RENTAL MARKET SPURRING MONTREAL HOUSING CONSTRUCTION
The Montreal housing market has seen a sharp increase in rental construction versus single-family homes, driven by simple economics. According to CMHC market analyst Francis Cortellino, it’s a trend that has been ongoing for 20 years. “Not a lot of land is available, and land is expensive, so there’s not a lot of single-family homes being started,” he said. Add to this factors like tough zoning regulations where municipalities purposely “want to increase density.” There is also less family...
read moreCITY TARGETS TORONTO’S ‘BAD FAITH’ LANDLORDS WITH MORE INSPECTIONS
Toronto city council has approved a beefed up apartment inspection and enforcement program designed to improve safety and provide readily accessible online updates on building conditions across the city. Councillors approved the new standards for RentSafeTO at a meeting late last week. The program, which began in 2017, is a bylaw enforcement system designed to ensure owners and operators of over 3,600 apartment buildings are meeting maintenance standards. The new rules include targeted...
read moreLIBERALS’ HOPED-FOR SUPPORT SURGE IN WAKE OF UNDER-40 TARGETED SPENDING BLITZ HAS YET TO MATERIALIZE
A month-long political sales job by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, his cabinet and caucus attempting to raise awareness and – crucially – support for a slew of budget spending measures aimed making life affordable for Canadians has yet to pay off. In a bid to climb out of a 20-point deficit in vote intention, this year’s budget invested heavily in Gen Z adults and Millennials, loading $8.5 billion in spending on housing and other affordability measures, to woo Canadians under 40, while...
read moreTHESE TWO FIXES FOR THE HOUSING CRISIS HAVE A BIGGER IMPACT THAN OTTAWA’S POLICIES
Governments at all levels are finally treating the housing affordability crisis with the urgency it deserves. The latest federal budget produced the most aggressive array of housing policies in generations. The decision to tackle the demand side of the equation by capping the number of non-permanent residents is a giant step in the right direction. Governments are also showing more openness to dramatically changing the role of rental activity in the country’s housing mix. Simply put, the...
read moreWEEK OF APRIL 22 2024 NEWSREEL WITH VANESSA TOPPLE
As part of the April 16th Federal Budget, a centrepiece was the Liberals national housing strategy so, what is it and what are the critics and people saying.
read moreLANDLORD IN THUNDER BAY, ON. WHO SAID HE’S OWED $11K IN RENT CALLS FOR LTB CHANGES
Anshul Jain says he hasn’t received a single payment from two tenants at his rental property in Thunder Bay, Ont., but is most upset about the unpredictability he faces with the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). Jain is a physiotherapist at a long-term care home in the northwestern Ontario city. He and his wife purchased a rental property at the end of July 2023 in hopes of earning additional income. They inherited the previous owner’s tenants and he said while there have been no...
read moreJUST A FEW BIG LANDLORDS COME UP, AGAIN AND AGAIN, IN ANALYSIS OF ONTARIO’S RENT HIKES
Newly released data from Ontario’s rental housing tribunal analyzed by CBC News shows that fewer than two dozen corporate landlords filed most of the applications to raise rents above provincial guidelines for most of 2022 — which one Toronto housing lawyer says is a sign of the increasing concentration in the province’s rental market. CBC News found that 20 landlords filed over half of the 470 applications in the first eight months of 2022, with the top five filing over a quarter....
read more‘AMBITION… NOT MORE RED TAPE’: OTTAWA’S ASSESSING IMPACT OF ALBERTA’S BILL 18 ON HOUSING
The office for federal Housing Minister Sean Fraser says it’s still assessing Alberta’s Bill 18 for potential impacts on future deals with the provincial government that in turn has warned Ottawa to stay in its constitutional lane. Last week, Premier Danielle Smith introduced her government’s Bill 18 — the Provincial Priorities Act, 2024 — in the legislature. It requires provincial approval for any deal between Ottawa and hundreds of provincial entities ranging from municipalities to...
read moreCANADA’S NEW HOUISING PROGRAM WON’T HELP, BUT SLOWING IMMIGRATION WILL: BMO
Canada just announced billions in new measures to correct the housing issues it created. Last night the Government of Canada (GoC) released its latest budget, including billions in spending on new housing stimulus. BMO provided a list of the recent changes, noting they’ll have a limited impact, given most of the measures are demand stimulus. However, they do see affordability improving soon—due to new limits on immigration. They reiterated that Canada doesn’t have a problem building, it has a...
read moreWEEK OF APRIL 15 2024 NEWSREEL WITH VANESSA TOPPLE
The Ontario government introduced the Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act, as part of its ongoing commitment to cut red tape, speed up government processes and build at least 1.5 million homes by 2031.
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