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1. More duplexes in Vancouver—one small step in the right direction

   Vancouver City Hall has certainly caught on to the fact that there’s plenty of room to grow in British Columbia’s biggest city. This week, at the city’s last council meeting before October’s municipal election, outgoing Mayor Gregor ...

2. If the B.C. government wants to help renters, it should care about homebuilding

   British Columbia Premier John Horgan recently appointed a Rental Housing Task Force to advise the government on how to “improve security and fairness for renters and landlords throughout the province.” It’s encouraging that the ...

3. Empty Homes Tax—Vancouver City Hall barking up the wrong tree

   The City of Vancouver recently announced how many Vancouver homes are considered “unoccupied” and subject to the new Empty Homes Tax. As it turns out, very few homes qualify—meaning city hall should consider other ways to address ...

4. 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) ...

5. Regulating short-term rentals in Vancouver—a Band-Aid that ignores key driver of rental crunch

   Vancouver City Council recently voted to ban the listing of secondary residences on short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb. The hope is that this will make more units available for long-term renters. With a vacancy rate below 1 per ...

6. City of Vancouver (finally) acknowledges importance of housing supply

   The City of Vancouver recently unveiled its new 10-year housing strategy. Chief among its commitments is to see 72,000 new homes in the city by 2028, including an important boost in the rental stock, which has suffered from vacancy rates ...

7. Dear Montreal, don’t lose your housing advantage

   In 2016, average rents in Montreal were $835 a month compared to $1,242 in Toronto and just under $1,300 in Vancouver. ...

8. Amazon HQ2—you can grow Vancouver’s economy without making housing less affordable

   The City of Vancouver is keen to land Amazon’s “HQ2”—a second North American headquarters, which the company claims will house tens of thousands of new jobs and add billions of dollars to the local economy. Indeed, HQ2 aligns with the ...

9. Vancouver plan to boost housing supply ignores city hall red tape

   The City of Vancouver recently announced a plan to enable the construction of 72,000 new housing units in over the next 10 years. It’s encouraging to hear city hall pivot away from measures targeting housing demand—such as its tax on ...

10. B.C. throne speech acknowledges importance of housing supply on affordability

    In its recent speech to the throne, the B.C. government added a laundry list of measures that were not included in its election platform. Regardless of the motivations for this manoeuver, the speech included an important admission on ...