in the city if we wanted too.

  • Reply
    Broke Grad Student 7 years ago

    Bamboozled is how millennials should describe this. I have an advanced business degree, and was told Toronto would have the best opportunities. The salary range for someone like myself with almost $100k in debt is $80k. I would be making almost twice the amount of money across the border, and my money wouldn’t be less valuable by the hour.

  • Reply
    Toronto too Expensive 7 years ago

    I left Toronto because it is a politically correct, smug Liberal cesspool which is expensive. Very ironic that Toronto is expensive, because in real lefty cities like in Cuba, everything is cheap because the wages are low.

    Wages are stagnant in Toronto that requesting a $0.25 raise from your employer would likely cause you to be fired, but the rent is very expensive in Toronto, especially in downtown Toronto, that a CBC news report reported that a 20-something Millennial female on Disability is complaining that she only receives $1,128 a month on Disability welfare, but her rent is $1,100 in downtown Toronto. There was another university-age female who was complaining that she was paying $1,600 a month rent in downtown Toronto.

    But the point is that someone on Disability welfare can live in a cheaper area in Toronto for $600-800 for the similar apartment. That person is paying an extra $300-$500 premium to live in downtown Toronto. Same goes for a university student; they don’t need to pay upper class rental to live in Toronto.

    Toronto is a declining city, in that the rich get richer, but the poor get poorer, but Millennials take the cake that with their very low wages, they are complaining that renting in the downtown core of Toronto is too damn high!

    You only have to read the daily stories in the Toronto news only to notice that people are becoming poorer in smug liberal Toronto, that they are resorting to organized crime to survive. Toronto is a declining city, and the crime is only growing that nearly every day, in a city of 3 million people, there are at least 3 or 4 drive-bys or stabbings that are organized crime related. Toronto is failure for the middle class and working classes of citizenry.

    Toronto is a smug liberal paradise if you’re a smug liberal living in a secluded enclave community like Bridle Path, downtown Toronto or even the upscale areas of Ossington-Lansdowne-Old Mill where you can call the police on someone who “looks suspicious” in your street.

    Toronto is home to Big Red too, that repulsive social activist, a by-product of smug Liberal Toronto.

    On the record, Ontario Conservatives are no better too; Mike Harris cut welfare rates by 20%-50% while the cost of living in Canada was increasing by almost 5%-15% per year because of a falling Loonie from 1994-1999, ultimately in 2002 when the Loonie bottomed at 61 cents US equivalent currency.

    • Reply
      InToronto 7 years ago

      Toronto too expensive – they live downtown because they can’t afford to drive and much of the Toronto area is prohibitive to get around without a car. Transit costs aren’t subsidized enough (compared to other cities) and not enough has been constructed. It’s not like the old days when you could just do all of your own maintenance. Even the used cars are all computerized, you need to take the car into a mechanic to run a diagnostic for much of it. Too many of the mechanics are ripping people off and people say “go to a mechanic you can trust”. Right… so how do you know they’re a mechanic you can trust without them ripping you off? Plus have you seen insurance rates for young people? The competition for used cars jacked the prices up for years, so even that wasn’t a significant way to save money. If you’re struggling on low wages these days, you just don’t drive, so location is everything. It’s not even about the premium of the location anymore, it’s simply survival.

    • Reply
      George 7 years ago

      youre WAY too angry… and your comments are comical – upscale is Lansdown or Ossington? you should look up what “upscale” means.

      I do, however, agree with you about people complaining about rent downtown – if its too expensive, live elsewhere – own your life instead of excuses.

  • Reply
    Delusional society 7 years ago

    I would be willing to put a bet that a big reason why the millennial generation flocks to Toronto is for psychological reasons, regardless if it makes no sense mathematically in regards to how much money they make and owe vs cost of living. Its amazing how much I learn a just from walking around analyzing, or listening to peoples conversations or just striking conversation with people that are the millennial generation and most of them wouldn’t be caught dead living in the burbs even if it was more affordable and made sense for thier current situation. It seems there’s a very high value being put in a place where creativity strives, and where the latest trends go down.

    Another thing I noticed is there is a lot of competition to chase after employment that satisfies a reflection of their image and even if it pays less. I think there’s more motivation to have the bragging rights to be part of something that looks appealing to others in their scene over whats practical for career growth or what pays a better salary. And I definitely think these companies especially in creative industries know this and take advantage of underpaying people due to knowing the long line of others willing to do it even if its not going to get you ahead financially.

    meanwhile while they barely can afford rent, pay off student debt, most certainly cannot afford houses, while the slightly older and more established generations are obsessed with their image of being able to say they are successful and proving so by “owning” real estate. again psychological, instead of doing the math and following through with what makes sense financially they rather pay the price to get in over thier heads and have a lifetime of debt to fullfill thier image of success. and well just add nothing lesser than a Bmw, Audi or a Landrover to the monthly payments aswell.

    everyone is apparently struggling but I still see 1-2 hour waits to get a seat to eat at the latest overpriced restaurant featured on vice munchies. All psychological, most people are sheep even when these hipsters put on a front like they are expressing themselves as if they are some sort of “individual” they are all the fucking same. they say the city has more soul but I feel like majority of the people in this city are selling thier damn soul completely away. this place is becoming a joke.

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