Alberta official questions data used in B.C. money laundering report
A report commissioned for the government of British Columbia warned that money laundering in real estate is widespread across Canada – but a government official in Alberta is alleging that the conclusions are based on unreliable data. According to the report from former B.C. deputy attorney general Maureen Maloney, more than $7 billion in dirty money was laundered in the province in 2018, hiking the cost of buying a home by about 5%. The report also estimated that Alberta had $10 billion...
read moreSteven Mnuchin: U.S. Close To Scrapping Steel, Aluminum Tariffs Against Canada, Mexico
“The president has instructed us to try to figure out a solution.” A top Trump administration cabinet member says the end of punishing steel and aluminium tariffs on Canada and Mexico is close at hand. “I think we are close to an understanding with Mexico and Canada,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday, as Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland met with Trump trade czar Robert Lighthizer in a renewed push to get the tariffs lifted. Mnuchin was testifying before...
read moreSizes of new condos in largest cities trending downward
The median sizes of new condos in Vancouver and Toronto have been on a significant downward trajectory over the last few years, according to a Better Dwelling analysis of assessments and floor area numbers from Statistics Canada. Newly built units in Vancouver are approximately 16% smaller than the city’s peak condo size, which was seen between 1971 and 1991. A unit dating from 2016 to 2017 measured 769 square feet on average, around 3.6% smaller than a unit built between 2011 and 2015. The...
read moreNew zoning bylaw could impel unprecedented growth
Toronto City Council can learn a thing or two from Newmarket Council after the latter approved a new zoning bylaw for its Urban Centres neighbourhood. The Urban Centres Zoning By-law for the Yonge St. and Davis Dr. area updates regulations surrounding permitted land uses, building heights, densities and right-sizing parking, and in doing so the Town of Newmarket hopes to attract business. “This will bring in almost 20 million square feet of mixed-use space literally overnight, so you can...
read moreFragile corporate debt emerges as Bank of Canada vulnerability
The Bank of Canada has added one new worry to its assessment of financial stability: corporate borrowing. Debt to income levels among Canadian non-financial corporations are “well above” historical levels and are one of the top vulnerabilities to the country’s financial system, the central bank said Thursday. As of the end of 2018, non-financial corporate debt was 315 per cent of income, the Bank of Canada said in its annual Financial System Review. In addition, the share of outstanding...
read moreHousing starts beat expectations, jumping 20%; condos, apartments up 30%
The pace of housing starts in Canada picked up in April as they rose more than 20 per cent compared with March, fuelled by the start of work on new multi-unit projects such as condominiums, apartments and townhouses. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said Wednesday the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts increased to 235,460 units in April, up 22.6 per cent from 191,981 in March. Economists had expected an annual pace of 196,400, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon. Priscilla...
read moreOntario and Saskatchewan premiers meeting today in Toronto
The premiers of Ontario and Saskatchewan are set to meet in Toronto. Doug Ford and Scott Moe will meet at the Ontario legislature to discuss a variety of issues including the federal carbon tax, interprovincial trade and an upcoming meeting of Canada’s premiers. The Conservative leaders have been vocal opponents of the federal carbon tax and both launched court challenges against it last year. Last week, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal ruled the federal government does have the...
read moreRioCan plans its first CMHC-backed financing for Toronto rental tower
RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust (REI_u.TO 0.43%) is planning to tap funding backed by Canada’s housing agency for the first time to help finance a rental building in Toronto, according to its chief executive officer. Toronto-based RioCan plans to borrow about $200 million of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.- backed financing from a bank for their 36-story rental tower at Yonge and Eglinton, dubbed eCentral. The company, Canada’s second largest REIT by market value, is still awaiting...
read moreB.C. says $5B laundered in housing market, pushing prices up 5%
A report that estimates $5 billion was laundered through British Columbia’s real estate market last year also lifts the lid on the extent of illegal cash moving across Canada. Some $7.4 billion overall was laundered in B.C. in 2018, out of an estimated total of $47 billion in Canada, concluded the report by an expert panel led by former B.C. deputy attorney general Maureen Maloney. The report is one of two released Thursday and says B.C. ranks fourth for money laundering among a division...
read moreCanada surprises with biggest one-month jobs gain on record
Canada’s economy posted record job gains in April that, along with a pick-up in wages, is the strongest signal yet the country is coming out of a six-month stint of weakness. Employment rose by 106,500 in April, Statistics Canada said Friday in Ottawa, the biggest one-month increase in data going back to 1976. That trounced the median economist forecast for a gain of 12,000 positions. The country’s jobless rate dropped to 5.7 per cent, and is hovering near four-decade lows. “As much as I try...
read more