CANADA’S HOUSING CRISIS: NEW FUNDING ISN’T A ‘LONG-TERM’ SOLUTION, WARNS RESEARCHER
As a crushing housing stock shortage, record prices and skyrocketing rents spur an exodus from Canada’s biggest cities, the federal government announced almost $100 million in new funding to tackle rent affordability. One researcher is warning, however, that although the additional support is “absolutely needed” it’s not a long-term solution to a growing problem. “The yawning gap between affordable rents and what people are earning … won’t be helped very...
read moreINCREASING INFLATION TO A GROWING POPULATION, EDMONTON’S RENTAL MARKET IS UNDER PRESSURE
Edmonton’s steadily rising population is coming head-to-head with a strained housing market, in which the cost of buying a home has become too high and the supply of rental units has hit its lowest point in a decade. The pressure of high mortgage rates and inflation have caused a shift in demand from buying a home to renting. And the demand for rentals is expected to surpass new supply, according to David Dale-Johnson, executive professor of real estate at the University of...
read moreBANK OF CANADA BELIEVES INTEREST RATES NEED MORE TIME TO WORK, MINUTES REVEAL
The Bank of Canada believes current interest rates are high enough to bring inflation under control, but will not contemplate cutting them until it is convinced price stability has been restored. The central bank left its key overnight interest rate at five per cent last month and central bankers are now weighing how much longer it will have to be maintained at that level, according to a summary of the deliberations that led to the Jan. 24 hold decision. Still, with core inflation of around...
read moreEXECUTIVE COMMITTEE APPROVES UPDATES TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING INCENTIVE
Another slate of updates to a standing city policy meant to increase affordable housing in Regina will be headed for final approval next week, after initial debate Wednesday at executive committee. Recommendations to update the Housing Incentives Policy (HIP) passed with a unanimous vote in favour at Wednesday’s meeting, after discussion among city councillors about the purpose of the program. HIP offers a $1.5 million capital grant stream and five-year tax exemptions for affordable home...
read moreWEEK OF FEBRUARY 5 2024 NEWSREEL WITH VANESSA TOPPLE
This week’s headlines are all about CMHC’s annual housing report which we cover, but we also go over the federal government’s temporary cap on international study visas. The good, the bad and the ugly for both.
read moreDON’T MEET ALL THE CRITERIA? TRY THE RENT BANK ANYWAY, SAYS HOUSING MINISTER
People who aren’t sure whether they’re eligible to receive a grant from New Brunswick’s rent bank should still apply, said Housing Minister Jill Green. The rent bank, first announced as a loan program last summer, launched in December — three weeks ahead of schedule. With $3 million in funding for two years, New Brunswickers can receive as much as $2,750 in grants from the rent bank to pay for utilities, rental arrears or security deposits on new apartments. People can only...
read moreRATE CUTS TO START IN JULY, FORMER BANK OF CANADA OFFICIAL SAYS
An ex-member of the Bank of Canada’s governing body says he believes the central bank will start cutting interest rates in about six months if inflation pressures ease as expected. Policymakers will wait until they see underlying price pressures cool, even if the economy has entered a period of excess supply, former Deputy Governor Paul Beaudry said. “I wouldn’t see the potential of rate cuts until probably the July decision,” Beaudry said in an interview with Avery Shenfeld, the chief...
read morePROTESTORS TAKE TO MONTREAL’S STREETS TO OPPOSE QUEBEC HOUSING BILL
Protesters gathered in the Montreal neighbourhood of La Petite-Patrie on Saturday afternoon to voice their opposition to Quebec’s Bill 31 and the province’s housing minister. If adopted, the housing bill would allow landlords to reject any request for a lease transfer — which some tenants see as a way of limiting rent increases — without specifying why, and then cancel the lease. “Tenants in Quebec are suffocating,” said Cédric Dussault, spokesperson for Regroupement...
read moreB.C. COURT UPHOLDS RULING QUASHING VANCOUVER RENT CONTROL BYLAW
A City of Vancouver bylaw that sought to control rents at single room occupancy buildings is facing another legal defeat. The BC Court of Appeal upheld a previous ruling that found the city didn’t have the jurisdiction to limit rents in the SROs. In the initial ruling, a Supreme Court judge found the city’s decision to adopt the bylaws was “unreasonable,” and it was subsequently quashed. The city appealed this initial decision, but the court found, once again, that provisions in the Vancouver...
read moreWEEK OF JANUARY 29 2024 NEWSREEL WITH VANESSA TOPPLE
Headlines this week focused on the government student visa cap, which we’ll touch on in a future show – but what wasn’t prominent in the headlines but should have been are the city of Hamilton passing a new bylaw preventing so-called renovictions.
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