More B.C. renters are spending 'crisis-level' amounts on housing

British Columbia has the highest proportion of renters spending more than half of their income on rent and utilities in Canada, according to new data released Monday.

British Columbia has the highest proportion of renters spending more than half of their income on rent and utilities in Canada, according to new data released Monday.

The latest edition of the Canadian Rental Housing Index, a database of rental housing statistics developed by the B.C. Non-Profit Housing Association (BCNPHA), in partnership with Vancity, found that 16 per cent of renters in B.C. spent more than 50 per cent of their income to cover rent and utilities, a number that puts them at an increased risk of homelessness. Ontario and Nova Scotia were close behind with 15 and 13 per cent, respectively.

Nearly 250,000 of the more than 660,000 rental households in B.C. pay an "unaffordable" amount for housing, with 30 per cent or more of total household income going towards rent and utilities. Within that group, more than 100,000 are paying over 50 per cent, which is described as a crisis-level amount.  B.C. Non-Profit Housing Association CEO Jill Atkey says the latest numbers reflect years of failure to invest in rental housing.

"The hundreds of thousands of renters [across Canada] struggling to get by in today's crushing rental markets expect all levels of government and industry stakeholders to work together to solve this crisis," Atkey said in a statement.