Canada’s Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole speaks at the Westin hotel after Liberal leader Justin Trudeau called an early election, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada August 15, 2021. REUTERS/Lars Hagberg
One of the reasons for soaring prices experts often cite is a lack of available supply. The Conservatives say they will build a million homes in the next three years if elected.
“It’s time to face the fact: We have a housing crisis in Canada. Affording a home – to rent, let alone to buy – is slipping out of reach of Canadians across our country. The primary cause is that supply simply isn’t keeping up with demand,” reads the Conservative platform.
“Governments have not let Canadians build enough housing to keep up with our growing population.”
The party says it will do this by leveraging federal infrastructure investments, release at least 15 per cent of its real estate portfolio for housing while improving the Federal Lands Initiative, defer capital gains tax when selling a rental property and reinvesting in rental housing, explore converting unused office space to housing, work with Indigenous communities on their housing needs, and create an incentive for corporations and private landowners to donate property to Land Trusts for the development of affordable housing.
The party also pledges to root out what it calls corrupt activities that drove up real estate prices. That includes tackling money laundering by making changes to the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act. Fintrac, law enforcement and prosecutors would get the tools to stop and prosecute money launderers.
It says it would also establish a federal Beneficial Ownership Registry for residential property and closely examine the findings and recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry into Money Laundering in British Columbia.
“To arrest and reverse the inflationary impacts of foreign buyers and speculation in the housing market, we will ensure that housing in Canada is truly for Canadian citizens and residents first,” said the Conservatives.
“The Liberals are on record stating, ‘we’re a very safe market for foreign investment but we’re not a great market for Canadians looking for choices around housing.’ This must change.”
There would also be new rules for foreign ownership. It would be banned for investors not living in or moving to Canada. Such people would be barred from buying homes here for a two-year period, after which the ban would be reviewed. The party says it would encourage foreign investment in affordable, purpose-built rental housing.
Making mortgages more affordable
The party also says it plans to make mortgages more affordable through a number of changes, including seven to 10-year mortgages for more stability for first-time buyers, and reducing the need for mortgage stress tests. It wants to do away with a stress test on mortgage renewal with another lender to increase competition.
Because so many homes in markets like Ontario and B.C. are above a million dollars, buyers need at least a 20 per cent downpayment. The Conservatives want to reduce that in high-priced markets.
They want to alter the stress test in favour of small business owners, contractors, and other non-permanent employees, including casual workers.
The party adds that it won’t make changes to taxation on the sale of a primary residence.
“Canada’s Conservatives will never tax Canadians’ capital gains on the sale of their principal residence, something many within the Liberal Party are threatening to do.”
Jessy Bains is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jessysbains.
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CALGARY – TC Energy Corp. has lowered the estimated cost of its Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico.
It says it now expects the project to cost between US$3.9 billion and US$4.1 billion compared with its original estimate of US$4.5 billion.
The change came as the company reported a third-quarter profit attributable to common shareholders of C$1.46 billion or $1.40 per share compared with a loss of C$197 million or 19 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 totalled C$4.08 billion, up from C$3.94 billion in the third quarter of 2023.
TC Energy says its comparable earnings for its latest quarter amounted to C$1.03 per share compared with C$1.00 per share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
BCE Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter as it recorded $2.11 billion in asset impairment charges, mainly related to Bell Media’s TV and radio properties.
The company says its net loss attributable to common shareholders amounted to $1.24 billion or $1.36 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $640 million or 70 cents per share a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, BCE says it earned 75 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 81 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
“Bell’s results for the third quarter demonstrate that we are disciplined in our pursuit of profitable growth in an intensely competitive environment,” BCE chief executive Mirko Bibic said in a statement.
“Our focus this quarter, and throughout 2024, has been to attract higher-margin subscribers and reduce costs to help offset short-term revenue impacts from sustained competitive pricing pressures, slow economic growth and a media advertising market that is in transition.”
Operating revenue for the quarter totalled $5.97 billion, down from $6.08 billion in its third quarter of 2023.
BCE also said it now expects its revenue for 2024 to fall about 1.5 per cent compared with earlier guidance for an increase of zero to four per cent.
The company says the change comes as it faces lower-than-anticipated wireless product revenue and sustained pressure on wireless prices.
BCE added 33,111 net postpaid mobile phone subscribers, down 76.8 per cent from the same period last year, which was the company’s second-best performance on the metric since 2010.
It says the drop was driven by higher customer churn — a measure of subscribers who cancelled their service — amid greater competitive activity and promotional offer intensity. BCE’s monthly churn rate for the category was 1.28 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent during its previous third quarter.
The company also saw 11.6 per cent fewer gross subscriber activations “due to more targeted promotional offers and mobile device discounting compared to last year.”
Bell’s wireless mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.26, down 3.4 per cent from $60.28 in the third quarter of the prior year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada Goose Holdings Inc. trimmed its financial guidance as it reported its second-quarter revenue fell compared with a year ago.
The luxury clothing company says revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 29 totalled $267.8 million, down from $281.1 million in the same quarter last year.
Net income attributable to shareholders amounted to $5.4 million or six cents per diluted share, up from $3.9 million or four cents per diluted share a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, Canada Goose says it earned five cents per diluted share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 16 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
In its outlook, Canada Goose says it now expects total revenue for its full financial year to show a low-single-digit percentage decrease to low-single-digit percentage increase compared with earlier guidance for a low-single-digit increase.
It also says it now expects its adjusted net income per diluted share to show a mid-single-digit percentage increase compared with earlier guidance for a percentage increase in the mid-teens.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
