Search

Search results

1. Vancouver’s new government will face enormous pressure to grow the housing stock—quickly

   With a municipal election looming, here’s a statistic that crystalizes one of, if not the most, important issues of the campaign. Home prices in Vancouver have grown almost 70 per cent since the last municipal election in 2014. Add in ...

2. Municipal spending on the rise across Metro Vancouver

   Municipalities play an essential role in the lives of Canadians. As the closest level of government to citizens, they are often the most visible—from snowplows to police patrols. It’s this visibility, and the central role these services ...

3. City size doesn’t determine spending habits in Metro Vancouver

   “Economies of scale” is a well-known economic concept. Basically it’s the idea that the “per unit” cost of providing something goes down as more of it is produced—think one big factory producing car tires or beer bottles at a lower cost ...

4. It’s time for Canadian cities to eliminate minimum parking requirements

   Last week was broadly positive for land-use and housing policy in North American cities. Along with Vancouver City Council’s decision to allow low-density neighbourhoods to add duplexes without rezoning, Cincinnati just joined a growing ...

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

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

6. B.C. throne speech—government vows action on high house prices, but ignores their cause

   The British Columbia government dedicated a significant portion of its recent throne speech to “solutions for housing.” In particular, the speech focused on the “threat” posed by “speculators” and the need to spend more on social housing ...

7. Three hurdles Ontario homebuilders must overcome to build new homes in a timely manner

   The Ontario government has acted on a key tenet of its housing plan —holding a roundtable with municipalities and the homebuilding sector to streamline housing development approvals. This is good news for Ontarians, whose housing options ...