The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has calculated the hourly wage needed to rent an average apartment without spending more than 30% of one’s earnings.
Overall, it showed minimum wage employees generally can’t afford the average cost of apartment rental.
The national average to afford a two-bedroom apartment is about 22.40 an hour.
There are only 24, or 3 per cent of the nearly 800 neighbourhoods observed where a full-time minimum wage worker can afford to rent an average two-bedroom apartment.
In Moncton, the study calculated residents have to work about 57 hours at minimum wage or make 16 dollars an hour.
The report states the best way to address rental affordability would be to increase the amount of affordable housing units.
