LOL! Actually, as memory serves, $600 a month for a room in a private home is about the going rate in the Capital, isn't it? There's a bit of a cottage industry renting out basements and so forth there.
I'm not sure they're getting that much of a price break. If they're happy, who cares?
$600 per month per room in a $1.1 million place? Yeah, they are getting a price break. I encourage you to try to find a room for rent in a place that costs that much, for $600 a month.