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1. Local governments in GTA have tools to increase housing supply, affordability

   In response to Toronto’s rapidly rising home prices, federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau recently announced the assembly of a working group of experts from all levels of government, aimed at taking a “deep dive” into the housing ...

2. B.C. municipalities should reduce barriers to housing construction, not foreign ownership

   British Columbia’s provincial government has begun releasing long-awaited data on foreign nationals purchasing real estate in B.C. While this topic has gained much attention as a possible source of housing price inflation, the government ...

3. High electricity prices putting rural Ontario in energy poverty

   Ontario’s dramatic electricity price increases garnered national attention recently when a report last week on “Global National” highlighted how energy poverty is a growing concern for rural Ontarians. According to the report, even small ...

4. How to make Vancouver more affordable? Look to Texas

   Vancouver’s growing housing costs are outstripping income increases in the city. There’s no single, easy to spot cause for Vancouver’s growing housing costs. Low interest rates, population growth, and the region’s liveability encourage ...

5. Who suffers most from high energy prices in Canada?

   We all know that humans consume a lot of energy. It lets us cook our food, heat our homes, clean our clothes, and get to work. In fact, using energy to convert resources and provide goods and services is responsible for a lot of our ...

6. B.C. Budget insight: Vancouver’s affordability concerns need municipal attention

   In an effort to make housing more affordable in Greater Vancouver, British Columbia’s latest provincial budget exempts newly-built homes worth up to $750,000 from the property transfer tax. This change could cut the tax bill on certain ...

7. City hall red tape and rising property assessments in Greater Vancouver

   Provincial updates of property value assessments—which determine property tax levels—are generally a prosaic affair, but Monday’s release of British Columbia’s latest assessment has received a lot of attention. More than half a million ...

8. Laneway housing no silver bullet for Vancouver’s rental housing shortage

   A recent CityLab article praised the city of Vancouver effusively for using laneway housing to ease the city’s housing shortage. While the city hall should be lauded for the decision to legalize accessory dwellings, Vancouver has ...

9. Think local when addressing housing affordability across Canada

   Housing markets in Canada’s largest cities are once again the subject of national news, this time because of an increase of the minimum down payments for government-backed mortgages on homes over $500,000. Although the policy applies ...

10. Residential development approval timelines in four Capital Region municipalities average one year or longer

    Between the last two census periods, the Ottawa-Gatineau metropolitan area’s population grew by 9.1 per cent, in step with Greater Toronto and Vancouver. In order for the area (also known as the Capital Region) to continue offering ...