 | Thursday, March 10, 2022 | |  | | | TONIGHT ON THE FIFTH ESTATE | Watch it at 9 p.m. on CBC-TV and Gem | | | | | “Nobody's talking about the renters. Nobody.”
When 72-year-old Kevin O’Toole told us this during our interview, it struck a nerve. He’s a pensioner in Hamilton who works part time at McDonald’s and has been fighting rent hikes in his building.
His concerns became a common theme as we began our investigation into Canada's rental crisis.
It can feel like Canadians are consumed by housing — but much of the conversation focuses only on home ownership, for example: Who owns their home? Who’s being priced out of the market? Should we be worried about rising home prices or excited about the incentives for home buyers?
But what about renters?
One in three of us is renting. That's 4.4 million households. And rising rents across the country have been hitting Canadians hard. It's not just a big city problem anymore.
From Yellowknife to Hamilton to Dartmouth, we spent the past few months talking to tenants forced to compete for fewer affordable homes and frustrated by a system they feel is not looking out for them.
And we discovered there’s more to the rental story. Prices aren't the only thing that's changing. The landlords are, too.
In tonight’s episode, we investigate how large real estate investment companies use tactics like rent hikes and costly renovations to drive up profits and how that's hitting the lowest income renters the hardest.
You’ll hear stories from renters losing their homes of more than a decade, and those doing everything they can to hold on to what they have.
We put their questions to the companies profiting from this lucrative industry and to the federal government, namely: What are Canadians to do when they've been priced out of somewhere to live?
"Priced out: Canada’s rental crisis" airs tonight at 9 p.m. on CBC-TV or stream it on CBC Gem.
-Saman Malik
Producer, The Fifth Estate | | | | | | | IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Parents without power: When addicted kids can’t be forced into care | | |  | | | Frustrated parents say they should be able to force their opioid-addicted kids into care. But in B.C., the province with the highest rates of opioid deaths, the laws say kids can insist doctors don’t tell their parents if they’re hooked, and they can’t be forced into treatment, no matter their age.
The Fifth Estate examines a law that was intended for another purpose and has left some parents with few options but to watch their child die.
You can stream "Parents without power: When addicted kids can’t be forced into care" on Gem. | | | | | | | | | COMING SOON | Bait and switch: Recycling’s dirty secrets (April 20, 2022) | | |  | | | On Wed. April 20, we are airing a special episode of The Fifth Estate as part of a joint investigation with Radio-Canada's Enquête ahead of Earth Day.
Our investigation will show how Canada still routinely ships plastic waste to developing countries, often illegally mixed inside containers of paper recycling.
We ask Canada’s environmental activist-turned-environment minister what he’s prepared to do about it and why the names of companies breaking the law are being protected. Mark your calendar. | | | | | GET IN TOUCH WITH US | | |  | | | You may have wondered how we get our stories.
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