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1. Ontario takes important step towards rental affordability

   The Ford government today tabled its first fiscal update, giving Ontarians a glimpse of its direction in major areas of public policy. Of interest to Ontarians struggling to afford and/or attain rental housing, the update eliminated rent ...

2. Even homeowners want lower home prices—it’s time for governments to act

   Survey says large majorities of homeowners in Metro Vancouver and the Greater Toronto Area want housing prices to stop rising. ...

3. A lagging housing supply drives Ontario’s affordability woes

   The Wynne government almost exclusively targeted housing demand—not supply. ...

4. More power for Ontario municipalities means more responsibility to build housing

   The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) is no more. The Ontario government recently announced that the OMB—the tribunal charged with adjudicating land-use planning disputes between local governments, citizens and property developers—will be ...

5. Focus on foreign buyers overlooks source of most housing demand in Canada

   The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), partnering with Statistics Canada, recently released much-awaited data tracking the share of home ownership by non-residents (individuals whose principal dwelling is outside of Canada) ...

6. Trudeau government’s new housing benefit seems to ignore regional differences

   As part of its National Housing Strategy, the Trudeau government announced today that it will directly subsidize low-income households with an average of $2,500 annually for housing costs. Details are pending, but the logic is simple: if ...

7. Advice for Toronto’s next chief planner—give Torontonians housing options

   The City of Toronto recently announced that its chief planner, Jennifer Keesmaat, will step down from her role after five years at city hall. The ensuing transition presents an excellent opportunity for Toronto to tackle one of its most ...

8. Ontario housing measures—too much on demand, too little on supply

   The Ontario government yesterday announced a raft of measures aimed at cooling the cost of buying or renting in the Greater Golden Horseshoe. Topping the list—a 15 per cent tax on foreign buyers (conveniently called “non-resident ...

9. Expanding rent controls in Ontario will further damage housing affordability

   There’s growing interest at Queen’s Park for the expansion of rent controls to address high rents in Ontario’s biggest cities. Most recently, Premier Kathleen Wynne (pictured above) expressed skepticism that a former Ontario government’s ...

10. White House urges deregulation to boost housing supply—Canadian policymakers should take note

    Housing availability and affordability isn’t just an issue in Canada. It’s also a concern in the United States, where the White House recently released a so-called Housing Development Toolkit aimed at informing municipalities on how to ...