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1. City hall holds the key to solving housing crisis in Canadian cities

   Appeared in the Financial Post, May 31, 2018 Mayors, councillors and city staff from Canada’s largest cities will be among the thousands of delegates in Halifax for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) annual conference (May 31 to June 3). This ...

2. It takes three times longer to obtain building permits in Vancouver than in Burnaby

   The Fraser Institute’s latest study spotlights the difficulties homebuilders face at city halls across B.C.’s Lower Mainland. The study findings reinforce a recurring theme from almost three years of tracking this issue—there are huge ...

3. B.C. government floats two promising ideas to address affordability and transportation woes

   In recent weeks, the British Columbia government announced big changes in two critical areas for Metro Vancouverites—housing and transportation. The region is short on both homes and taxis (or substitutes such as ride-sharing). The ...

4. Ontario opposes foreign buyers tax, but housing affordability must be addressed

   Appeared in Toronto Sun, November 6, 2016 Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has announced that the province will not introduce a property transfer tax on foreign buyers, similar to that introduced in British Columbia. The premier and her government should be ...

5. Governments should care what Ontario homebuilders think about regulation

   Appeared in the Globe and Mail, October 6, 2016 Housing headlines are everywhere. Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau recently announced a raft of housing reforms. Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and Toronto Mayor John Tory recently rang alarms bells on ...

6. Retroactive nature of new tax on foreign owners threatens rule of law, investment in B.C.

   Appeared in the Vancouver Sun, Aug. 5, 2016 Mike de Jong, B.C.’s finance minister, recently and unexpectedly announced an additional property transfer tax of 15 per cent on foreign nationals purchasing residential property in Metro Vancouver. Whatever the ...

7. Allow housing supply to react to housing demand in Toronto, Vancouver and beyond

   To date, the discussion on housing affordability, dominated by handwringing over foreign homebuyers and low interest rates, has primarily focused on demand-side issues while ignoring the fact that when a good is in high-demand, it ...

8. 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 ...

9. 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 ...

10. New homes and red tape in Canada’s Capital Region

    posted December 10, 2015 Canada’s Capital Region is growing quickly, and will continue to require a steady stream of new housing to keep up with new demand. Between the last two censuses, the Ottawa-Gatineau metropolitan area’s population grew by 9.1 per ...