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Fixing Past Housing Policy Choices: Looking Back to Move Forward
While a shortage of rental housing has contributed to the current housing crisis, the problem is not a new one. After booming in the 1960s, construction of purpose-built rental housing stagnated following the rollback of federal tax incentives in the 1970s, as rental housing became less lucrative for developers. Since then, tax rules affecting rental…
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Restoring Housing Affordability
Can we build 5 million homes in 7 years? In its latest report, Canada’s Housing Supply Shortages, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) maintained its 2022 projection that Canada needs nearly 3.5 million additional housing units – on top of the 1.66 million units already planned – to close the housing affordability gap by…
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Stronger Than Expected Labour Market Unlikely to Push Rates Higher
The Canadian jobs market has followed a sawtooth pattern this year, with soft months followed by an uptick. This trend continued through the summer, with August job gains coming on the heels of losses in July. While the most recent data suggests a slight rebound in the labour market, the gains are not strong enough…
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Weaker GDP Should Convince the Bank to Hold on Rates
After a strong start to 2023, the Canadian economy appears to be slowing rapidly. Instead of the 1.2% (annualized) growth analysts expected in Q2, the Canadian economy contracted by 0.2%. This unexpected decline in gross domestic product (GDP) aligns with the recent rise in unemployment and suggests the Canadian economy may already have fallen into…
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Interest Rate Peak: Are We There Yet?
Canadian homeowners grappling with rising prices and mounting mortgage payments want to know when central banks will stop raising interest rates. The labour market may provide a clue. US Outlook US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s remarks at the recent Jackson Hole Economic Symposium provide some insight into what central bankers are thinking. For the…
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Could the Missing Middle be the Solution to Canada’s Housing Crisis?
The factors leading to Canada’s housing crisis are as varied as the potential solutions. The most pressing challenges are faced by Canada’s largest cities, where intensification strategies must be feasible in a way that is acceptable to existing residents. Urban planners have been focused on the ‘missing middle’ – medium-density housing somewhere between single-family residential…
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Is a Slowing Global Economy Enough to Cool Core Inflation?
Last week saw some market movements – the TSX rose a half of a percent on higher oil prices, and yields were up a few of basis points across the yield curve – but it was a quiet week otherwise. Statistics Canada’s update on international trade and investment activity was the only data release for…
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