NDP WANTS RATE HIKES CAPPED AT FIVE PER CENT. NO CHANCE UCP WILL AGREE
The UCP will almost certainly squash an NDP bill that comes up in the legislature next Monday. It calls for rent control, a constant no-no over decades of conservative governments. But the UCP needs to think hard about some form of relief from rent hikes that often hit double digits and hundreds of dollars a month.NDP Leader Rachel Notley calls the proposal “a very modest form of rent oversight.” The private-member’s bill, from NDP MLA Janis Irwin, would tie rent increases to the rate of...
read moreWEEK OF MARCH 4 2024 NEWSREEL WITH VANESSA TOPPLE
Headlines this week are a hodgepodge of stories with one underlying theme – past government policies have created the housing crisis of today and the policies now being enacted are furthering issues both short and long term.
read moreWILL RENTAL HOUSING PRICES DROP IN 2024?
An ongoing boom in apartment construction has helped slow down rental inflation — but renters shouldn’t expect prices to drop dramatically from their pandemic-padded highs. That means affordability will remain the dominant narrative in rental housing in 2024. The combination of a pandemic economic rebound, a longtime shortage of rental housing stock and high interest rates on mortgages created a perfect storm for rental prices to spike beginning in 2021 and peaking last spring, inflation data...
read more‘BOTTOM STILL ISN’T FALLING OUT OF THE ECONOMY’: WHAT ECONOMISTS MAKE OF THE GDP DATA
The Canadian economy hung tough in the final quarter of last year, expanding one per cent on annualized basis after contracting in the third quarter, Statistics Canada said on Feb. 29. Here’s what economists are saying the latest gross domestic product numbers could mean for inflation and interest rates. ‘Sea of red’: Douglas Porter, BMO Economics Setting aside the increase in exports and consumer consumption, the fourth quarter was mostly “a sea of red,” said Douglas Porter, chief economist...
read moreCOVID MADE HOUSING UNAFFORDABILITY “CONTAGIOUS”
Our recently released Rental Market Report (PDF) attracted significant attention. It underscores what Canadians have been experiencing for the past several years — there simply is not enough affordable housing in most areas of the country. Canada is facing the lowest national vacancy rate since the 1980s at 1.5% and a sharp increase in rents of 8%. This is well above the historical average of 2.8%. These numbers are very concerning and paint a sobering picture of our current reality. Even in a...
read moreHEAD OF MAYORS’ GROUP PUSHES BACK ON POILIEVRE, SAYS CANADIAN CITIES ‘NOT GATEKEEPERS’
Mayors are community builders, not gatekeepers, Canada’s municipal governments said Monday as their spokesperson pushed back against language that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre often uses to attack city leaders. Scott Pearce, president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, was speaking at a news conference in Ottawa ahead of the spring budget to call on the federal government for more infrastructure money. When asked about Poilievre’s proposed housing plan, Pearce...
read moreWEEK 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...
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