WEEK OF FEBRUARY 26 2024 NEWSREEL WITH VANESSA TOPPLE
This week, headlines take us out west, specifically British Columbia where once again more money was announced by the NDP government under the program, BC Builds, to tackle the housing crisis and this time, the federal government was on hand to kick in an additional 2 billion.
read moreHAMMER HEADS AND HAZELVIEW INVESTMENTS FORM INVESTMENTS TRADE APPRENTICE PARTNERSHIP
Hazelview Investments partners with Hammer Heads to formalize Trade Apprenticeship Partnership which will support under-resourced and Indigenous youth with apprenticeship career opportunities in the Greater Toronto Area. Created by the Central Ontario Building Trades (COBT), Hammer Heads is a community-based initiative that offers access to meaningful employment in the skilled trades. “Our 12-week comprehensive skills development program was designed to train and place under-resourced...
read moreRENTERS TO TARGET MPP MICHAEL FORD’S OFFICE IN PUSH FOR STRICTER RENT CONTROLS
Toronto tenants’ advocates are gearing up for a rally Wednesday outside the constituency office of Michael Ford, Progressive Conservative MPP and Premier Doug Ford’s nephew. It’s one of eight demonstrations that ACORN, a tenants’ rights group, has planned for Feb. 21, outside the offices of PC MPPs across the province. They’re pushing for stricter new rent control guidelines that they say are necessary in the face of unprecedented pressures on renters in Ontario....
read moreQUEBEC ADOPTS BILL RESTRICTING LEASE TRANSFERS, OFTEN USED TO LIMIT RENT INCREASES
The Quebec government adopted a controversial housing bill Wednesday that will restrict a popular tool tenants have used for years to limit rent increases. The new law will allow landlords to reject lease transfers for any reason. Previously they had to show they had serious concerns about the new tenant, such as their ability to pay or problematic behaviour. The transfer of leases allowed new tenants to benefit from the existing rent and prevented landlords from jacking up the price, but...
read moreDEVELOPERS CLAIM THEY’RE NOT HOARDING VACANT LAND, FEARING USE-IT-OR-LOSE-IT POLICY
Ontario’s construction industry is pushing back against claims that developers are sitting on thousands of approved building permits, as the Ford government develops new use-it-or-lose-it policies. Amid sluggish housing construction starts in Ontario, the Progressive Conservative government has been weighing new policies that would target “land banking” and speed up development as the province looks to build 1.5 million homes by 2031. Currently, according to the government housing tracker, the...
read moreWEEK OF FEBRUARY 19 2024 NEWSREEL WITH VANESSA TOPPLE
This week another advocacy group dominates the headlines with another excuse for the housing crisis – which of course misses the mark.
read moreCONCERNS ABOUT RENT INCREASES AFTER MONTREAL TENANTS SIGN RENOVATION AGREEMENT
For 29 years, Muguette Payette has lived at her studio apartment in downtown Montreal. She never thought she would have to leave. “If I don’t have an apartment, a decent apartment, what am I going to do? I’m going to be outside in the street,” Payette told CTV News. Recently, a new landlord purchased her building and the adjacent one on Fort Street. Shortly after, Payette says she met with two employees from the company that owns the building, and they offered her a...
read moreBANK OF CANADA’S INFLATION ‘BUFFET’ MUDDIES TIMING OF CUTS
The Bank of Canada says it’s watching core inflation closely as it weighs when to cut rates, but a mixed bag of measures gives it options on timing and clouds the outlook for markets and economists. The central bank has no less than six indexes it monitors to get a grasp on underlying price pressures. Governor Tiff Macklem has pushed back against focus on a specific indicator, describing core inflation as more of a “concept.” While that reflects the bank’s need for certainty before declaring...
read moreB.C. TO FUND NEW INCOME-TESTED RENTAL HOUSING ON PUBLIC LAND
The provincial government says it will spend $950 million and provide $2 billion in low-cost financing to have thousands of rental homes built on under-used public land, which would then be provided to middle-income earners living in those communities. The announcement is the latest under the province’s Homes for People program, which was announced last April and promised a multi-pronged approach to supply new types of housing in the province, combat rampant speculation and address the...
read moreSTUDENT VISA CAP TO SLOW CANADA RENTAL DEMAND GROWTH, RBC SAYS
Canada’s new cap on international study permits should slow the increase in demand for rental units from foreign students by about half this year, according to the country’s largest lender. The number of international students in Canada is expected to grow by 100,000 in 2024, or 55% less than the net increase last year, assuming similar enrollment rates and outflow patterns after the pandemic, Rachel Battaglia, an economist at Royal Bank of Canada, wrote in a note on Wednesday. The impact on...
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