I Live In Toronto And Haven’t Paid Rent For A Year. Here’s How

The apartment on Lombard Street is directly across from Toronto’s historic Old Fire Hall, once the home of The Second City during the days of John Candy, Gilda Radner, Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy. The spacious apartment has windows on three sides, a large terrace and is a stone’s throw from St. James Park. Every quarter hour, the sounds of church bells fill the bright, airy flat. It’s just me and a 13-year-old cat named Daisy who doesn’t like to be held, but demands constant attention. I am all too happy to oblige. Next to the bedroom with the king-sized bed is the solarium, the kitchen with stainless steel appliances and a marble countertop island, two bathrooms, ensuite laundry, and two new TVs with all the streaming services.  

There’s no need to go grocery shopping for at least two weeks, because the flat comes with a fully stocked fridge and pantry. I find aubergines and courgettes, fresh berries from the market, french cheeses, pomegranate and pear juices, raspberry-lemon ice cream and endless coffee and tea. This is my third time spending a month in this condo, but I haven’t paid a cent in rent. As I prepare a meal with all this free food, a glowing five-star review of my abilities comes through from my previous stay at a different condo in the Distillery District where I looked after two Bengal cats. This review is number 47 on my house-sitting profile. 

For 11 years on-and off, I’ve been living by myself in people’s homes for free while they’re on vacation, taking care of their cats. Being a professional house sitter is my solution to the rising costs of rent, inflation and cost of living in the city of Toronto. I can’t afford market rent, so I decided there just had to be a better way.

Toronto is famous for its unaffordable rents. In a city where inflation hasn’t been tempered with a rise in wages, the news is littered with stories of young professionals, or even seasoned professionals, finding themselves priced out of the city. Once we used to laugh when 30-year-olds were moving back in with their parents. Now we’re seeing it with 40-year-olds. With the dream of home ownership just as elusive as affording a one-bedroom apartment (which currently goes for, on average, just over $2,400 a month), I realized that with my lowly freelance writer and book author income, I would have to find an alternative.

I made the choice over a year ago that I would apply the house-sitting hack I learned from backpacking around the world and leverage it here at home. 

Years ago when I was living in Europe, I joined an online house-sitting service as a way to snag free accommodation as I traveled the continent for months at a time. In exchange for looking after pets, I would stay gratis in anything ranging from small apartments and one-level homes to penthouses and huge gated villas. It became a tradition every time I traveled, and I amassed dozens upon dozens of positive references on my profile.

Some of the incredible places I stayed included a gated, custom-built, ocean-side manor just outside of Ras Jebel in Tunisia, where in exchange for looking after four cats and two dogs, I had the luxury of living in a four-story solar-powered home with a garden and pool that came with a gardener and a housekeeper. The owners also left their pickup truck so I could go grocery shopping at the local market. At another house-sit in Vrboska, located on the Croatia’s Hvar Island, I found myself in a 17th-century stone house with all modern conveniences, in exchange for looking after five cats. The home owners  also left the use of their quaint old Renault 4 from the 1980s. Other sits included a two bedroom pied-à-terre in Paris, a penthouse suite in the heart of Brussels, and entire homes in London, Copenhagen, Zurich, Cardiff, Vienna, Prague, Amsterdam, Helsingborg, Enkhuizen, Heemstede and Berlin. 

Back in North America, I’ve house-sat in Playa del Carmen, Mexico in a gated community with its own pool and steps to the beach in exchange for looking after four cats and a dog. I've also visited Miami, New York, Vancouver and Montreal without ever paying for a hotel. At times, I've house-sat as a couple when I’ve been in a relationship, as many listings are open to traveling couples and families as well. In fact, some sitting jobs are just too big for one person, and many listings will specifically request couples.

In the past, I've managed to keep an apartment in Toronto. However in January 2023, when the COVID-19 lockdowns were finally a thing of the past, rent became astronomical. Even renting a room in a shared apartment could run upwards of $1,500 a month. With buildings erected after 2018 not subject to rent control, and many more renovictions taking place to rob tenants of affordable housing, I decided it was the time to sell all of my furniture and plants on Facebook Marketplace, throw all my worldly belongings into a few suitcases and housesit full time in the city.

Since my Toronto house-sitting journey began, I’ve lived in the Beaches, the Yonge and Eglington neighbourhood, the gay village, the Danforth, Liberty Village, Regent Park, the Distillery District, Dufferin Grove, St Lawrence Market, the Entertainment district, West Queen West, Roncesvalles and more.

The stress this decision has alleviated from my life is colossal. “Making rent” every month caused my nervous system so much distress—and I wasn’t the only one. Financial anxiety has been the number-one cause of stress amongst Canadians for the past six years. It’s an extreme privilege to be able to translate my life into housesitting, because for many of my peers, this just isn’t an option. 

Naturally, I aim for sits that last longer than a month so that there is some stability, but sometimes the sits that last only a couple weeks or even days act as great buffers. If there’s a few straggling days between when one sit ends and another begins, those short weekend sits carry me through so I at least have a roof over my head and a cat to snuggle.

For over a decade now, I have used the same service, TrustedHouseSitters.com. The platform, based out of the U.K., facilitates introductions between homeowners and sitters all around the world. Homeowners post a listing that includes their dates, their pets and the care involved, where their house is located and what amenities are available. A new feature on the site includes references for both the sitter and the homeowner, so users can be fully informed of previous snags or misunderstandings. There is an annual fee for accessing the site, however the price for one year (currently at $130 for a basic membership) is less than the cost of one night at an Airbnb in Toronto. So even if you only do one sit every 12 months, it pays for itself. They’re not the only game in town: Mind My House, Nomador and HouseCarers are also popular, with plenty of users and high ratings. Pro tip: Create profiles on all of these sites to maximize your opportunities.

However, it’s not all gated villas and gardeners. Over the years I’ve dealt with both sick and—in one instance—volatile pets. One cat I was sitting for developed a condition called megacolon (meaning it wasn’t able to poop), and another developed renal failure that required daily subcutaneous fluid injections, administered by yours truly. I’ve looked after pets with diabetes, meaning I had to administer insulin shots twice a day, and ones with severe food allergies or behavioural problems. Recently, a weekend sit in the heart of the Entertainment District turned into a serious safety issue when the dog I was caring for mauled my ear, requiring a visit to the emergency room. The wound was significant enough that I ended up requiring ongoing hyperbaric chamber treatments for weeks. 

When the fit hits the shan, as they say, one of the best practices I’ve developed over the years is to ask the homeowner for a thorough list of emergency contacts before they depart—including contacts for vets, building superintendents, close neighbours or family members and more. Using WhatsApp to keep homeowners updated on any potential issues is also a good rule of thumb. And informing the house-sitting service of any major issues is also important, especially since—as in the case of the dog attack—listing a dangerous or violent pet goes against policy, and could subject future sitters to danger. (Those homeowners will no longer be able to post on the website.)

Despite the occasional seriousness of the work and potential risks involved, as long as you’re organized and willing to put in the effort, house-sitting can be a lifesaver. For someone like me—who doesn’t feel tied to belongings and who can work from anywhere—house-sitting allows me to live alone, live in the city and manage my expenses. This means I can save for retirement as well as my other savings goals. In a city where data shows many people are spending upwards of 50 percent of their monthly salary on rent, I am able to actually save upwards of 90 percent of my monthly salary. I have an excellent quality of life compared with the cost of living, and the perks of house-sitting far outweigh any inconveniences. 

Many Canadians are going to have to find new and ingenious ways to make living possible in our increasingly unaffordable cities. So many people don’t make enough to be able to survive in this economy and cannot rely on family resources to get by. While it’s definitely unique, and requires a high degree of flexibility, house-sitting is the solution that’s currently working for me.