TORONTO COUNCIL SUPPORTS ACCELERATION OF RENTAL HOUSING PROJECTS
Toronto City Council has approved recommendations in staff reports that will allocate $351 million in capital funding to 18 affordable rental housing projects, enabling construction to start in 2024 and 2025. The funding will help almost 6,000 new rental homes including 2,600 affordable rental and 3,380 rent-controlled homes currently delayed in pre-development phases move forward towards construction, stated a release. The city’s new Rental Housing Supply Program proposes a framework to...
read moreCANADIAN POPULATION EXPECTED TO HIT 63 MILLION BY 2073, LIFE EXPECTANCY FALLS FURTHER
Canada’s population is expected to slow in growth but still add a whole lot of people. Statistics Canada (Stat Can) data released this morning shows they expect growth to slow. The population is expected to hit 63 million people by 2073, driven almost exclusively by migration. At the same time, the country’s older population is set to explode, which will lead to pressure on resources such as healthcare. Pressures will be less pronounced after they reach their demographic peak, but that will...
read moreFOUR OF CANADA’S RED PARTY LEADERS INVESTED IN REAL ESTATE
Four of the leaders of Canada’s five parties in Parliament are landlords and/or invested in real estate (or have spouses that are), according to new data examined by The Maple. MPs are required to complete public disclosure reports that include property they own and additional sources of income and investments. These reports tell us if our elected representatives, and/or their spouses, are landlords/invested in real estate. The Maple has gone through all this data and identified which...
read moreHUNDREDS OF RENTAL UNITS UP FOR DEMOLITION VOTE TUESDAY
About 240 rental units in Toronto could move one step closer to being torn down for new developments Tuesday, causing their tenants to be victims of a demoviction in the process. A demoviction, or demolition driven eviction, is when a landlord evicts tenants from a building so that it can be demolished and redeveloped into new apartments or condos. The applications to demolish and replace the units will be before the Toronto and East York Community Council Tuesday, which will decide whether to...
read moreAS MORE IMMIGRANTS MAKE SASK. HOME, PRESSURE ON THE RENTAL MARKET IS HURTING AFFORDABILITY
Shafqat Nabi and Aisha Jamal say that in their short time in the city, they have found Saskatoon to be a very welcoming place — but not its rental market. The couple and their twin daughters moved to Saskatoon from Qatar last month. They also visited the city last summer, and they say rents have really jumped since then. “I definitely feel there is a jump of almost 20 per cent in terms of rent, and there are a lesser number of houses available at this point of time,” Nabi said....
read moreSTATISTICS CANADA SAYS ECONOMY GREW AT 1.7% ANNUALIZED RATE IN Q1
The Canadian economy expanded less than expected in the first quarter, with weak inventory growth offsetting strong consumption gains, prompting traders to boost bets on the Bank of Canada cutting rates as early as next week. Gross domestic product in the first quarter expanded at a 1.7 per cent annualized pace, Statistics Canada reported Friday in Ottawa. That’s slower than a Bloomberg survey median estimate of 2.2 per cent and the Bank of Canada’s forecast of 2.8 per cent. The statistics...
read moreMANITOBA PLANS NEW RULES FOR RENT INCREASES AND INCENTIVES FOR NEW HOUSING
Some Manitoba landlords may have a harder time raising rents above inflation and could be ordered to phase-in increases over years if a bill introduced Thursday by the Manitoba government becomes law. The bill would set down conditions for landlords who want to raise rents above the annual provincial guideline, which is tied to inflation. Currently, landlords can apply to a residential tenancies director for a higher rent increase for any reason and make their argument. The bill would limit...
read moreLARGE HALIFAX LANDLORDS REPORT DOUBLE-DIGIT OPERATING INCOME GROWTH IN FIRST QUARTER OF 2024
Two landlords owning thousands of apartments in Halifax have reported strong growth for the first three months of 2024 in net operating income, or revenues after subtracting the expenses of operating a building. In its latest public financial reports released last week, Killam Apartment REIT reported about $15.24 million in net operating income for its Halifax apartments — an increase of nearly 12 per cent versus last year. Meanwhile, CAPREIT reported a nearly 14 per cent increase to about...
read moreKINGSTON CITY COUNCIL LOOKS AT NEW PLAN TO IMPROVE LOCAL RENTAL MARKET
Kingston city council is set to discuss a new plan aimed at improving the city’s rental market and opening up affordable rental units across town. The Rental Housing Community Improvement Plan is a new approach that city officials are hoping to take in order to address the local housing crisis. Outlined in a report that will be tabled to council on Tuesday, the plan includes offering tax grants and exemptions to vacant property owners in order to incentivize them to build multi-unit...
read moreA GROUP OF TENANTS HAVE BEEN ON A RENT STRIKE FOR A YEAR AND SAY THERE’S NO RESOLUTION IN SIGHT
Dozens of Dozens of tenants of Toronto’s Thorncliffe Park area have now been withholding their rent for one year, and it’s unclear when the dispute will end. Last May, approximately 100 households at 71, 75, and 79 Thorncliffe Park Dr. launched a rent strike after they said that their landlord refused to withdraw applications for an above-guideline rent increase. Starlight Investments, which co-owns the buildings in question with the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP...
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