sbv

The article has a loooooong list of rent decreases in major metros across the country. Generally, we're seeing decreases that seem to erase the increase from the same period in 2024.

Over the past year, the average asking monthly rent fell between 2 per cent and 8 per cent in condos and rental-only apartments – also known as purpose-built rentals – said the report released Tuesday by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp (CMHC).

The drop was due to a surge in new condos and apartment buildings hitting the market along with limits on temporary foreign residents such as students and new permanent residents.

...

“It is quite evident on the demand side that there have been signs of weakening,” said Tania Bourassa-Ochoa, CMHC’s deputy chief economist, adding that there were stronger rental declines in regions with slower population growth.

https://archive.is/wosmf

The housing crisis is screwing generations of Canadians. Toronto City council is enabling it.

The feds need to call out Toronto's bad faith negotiations and withdraw the promised funds.

(The feds also need to change tax laws to definancialize housing, enforce money laundering laws, build affordable housing, etc - but I digress)

In 2023, Toronto city council voted in support of an agreement signed with Ottawa, pledging a variety of policy changes that included allowing buildings with six housing units on a single lot anywhere in the city. Federal money allocated from the Housing Accelerator Fund started to flow in return and then, during a debate last month, a lot of councillors got cold feet.

Instead of voting to allow the sixplexes they had pledged to permit everywhere, council watered down the proposal. In fact, they took a fire hose to it. These buildings will be allowed in only nine wards, which together make up less than one-quarter of the city’s area. Councillors for the other 16 wards can opt in later, as if they are mayors of their own area.

https://archive.is/DoPVJ

Federal cabinet ministers are being asked to find ... ways to reduce program spending by 7.5 per cent in the fiscal year that begins April 1, 2026, followed by 10 per cent in savings the next year and 15 per cent in the 2028-29 fiscal year.

I'm getting 90s vibes. Government cutbacks, threats of separation, climate change. It's all here.

But there's a modern twist: we're talking about 3C change in 2100, there's a housing crisis, our media landscape is dominated by tech bros, and the US is lost in the culture wars.

archive

"At that time, I was pregnant with my first kid," she said. "I lived in a two-room apartment … it was an OK building, but it was small for us."

[She] went to an online portal, entered her income and requirements, and was ranked alongside thousands of other residents. Soon, she was assigned a new apartment: a three-bedroom unit in a brand-new building, adjacent to Vienna's Central Station.

"I love it. It's in the middle of Vienna," she said. "A lot of young families moved in at the same time…. There's a big campus here, with a kindergarten and primary school. There's dancing classes, and a boulder bar, and a huge park."

[She] wasn't desperate to find housing. She and her partner earned middle-class incomes. But in recent years, Vienna has become renowned among housing experts for its model of social housing, which provides heavily subsidized rental units to more than half of the city's two million residents.

The key is taking profit out of construction (at least 96.5%), and a robust government that isn't afraid to impinge on the private sector.

I would love to see something like this in Canada, but I don't think our politicians (or electorate) have the guts.

Here's my theory: Carney dropped the DST because of supply management on dairy. My evidence is sparse, but:

Last month, the U.S. and Britain announced a trade deal related to a range of products. But Britain’s 2-per-cent DST was not affected.

(From the Globe)

That shows other countries have a DST but that hasn't been a sticking point in trade negotiations.

Meanwhile, Quebec really likes supply management:

83 per cent of Quebecers want governments to do everything in their power to protect the country’s supply management system.

During the next election, Carney will probably need Quebec's support to stay in power. By giving up the DST, Carney may be able to keep supply management for dairy, and avoid alienating Quebec voters.

I guess we'll see during the final negotiations. Do our dairy farmers get to keep their protections?

Fifty-two per cent of us worry a lot about our personal finances. Fifty per cent feel frustrated, 47 per cent feel emotionally drained and 43 per cent feel depressed. There is not one survey indicator to suggest Canadians have made financial progress in 2025 compared with 2024.

...

Our debt-to-household disposable income has bumped up against nearly 200 per cent for years now, putting Canada in first place among G7 countries. Canada’s is 185 per cent; the average for all G7 countries is 125 per cent according to Statistics Canada. Canadian households collectively owe about $3-trillion, almost three-quarters of it is mortgage debt.

...

Today’s Canadian dream is to make the next mortgage payment without having to borrow it. The housing crisis hasn’t just hobbled the hopes of many Canadians seeking affordable housing; it is undercutting middle-class living standards.

...

That thinking of retirement provokes anxiety in surveys on the matter shouldn’t be surprising. It is one more item on a growing list of aspirations many Canadians cannot afford.

“The targets and outcomes for funding available under the agreement were mutually agreed upon in March 2025 through a three-year Action Plan for 2025/26 to 2027/28. This ensures the continued availability of federal funding for Ontario.”

Flack’s office indicated he wanted to reset the relationship with his federal counterpart after a tense year. The latest agreement will prioritize rent-assisted units, according to the Ontario government.

I didn't see an explanation of the action plan in the article. Progress on rent-assisted units is great.

TD isn't fixing its money laundering problem because of Canadian penalties, but because the US regulator wouldn't put up with their shit:

It had become clear TD needed a new leadership team to usher in the sweeping changes required to fix its anti-money-laundering failures, which in October resulted in U.S. regulators announcing more than US$3-billion in fines by the Department of Justice and a host of non-monetary penalties that will carve deep trenches in the bank for years to come.

Money laundering has pushed up costs in our real estate sector and enabled the drug crisis. It's bizarre that we haven't done more to stop it.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-td-bank-raymond-chun-ceo/

The Eight Laws of ~~Robotics~~ Calmness:

1. Technology should require the smallest possible amount of attention.
2. Technology should inform and create calm.
3. Technology should make use of the periphery.
4. Technology should amplify the best of technology and the best of humanity.
5. Technology can communicate, but doesn’t need to speak.
6. Technology should work even when it fails.
7. The right amount of technology is the minimum needed to solve the problem.
8. Technology should respect social norms.

I'm a little suspicious about a certification body that's paid for by producers, but it's fine if they can make it work.

Interesting podcast about the measles outbreaks in Alberta and Ontario. I got:

1. The outbreaks are primarily among unvaccinated Mennonite communities.
2. Heard immunity (thanks to vaccination) among the general population has prevented exposures from turning into infections.
3. Provincial health ministries are avoiding talking about Mennonites because they want to avoid stigmatization.
4. Provincial health ministries aren't holding regular briefings for political reasons.

But it's a podcast (and I'm too lazy to read the transcript) so maybe I got some of that stuff wrong.

Edit: Fixed the link to the transcript. Thanks @DerisionConsulting@lemmy.ca!

Former parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page said there isn’t enough time left before the summer recess for the government to produce a full budget with new policy announcements, but he said the Liberals should at least produce a fiscal update before the summer that shows where things currently stand. He said campaign platforms didn’t fully account for the various U.S. tariff moves that have disrupted the Canadian economy.

“They are out of date,” said Mr. Page, who is now president and chief executive officer of the University of Ottawa’s Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy. “Parliament will be asked to approve spending authorities without a reasonable planning framework.”

and lil context:

Federal governments almost always release a budget early in the year. One rare exception was in 2020, during the pandemic, when the government didn’t table one.

The absence of a budget would leave Canadians without a clear picture of the new government’s spending plan, or how recent economic events have affected Ottawa’s bottom line.

Original: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-new-energy-minister-hodgson-planning-western-canada-trip-as-carneys/

I think Kershaw is trolling in this op-ed, but it's hard to tell. He's saying that the $14 billion planned increase to OAS for seniors will subsidize many people who are already well off. So he suggests younger Canadians (who don't get to participate in the housing market) should get a similar amount:

Millennials and Gen Z deserve a greater share of the $1.5-trillion windfall generated by rising home values since boomers were young adults.

A $1,000 annual payment to every adult aged 18 to 39 would be a start. The simplest way to deliver this compensation would be through a refundable tax credit, claimed when young people file their annual returns. Governments seeking more visible credit might directly deposit $250 every three months into young people’s bank accounts, clearly labelled as a housing wealth dividend.

I know $1,000 doesn’t stretch far in today’s housing market. It may only cover a few weeks of rent or mortgage payments. But over 21 years, that same annual payment adds up to real money that can help with costs.

Of course, there are less spendy alternatives:

Options include eliminating outdated Age and Pension Income tax shelters, which could pay for half the cost. The other half could come from beginning the Old Age Security clawback at $100,000 of household income, rather than continuing to provide the full $18,000 subsidy to retired couples with $180,000 in income.

I think Kershaw is using the $1,000 per year "you were born too young to get a house" tax rebate as an illustration of the amount of cash going to retirees. But maybe he isn't.

Original: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/personal-finance/young-money/article-carneys-housing-fix-needs-a-dividend-for-millennials-and-gen-z/