This woman on a fixed income is desperate to stay put as new data show huge Hamilton rent rises

Every time she thinks about her eviction notice, Colleen Langmead says feels knots forming in her stomach.

The 51-year-old Hamilton woman has been living in an east-end bachelor apartment since 2011, paying roughly $500 in monthly rent.

She said can't afford to pay much more.

Langmead is on a fixed income and receives Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) payments for various disabilities.

She has had an eviction notice that has kept her up at night, because she knows she won't be able to afford renting another place at current market rates.

"It's agitating, upsetting … I can't deal with not knowing and not having anywhere to go," she said. "I have no plan really."

Data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and Zumper show how the rental market has changed in the past five years.

The average rental listing price across the city has grown from $1,681 in 2019 to $2,212 in 2023.

The average rent current Hamilton tenants are paying is $1,493. That includes people who haven't moved and long-term tenants like Langmead who are in buildings first occupied before Nov. 15, 2018.

Buildings built after that date aren't subject to provincial rent control.

Those paying rent in social housing, meanwhile, pay just under $1,000 per month — an amount has stayed relatively steady.

Jim Dunn, a McMaster professor and director of the Canadian Housing Evidence Collaborative, said the data shows fewer people can transition from renting to home ownership — and people who have to leave their current rental unit will probably face a "huge jump" at their new place.

"It's very expensive, far more expensive than it was in the past," he said.

Dunn said rental construction is lagging far behind home ownership construction while demand has increased.