0:08 At least once a day Kyle Cunningham is asked by his parents if he has heard anything back from the hundreds of job applications he has sent out. This usually happens when they were in the kitchen preparing dinner together. Kyle graduated from the Geographic Analysis program at Ryerson University in 2015 and has yet to find a job in his field. 0:30 I Figured by now I would be living on my own or with roommates. I envision myself downtown in a career position. 0:37 Kyle currently lives in Scarborough with his parents since he can't afford the rent in Toronto without a well paying job. He's almost 25 years old. 0:47 I feel sad and that is a little bit embarrassing that I still live at home with my parents. And it's something obviously I think about every day. I would really like to change but I can't afford to rent the city. 1:09 There's no way I can fit a double bed in my apartment, because it will be my apartment. It's tiny. 1:16 That's Paige Smith. She graduated from the acting program at Dalhousie University in 2014 and moved to Toronto last December to pursue her acting career. She currently works as a server to afford her rent. 1:31 It was always my plan kind of to move to Toronto, I wasn't just sure how I would afford it. So I kind of took the year and a half to work my butt off. I had three different jobs at one time. I think I went through like a 20 day stretch without a day off, just so I could afford to get myself here. 1:46 Paige pays approximately 1300 dollars a month after utilities for a 400 square foot apartment in the Wellesley church village. 1:55 I thought I would have like a nice cute one bedroom with maybe like a small open concept area living room and tiny kitchen I wasn't looking for something completely huge, but I never expected what I ended up with for how much I was paying. 2:13 According to a study by a coalition of affordable housing groups, one in five Canadian renters face an affordable housing crisis, spending more than half their income on living expenses. 2:24 I'm a little bit more comfortable, but I'm still extremely budget. I give myself 30 bucks a month to go out and that's about it. 2:32 Affordable housing seems unattainable for recent graduates due to the lack of low cost rental supply in Toronto. Where most rental properties come from high priced investors with a high price tag to match. 2:44 It really affected like my relationship building and even like some of my confidence like I'm trying to make a life in a new city and I can't afford to do it. 3:03 Ryerson Fashion Communications graduate Emily Stevenson lives in a row house at Jarvis and Carlton with two other roommates to save money. 3:12 Some of us were messier than others. That was something that I didn't really take into consideration before living with two other people. But I definitely notice it now and would definitely appreciate a place of my own. 3:27 Emily pays $900 a month and is currently working in retail to afford her rent. But she's having a difficult time managing these expenses with her student debt. 3:37 At this point in time, it is impossible for me to pay off my student loan while also paying for rent and living expenses. So it's kind of hard to take on an extra financial burden when I'm not making that much as it is. 3:50 Even after finishing university over a year and a half ago, Kyle still feels the financial effects of being a student. 3:57 I was saving up but I had to put a lot of that money towards tuition. So in the end, it wasn't enough to move out right away and that's where I'm stuck now. 4:12 With the current job I have now it's not enough to be able to afford anything in Toronto. So I feel like I have to have a career position before I can move out on my own. 4:22 But for Paige, the struggle to make rent is all part of living in the big city and trying to make her dreams a reality. 4:30 Moving to Toronto while like it was really difficult and I am struggling to pay everything for me it's worth it. In my heart. I know that I need to stay here and just kind of keep fighting for that dream. 4:42 Paige, Kyle and Emily plan to move out of their current living situations to find more affordable housing. However, none of them know when they will actually be able to make this happen. Last week, Canadian housing advocates called on the federal government to introduce a national housing strategy to combat the housing crisis. across Canada. Advocates hope the strategy will be in place by next year but the federal government has yet to set any plans. This has been Brooklyn Neustaeter reporting for News Night.