Ontario Mayor of Wilmot Township, Natasha Salonen, can’t afford to buy a home in her municipality despite earning around $90,000 a year.

Salonen is currently living with her parents and says it’s not attainable to live in the area, especially young professionals with student debt.

Wilmot Township, located just outside of Kitchener-Waterloo, has a population of 22,000 and the average home sold for $916,167 in July of 2023.

While the rest of Salonen’s mayoral colleagues own their own house in the region, she is still paying off her student loans which is contributing to her situation.

Salonen announced last month that she supports the region’s plan to build 10,000 affordable and attainable homes by 2030.

She recognizes that there are people in worse situations that hers and that the project isn’t specifically aimed at young professionals who are earning similar wages as herself.