Rent hikes, daycare waits and higher mortgages: affordability looms large for these Ontario voters | CBC News

At 35, Hamilton resident Joe Struthers says he's one car repair away from crisis.

He eats toast for breakfast, skips lunch, and leans on leftovers for dinner to make it through the day.

In the same Stoney Creek neighbourhood as Struthers, Jessica Fawcett, an occupational therapist and a mother of two, says her family's financial future feels uncertain — squeezed by the lack of affordable daycare and the prospect of renewing her mortgage at a much higher interest rate next year.

Different lives, same issue: the rising cost of living has become impossible to ignore, and for many voters in the Hamilton area, it's the ballot-box question this federal election.

'There's no room for anything extra'

Struthers, who rents an apartment in the east Hamilton area, says each month feels like he's "just trying to survive." Despite years in the trades, he said the pay no longer supports a decent life. "Skilled labour just doesn't cut it anymore," he said.

He has picked up seasonal work hanging Christmas lights to help cover basic expenses but it hasn't been enough. "I...
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