When you were sightseeing around Toronto, you may have noticed beggars sleeping on benches, sleeping on the streets & under bridges, parks or vacant land. You may also have heard about Tent City. Did the homeless problem get really bad in the last 10 years? Well..
In the last decade, the number of street people in Toronto has dramatically risen, for rents have been soaring and no public housing has been built since the eighties. Immigrants continue to come to Toronto hoping for new oppurtunities, but housing becomes the biggest obstacle for a stable & prosperous life in Toronto. There are now many roaming houses in Toronto that have four or five families living in one house or apartment, for it is too expensive for them to ever afford a better place.
To complicate matters, the vacancy rate has dwindled in the last decade, and market pressures have forced landlords to push rent into unaffordable ranges. Though now the influx of condo development has dampened rent demand, the cost of rent in Toronto is still second highest in Canada, right after Vancouver.
Food Bank users has increased to historic highs, but Torontonians continue to show their care of the community by donating ever so willingly every year.
Social programs have also been cut in the last decade (i.e. social workers, pyschologists, hospital beds that cater to unstable mental patients), leaving many street people with zero chances of rehabilitation, therefore their segregation with society is growing at an ever accelerated pace. Therefore, they are getting caught up in the drug trade, and are using more aggressive methods to pay for drugs. Maybe the occupation of professional beggar is unheard of in Toronto, but it could become a popular option in the years to come.
There is a fear that this phenomenon will increase the petty crime rate to unprecedented levels. However, I do not think that Toronto will ever get half as worse as Detroit!
Instead of giving change, it is always better to provide them with food = )
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Phone: (416) 656-0326
Website: http://www.homelessness.on.ca/
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on Apr 26, 2004
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