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Vacancy Rates

LANDLORDS WARN THAT P.E.I.’S HOUSING CRISIS IS ABOUT TO GET WORSE

Posted in Industry Trends, Rental Rates, Vacancy Rates

LANDLORDS WARN THAT P.E.I.’S HOUSING CRISIS IS ABOUT TO GET WORSE

An association representing P.E.I.’s landlords warns that the housing crisis in the province is poised to get even worse, given that fewer new rental properties are being built and large and small companies alike are selling off their rental units. Judy Zuppan-Grialdi said she is barely breaking even when she and other building owners rent out units these days, though prospective tenants might think otherwise. “When I advertise a property for $2,300, I’m totally ridiculed,...

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NEWCOMERS TO CANADA STRUGGLE WITH RENTAL HOUSING CRISIS

Posted in Housing, Immigration, Vacancy Rates

NEWCOMERS TO CANADA STRUGGLE WITH RENTAL HOUSING CRISIS

Canada is engaged in a losing race to keep up with an unprecedented level of demand for rental housing, leaving a record number of new immigrants to scramble for a place to live. In several of the country’s major cities, including Montreal, Vancouver and Halifax, vacancy rates stand at 1% or lower. In Toronto, the nation’s largest city, the rate is only slightly better at 1.8%, with monthly rents averaging more than $2,260. “When we say Canada has a housing crisis, we mean...

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SASKATOON RENTAL HOUSING MARKET TIGHTENS

Posted in CMHC, Rental Rates, Vacancy Rates

SASKATOON RENTAL HOUSING MARKET TIGHTENS

The considerable tightening of Saskatoon’s rental market as recently described by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) came as no surprise. After the madness of COVID and the connected hot housing market, in which people bought almost everything in sight, something was going to happen. One of those things was inflation, giving rise to higher mortgage rates. Another was a dearth of properties to buy, most notably affordable single-family homes. Both of these somethings would be enough to...

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CANADA’S IMMIGRATION PROBLEM: NOT ENOUGH HOMES FOR NEWCOMERS

Posted in Immigration, Vacancy Rates

CANADA’S IMMIGRATION PROBLEM: NOT ENOUGH HOMES FOR NEWCOMERS

Canada’s bid to attract a record number of immigrants, required to fill job openings and drive economic growth, has run into a bottleneck: There aren’t enough residences to accommodate these newcomers. Immigration into Canada is on pace to hit a record high in 2022 of 431,000, following the entry of about 405,000 the previous year, and the country is targeting entry of another 900,000 newcomers in 2023 and 2024 combined. Because of immigration, Canada’s population over the past half-decade...

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HOW CANADA’S EMPTY OFFICES COULD GET A SECOND CHANCE

Posted in Industry Trends, Vacancy Rates

HOW CANADA’S EMPTY OFFICES COULD GET A SECOND CHANCE

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated significant short- and long-term changes to the way people live, play and, especially, work. While some aspects of pre-pandemic life – like socializing indoors without a mask and travelling – have made a comeback, offices across the country have yet to return to their pre-pandemic occupancy rates. Whether companies will abandon the remote and hybrid workplace models that became popular during the pandemic is to be determined. But two things are clear: Office...

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CALGARY TENANTS GROUP PUSHES FOR RENT CONTROL, EVICTION PROTECTION

Posted in Rent Control, Vacancy Rates

CALGARY TENANTS GROUP PUSHES FOR RENT CONTROL, EVICTION PROTECTION

A group of Calgary renters is organizing to advocate for better tenants’ protections in the city. The ACORN Tenant Union began in Calgary this June, looking to represent and advocate for low- and middle-income renters in the city. As of Thursday, their membership list had reached more than 1,100. That count includes Jordie Hoffman, a University of Calgary student who has lived in four different rental units in the past year, finding difficulties securing housing as Calgary’s market sees rising...

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MORE THAN 250 N.B. PUBLIC HOUSING UNITS SIT EMPTY ON AVERAGE EACH MONTH, DESPITE WAIT LIST

Posted in Housing, Vacancy Rates

MORE THAN 250 N.B. PUBLIC HOUSING UNITS SIT EMPTY ON AVERAGE EACH MONTH, DESPITE WAIT LIST

Jessica Wright has spent more than a year and a half on New Brunswick’s wait list for affordable housing, hoping to be placed into an accessible unit in Saint John or to receive a supplement to help pay her rent. The 31-year-old signed up shortly after she had two aneurysms on the right side of her brain, affecting her balance and mobility, among other challenges. “I went from I would say a somewhat healthy, normal, physical person at 30, to a very disabled person,” Wright...

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WEEK OF JULY 4 2022 NEWSREEL WITH KERRY CHANDLER

Posted in Industry Trends, Newsworthy, Rent Control, Vacancy Rates

WEEK OF JULY 4 2022 NEWSREEL WITH KERRY CHANDLER

Today we’re talking  – rent control and vacancy decontrol, the government, advocacy groups and how they hurt both tenants and the industry.

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WHY AFFORDABLE WORKER HOUSING IS THE LATEST HURDLE FOR CANADA’S TOURIST TOWN HOTSPOTS

Posted in Affordable Housing, Housing, Industry Trends, Newsworthy, Vacancy Rates

WHY AFFORDABLE WORKER HOUSING IS THE LATEST HURDLE FOR CANADA’S TOURIST TOWN HOTSPOTS

When he opened Fish & Sips with his wife in 2015, Paul Feather found hiring to be one among many challenges of running a restaurant with long hours on the main drag of Collingwood, Ont. But after the COVID-19 pandemic struck and housing prices in vacation hotspots soared, the cod-and-calamari-slinging 49-year-old saw staffing as his No. 1obstacle, due in no small part to a shortage of affordable places for workers to rent. “It’s the affordability, but also the availability. There isn’t...

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DESPITE HOUSING CRUNCH, ALMOST 20 PER CENT OF ST. JOHN’S UNITS ARE EMPTY

Posted in Affordable Housing, Housing, Industry Trends, Newsworthy, Vacancy Rates

DESPITE HOUSING CRUNCH, ALMOST 20 PER CENT OF ST. JOHN’S UNITS ARE EMPTY

As a shortage of affordable rental housing grips the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador, an anti-homelessness group is calling on the City of St. John’s to fill its vacant public units. Doug Pawson, executive director of End Homelessness St. John’s, says the 80 units sitting empty as of Tuesday — 51 of which need repairs before they can be rented — could have a big impact in the city of about 212,000 people. “Fifty units of public housing that are not available could make a...

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