Montreal housing market continues hot streak to 2020
Continued economic growth will drive Montreal’s housing upswing to 2020, according to the latest Housing Market Outlook report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The report also forecasts that the Montreal construction boom will continue its growth, with new projects coming off the ground in the next few months. “In the condominium segment, construction will increase thanks to a steady demand supported by employment growth and also to significantly lower inventories of...
read moreToronto apartment inventory having trouble catching up with demand
Toronto’s apartment segment is experiencing a healthy infusion of new supply, but a new analysis by Marcus & Millichap indicated that the rate of addition is not proving enough to address the inflamed levels of demand for the city’s residential spaces. The Toronto Multifamily Spotlight report for November 2018 stated that the first 3 quarters of 2018 saw the addition of 2,500 new apartments, putting the delivery rate on track to reach the highest level since 1994. However, elevated prices...
read moreIn Morneau’s fall update, corporate Canada awaits competitiveness plan
Competitiveness. If there’s been a single issue for Canadian business leaders to rally around this year it’s that one – and more specifically losing their competitive advantage with our largest trading partner, the United States. As U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration slashed the corporate tax rate from 35 to 21 per cent and accelerated how quickly U.S. companies can write-off most equipment, attention turned to Ottawa for a strategic response from Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government....
read moreCanada’s Cannabis Advantage Going Up in Smoke as U.S. Moves In
Canada’s competitive advantage in cannabis is disappearing. Half of the 10 biggest marijuana companies trading in Canada are now U.S. based, including MedMen Enterprises Inc. of Los Angeles, Curaleaf Holdings Inc. of Wakefield, Mass., and Green Thumb Industries Inc. of Chicago. Quincy, Florida-based Trulieve Cannabis Corp. and Boulder, Colorado-based Charlotte’s Web Holdings Inc. are among the top 10. Canadian companies still take the top three spots north of the border, though the biggest pot...
read moreRemoving rent control on new units won’t ease Toronto’s housing crisis, tenant and housing experts say
The Ontario government’s removal of rent controls on new, previously unoccupied rental units will mean higher housing costs in the future but won’t do much to relieve Toronto’s historically low vacancy rate, at least in the near term, say tenant and housing experts. Starting immediately, rent control rules will no longer apply to buildings and flats being rented for the first time, the Progressive Conservative government announced in an economic statement on Thursday. “Everybody who’s an...
read moreSecond Cup ‘ready to hit the gas pedal’ on pot, eyes Amsterdam-like lounges: Director
The future of Second Cup Ltd. is in cannabis as the company aims to spur growth amid an ultra-competitive Canadian coffee market, according to one of its directors. Michael Serruya, managing director of Serruya Private Capital and a major Second Cup shareholder who also sits on its board, said the company is “ready to hit the gas pedal” to sell legal pot as it looks to eventually shift its operations from a national coffee chain to an Amsterdam-like cannabis dispensary where patrons can enjoy...
read more3 trends expected to define Calgary’s housing market in 2019
With 2018 nearly over, Calgary’s housing market has yet to recover to previous heights, the result of a drawn-out slump resulting from lower oil prices and the knock-on effects that’s had on employment. But how about next year? Ann-Marie Lurie, the Calgary Real Estate Board’s chief economist, suggests the market will continue to face a number of headwinds in the coming year. “The current situation that we’re in is we have an oversupplied market, prices have been trending down, and we just...
read moreOntario’s Cap-And-Trade Program Is Officially Dead
Killing the program was one of Premier Doug Ford’s key election promises. The Ontario government has passed legislation to repeal the province’s cap-and-trade system, putting the final nail in the coffin of a program Premier Doug Ford has long promised to scrap. The bill was introduced in July but the final vote was delayed when an environmental group launched legal action against the government, alleging the province had flouted the province’s Environmental Bill of Rights by...
read moreAnnual pace of housing starts picked up in October, topped expectations
An increase in multi-unit projects such as condominiums, apartments and townhouses helped push the annual pace of housing starts in October higher, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said Thursday. The housing agency said the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts last month came in at 205,925 units, up from 189,730 in September. Economists had expected an annual rate of 200,000, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon. CMHC said the six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally...
read moreToronto’s housing market sees a shift to mid-rise development
There’s a subtle shift under way in the Greater Toronto Area’s presale condominium market in 2018: As developers are launching fewer towering projects designed to woo investors, they are finding there’s still a strong market for people looking to pay a little more money for a larger, family-friendly unit in neighbourhoods outside the downtown core. In 2017, developers set records for launching projects and units: 105 projects comprising 32,813 units were presold, compared with 2016’s 81...
read more