Torontonians believe that access to buying and renting an affordable home in their community is improving but around two-thirds still believe the access is bad or terrible, according to a new poll.The survey for Canada Pulse Insights for CityNews found 67 per cent of Torontonians, down from 83 per cent in Oct. 2025, rated access to an affordable home in their community to buy as bad or terrible.When it came to rentals, 62 per cent of those polled believed access to an affordable rental was bad or terrible, but that number is down from 78 per cent from the previous poll.In Toronto, 60 per cent of residents own, while 34 per cent rent and six per cent have another arrangement.Nearly three in four non-owners called access to an affordable home to buy bad or terrible compared to 61 per cent of owners. Of those who don’t own a home, 73 per cent said they never will in their community, which was not much different from a year ago when 75 per cent agreed they wouldn’t own.However of the 40 per cent who don’t own a home in Toronto, over four in 10 are fine with renting and not likely to ever buy a home; around 17 per cent of Toronto’s population. Pollster John Wright said many of those are 55 years of age.“And many of them likely because they’re on incomes that can afford it or they’ve sold their home and they are renting now,” said Wright.The remaining group, which amounts to 23 per cent of all Torontonians, want to own but feel like they can’t. These residents are dominated by those in the group aged 18 to 54, especially those 35-54.“At that age, they’ve got salaries and they’ve got kids in the house. They want to own but they can’t get in with either a down payment or the affordability of the house so when you really focus on those people, when you ask about accessibility … they rate it the worst,” said Wright.When it came to Toronto’s housing plan, 40 per cent of those polled said they would give the plan a D or an F, 22 per cent would grade them an A or B, while 38 per cent gave them a C.In terms of getting ahead, it was split three ways; 32 per cent of respondents gave their own ability and opportunity to get ahead financially an A or B, 35 per cent said C while 33 per cent graded it a D or an F.Director of the University of Toronto (U of T) School of Cities, Karen Chapple, said that despite housing prices dropping, first-time homeowners are still struggling to get into the market. “We still have not found the affordable starter home that we used to have in the 1960s, 70s, 80s. And it’s not really in sight. Even with all the price declines we’ve seen, it’s not enough. People are just not earning enough money to be able to afford the housing in Toronto,” said Chapple.Housing isn’t the only spot causing strain for Torontonians as 61 per cent named groceries as the cost they struggle with the most. It was followed by a mortgage or rent with 44 per cent and while 34 per cent said utilities.Medical and health-related costs followed at 21 per cent, transportation at 17 per cent and tuition or skills training at nine per cent.Those who don’t own named rent more often, with 61 per cent saying they struggled with it, compared to 31 per cent of owners naming their mortgage.Seventy-one per cent of Torontonians cut their personal budget for something in the past year due to the cost of living, the same amount of people as in Oct. 2025.Entertainment was where most respondents cut down at 48 per cent followed by groceries and food at 39 per cent and travel at 36 per cent.Among non-owners, 84 per cent cut something compared to 62 per cent of owners. Eighty-seven per cent of those 35 years of age or younger cut something while just 61 per cent of those 55 and over.Chapple added she sees the current state of housing as more of an income crisis.“We really need to think about how to make sure that Torontonians are earning a living wage that makes housing affordable. We need to take a hard look at those housing cost burdens and start thinking about what’s the type of wages we need to boost folks to,” said Chapple. “We’re seeing some of that. Jobs that are covered by unions are seeing cost of living increases. We’re seeing some increase in income, but not enough really to make up for that rapid rise in the cost of housing.”In the GTA, those who were surveyed said their access to affordable housing was as bad as Toronto, and 79 per cent of non-owners said they’ll never own a home.Seventy-two per cent of residents in the GTA own a home while 20 per cent rent and eight per cent have another arrangement. Eight in ten of those who don’t own a home say they will never be able to own a home, but 39 per cent say renting is fine for them.GTA residents also named groceries as the cost they struggle with most at 69 per cent followed by 44 per cent saying it was their mortgage or rent.Seventy-six per cent have also cut their budget for something in the past year, most often travel at 45 per cent, entertainment at 44 per cent followed by groceries and food at 41 per cent.Wright said they are seeing affordability concerns across the country and amid ongoing elections, voters are wondering whether their voices are being heard.“Whether they are voting in municipal elections in Toronto or even Vancouver, politicians are hearing about this. The problem is there are not too many levers that can be worked to help them when, in fact, most of this is being caused by external circumstances, much like the tariffs or the gas prices, which are inflating the costs through the supply chain.”This survey was conducted among 510 adult residents of the City of Toronto (n=510) and 825 adult residents of the Greater Toronto Area including the City of Mississauga and the regional municipalities of Durham, York, Halton and Peel by Canada Pulse Insights between September 14 and 25, 2026 through an online panel platform managed by Sago. The margin of error for a probability-based sample of this size is ±4.3 percentage points for Toronto and ±3.4 for the GTA, 19 times out of 20.