Given the outrageous cost of rent, real estate, groceries, and every other aspect of life in and around Toronto, it's understandable why so many people have chosen to leave Ontario for other places where pastures are greener — that is, cheapeer.

But as hard as it is to get by here, is the city unaffordable enough to push you to relocate to an actual warzone just because existence there is far less costly? Some people are saying yes, it is.

What a scathing indictment. "I'd rather live in a war-torn country than Canada."

— Maxwell Smart 86 (@larrymondello63) August 24, 2023

More than 160,000 Ukrainian refugees have landed in Canada since their nation's war with Russia began in 2022, but even with the ongoing invasion, many are choosing to go back to their homeland after finding cities like Toronto too expensive to survive in.

Ukrainians who spoke with the CBC this week said they were absolutely floored by food and housing prices when they arrived here, and now plan to "trade safety for comfort" and move back home.

One recounted how her money quickly ran out after being asked for multiple months of sky-high rent up front — something that appears would never happen in Ukraine — and said that on her first trip to the supermarket, her sticker shock left her "terrified... I bought only like two ramens because of the prices."

if you want to know what’s even darker in this story than these ukrainians going back despite it being unsafe because they can’t afford housing or groceries, it’s that one of them was invited to move to canada by a “canadian AI start-up” only to lay her off six months later https://t.co/Gb9mReiyrr

— not emma (@seltzerprincess) August 24, 2023

Many also, of course, note that they deeply miss their friends, family, and  their life in general back in Ukraine, as thankful as they are for Canada's help.

These reasons, paired with the financial pressures, have prompted about five per cent of Ukrainian refugees in the GTA to consider returning amid the war, based on a survey from Ukrainian Canadian Social Services Toronto. 

Another 39 per cent are undecided about what they will do as bombings of civilian buildings in their country continue, and inflation and the cost of living crisis persists here. Hundreds of thousands who were granted visas for Canada also chose not to come at all.