Toronto at a Glance

Indicators (2017)	City of Toronto	Toronto Region
Land Area (km²)	630	5,903
Population (July 2017)	2,929,886	6,346,088
Unemployment Rate (Population 15+)	7.2%	6.4%
Gross Domestic Product (in 2007 $ billion, 2016)	$168.0	$313.1
Average (Mean) Household Income (2015)	$98,174	$104,378

For the most recent monthly indicators, see the Toronto Economic Bulletin.

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Economic Indicators

Indicators (2017)	City of Toronto	Toronto Region *
Labour Force (Pop 15+)	1,624,600	3,516,000
Average Income (Pop 15+, 2015)	$47,617	$46,082
Office Space Inventory (ft²) *	123,030,070	177,496,479
Industrial Space Inventory (ft²) *	237,676,885	769,523,217
Retail Space Inventory (ft²) *	44,144,000	113,155,000
Average Price All Home Types *	$834,856	$823,874
Housing Starts (units)	14,724	38,712
Total Annual Building Permits ($000s)	$8,835,415	$19,125,113
Residential ($000s)	$4,437,600	$11,189,009
Commercial ($000s)	$2,495,793	$4,419,255
Industrial ($000s)	$879,686	$1,417,502
Institutional ($000s)	$1,022,336	$2,027,347
Residential Tax Rate	0.6616472%	N/A
Multi Residential Tax Rate	1.4634065%	N/A
Commercial Tax Rate	2.5202233%	N/A
Industrial Tax Rate	2.5862717%	N/A
Retail Sales ($billion)	N/A	$90.3
Number of Businesses (active locations with employees)	106,029	237,565
Number of Visitors (million, 2015)	N/A	40.0

Toronto region is defined as Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) unless denoted with an asterisk (*), which indicates Greater Toronto Area (GTA) or other regional geography. Number of businesses in the city of Toronto and Toronto CMA comprise of businesses with and without physical locations; see Statistics Canada’s Business Register for more information on the number of registered businesses.

Indicators (2016 Census)	City of Toronto	Toronto Region (CMA)
Low Income (LIM-AT)	20.2%	15.6%
Average (Median) Household Income (2015)	$65,829	$78,373
Visible Minority (percent of population)	51.5%	51.4%
Immigrants (born outside of Canada)	51.2%	46.1%
One-person Households	359,960	519,790
Couples with Children	316,075	823,805
Tenants Spending 30%+ of Income on Shelter Costs	46.8%	46.9%
Lone-Parent Families	152,595	292,145
Cannot Speak English or French	132,765	258,925
Non-Permanent Residents	93,575	136,895
Aboriginal Identity	23,065	46,320

Toronto region is defined as the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA).

Geography

Toronto – the name derived from the Huron word for “fishing weir” – is on the northwest shore of Lake Ontario at Latitude 43 39 N, Longitude 79 23 W.

Located on a broad sloping plateau cut by numerous river valleys, Toronto covers 641 sq.km. and stretches 43 km from east to west and 21 km from north to south at its longest points. The perimeter is approximately 180 km.

More statistics:

Waterfront is 76.5 meters above sea level; shoreline stretches 43 km or 138 km when including in the bays and islands
The intersection of Steeles Avenue West and Keele Street is the highest point at 209 meters
307 km of rivers and creeks run through the city
All rivers and creeks flow into Lake Ontario and are part of the Atlantic Ocean Drainage Basin
Most northerly point is the intersection of Steeles Ave E. and Pickering Town Line
Most southerly point is Lake Ontario’s shoreline at the border between Toronto and Mississauga
Most easterly point is the meeting of the Rouge River and shoreline of Lake Ontario
Most westerly point is the intersection of Steeles Ave W. and Albion Road
Toronto is in plant hardiness zone 6 and on the eastern edge of the Carolinian Forest zone
There are over 1,600 named parks comprised of over 8,000 hectares of land (ravines, valleys, woodlots, parks, beaches, golf courses, destination parks, parkettes) and over 200 km of trails, many of which are suitable for biking and walking.
Toronto has a total of about 10 million trees, approximately 4 million of which are publicly-owned trees. These include approximately 600,000 street trees (e.g. located on public right of ways on boulevards and commercial trees in sidewalks, etc) and 3.5 million trees in parks, ravines, and other natural areas.

Statistics source: Geospatial Competency Centre, Parks, Forestry & Recreation, Natural Resources Canada.

Rental Housing Market

476,966	Number of Toronto households that rent
46	As a percentage of all households
43.5	Percentage of renters paying more than 30% of pre-tax income on rent
1.6%	Toronto CMA vacancy rate (2014)
$1,264	Average market rent in Toronto for a two-bedroom apartment (Fall 2014)
$1,173	Monthly amount of Ontario Works (October 2014), two parents, two children ($710 of which is maximum shelter allowance)

City of Toronto, 2011 National Household Survey Backgrounder, September 2013
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Rental Market Report, Greater Toronto Area, Fall 2014

Homelessness

5,253: Estimated number of homeless people sleeping outdoors and in emergency shelters, Violence Against Women shelters, and in health and correctional facilities in Toronto. Estimate from the 2013 Street Needs Assessment. About the same as in 2009. Next survey is in 2018.

447: Estimated number of people sleeping rough in April 2013.

65: Percentage of all homeless who are men. 85 per cent of outdoor homeless are men.

7: Percentage of homeless people reporting experience in the Canadian military.

33: Percentage of outdoor homeless who self-identify as Aboriginal. 16 per cent of all homeless identify as Aboriginal; One per cent of the general population in Toronto identifies as Aboriginal.

21: Percentage of those staying in youth shelters identifying as part of the LGBTQ2S community.

4,812: Number of men, women and children using the emergency shelter system on an average night in May 2017; this is 17.5 per cent higher than May 2016.

80: Percentage increase in number of refugees (mostly families) seeking shelter services over the course of 2016. Those citing “refugee” as reason for service accounted for most of the 2016 rise in demand

93: Percentage of homeless people who want a permanent home.

66: Percentage of homeless people saying that what they really need to end their homelessness is help to pay Toronto’s high rents.

Housing

$962: Average private market rent for a bachelor apartment in Toronto (Fall 2016).

$1,137: Average private market rent for a two bedroom apartment in Toronto (Fall 2016).

1.3: Overall vacancy rate for private market rentals in Toronto (Fall 2016)

$706: Ontario Works total monthly allowance for a single adult (Fall 2016).

$1,205: Ontario Works total monthly allowance for a two-adult family with two children (Fall 2016).

46: Percentage of Toronto renter households paying more than 30 per cent of pre-tax income on rent. Almost half of Toronto households rent.

94,000: Number of social housing units in Toronto (As of 2017, all programs are under administration by the City of Toronto).

69,000: Approximate number of rent-geared-to-income units where rents are set at 30 per cent of household income.

90,141: Number of people on the centralized waiting list for rent-geared-to-income (RGI) units as of September 30, 2017

8.5: Average number of years an applicant on the chronological list waits to be housed in a two bedroom apartment*

$2, 250: Monthly cost of a single shelter bed and services in Toronto.

$305.92: Monthly cost of subsidizing each unit of Toronto’s social housing.

SOURCES: City of Toronto 2017 budget analyst notes for Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, Ministry of Community and Social Services, 2013 Street Needs Assessment results, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, and Housing Connections.

93,404	Number of units under administration by the City’s Social Housing Unit as of April 1, 2015, includes 2,648 rent supplements with private landlords
3,788	Housing allowances provided by the City directly to households
69,081	Number of rent-geared-to-income units where rents are set at 30% of the household’s income
$18,130	Average annual household income of social housing residents
34	Percentage of households on the active social housing waiting list on OW and ODSP
$710	Maximum monthly shelter allowance provided to a family of four through Ontario Works (October 2014)
$1,264	Average market rent in Toronto for a two-bedroom apartment (Fall 2014); $1,823 downtown
14.4	Number of eight-hour days required at $11 per hour minimum wage to pay the average market rent for a two-bedroom apartment – before taxes
$1,818	Average market rent in Toronto for a two-bedroom rental condo apartment in the secondary rental market (Fall 2014)
78,248	Number of households active on the social housing waiting list (December 31, 2014)
244	Number of community-based non-profit and co-op housing organizations providing social housing in Toronto
1	Number of municipal non-profit housing corporations in Toronto. Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) is owned by the City
63	Percentage of total social housing stock owned and operated by TCHC
287	Number of private market projects where the City has rent supplements
72	Percentage of Shelter, Support and Housing Administration 2015 budget that goes to social housing, remainder is for housing stability and homelessness services
49	Percentage of social housing spending in 2015 that comes from the City, including funds from reserves; compares to 41% in 2014 and 31% in 2013. The City is the largest funding source and its share is growing as that of other orders of government shrinks. City share in 2016 will be 57.3%
0	The federal government’s contribution to social housing by 2031. Ottawa’s share shrank by $4.7 million in 2014 and is expected to fall by another $9 million next year…until it reaches zero by 2031.