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1. The most tangible threats to cities are manmade

   Although best known to Canadians as Halloween, October 31 is also World Cities Day —a time to think a bit, between the candy and costumes, about why cities are important and some key challenges they face. Canada is an urban country, with ...

2. 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 ...

3. 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. ...

4. Urban density doesn’t necessarily determine living standards

   Quality of living—sometimes called “liveability”—is a notoriously hard thing to define because, as individuals, we often don’t share identical preferences. Nevertheless, several organisations have tried to measure liveability across ...

5. It’s possible to build our way to housing affordability

   Housing continues to make headlines across the country, with many Canadians lamenting the high cost of homes particularly in our big cities. And yet, the best way to maintain broad affordability in prized housing markets is to build a ...

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

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

7. If Toronto millennials want more density, there’s plenty of room to grow

   Last November, the Toronto Region Board of Trade published a survey of young professionals (aged 18 to 39) where respondents expressed overwhelming support for higher residential density as a way of boosting the housing supply. Indeed, ...

8. 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) ...

9. Metro areas with more competing cities are more economically free

   Much has been written about the benefits of economic freedom. It’s associated with “higher investment rates, more rapid economic growth, higher income levels, and a more rapid reduction in poverty rates.” However, the vast majority of ...

10. 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 ...