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1. Toronto's changing whether you like it or not—might as well be for the better

   Appeared in the Toronto Star, October 8, 2018 As the election looms, housing affordability is the number one issue in Toronto. According to polling by Forum Research, it’s eclipsed the city’s notorious gridlock as the biggest concern. Which is no surprise ...

2. Developer fees rising in Metro Vancouver

   A recent Fraser Institute study compared 17 of Metro Vancouver’s 21 municipalities on spending, revenue and debt from 2007 to 2016, underscoring the changing makeup of municipal revenues in the region. As shown in the chart below, ...

3. Horgan government rent-capping will likely hurt renters in the long run

   Appeared in the Vancouver Province, October 3, 2018 In its latest move on the housing front, the Horgan government this week pegged annual rent increases to inflation (estimated at 2.5 per cent in 2019), citing affordability concerns in Metro Vancouver ...

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. Rent control in B.C.—bad policy then, bad policy now

   There are very few points upon which nearly all economists agree. So when more than 90 per cent of academic economists agree on something, policymakers should take note. For example, the vast majority of economists agree that rent ...

6. 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 ...

7. Why a ‘renters rebate’ won’t help Metro Vancouverites

   In a recent interview, B.C. Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Selina Robinson reaffirmed the provincial government’s commitment to a “renters rebate” of $400 per renter household, annually. As appealing as this idea may sound to ...

8. Will shrinking city council actually save Torontonians money?

   Appeared in the Ottawa Sun, September 12, 2018 Premier Doug Ford’s government is pushing ahead with its plan to shrink the size of Toronto City Council, despite Monday’s Superior Court ruling that Ford’s plan is unconstitutional, by invoking the ...

9. 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. ...

10. A tale of two cities—Vancouver spends far more than Surrey

    Appeared in the Vancouver Province, August 23, 2018 With three levels of government delivering a wide array of services to British Columbians, paid for by an equally wide array of taxes, fees and transfers, it can be difficult for citizens to understand ...