For months, Nathan Armstrong has been scrolling through apartment listings from a tiny motel room in Woodstock, Ont. He and his wife have had to live there for more than a year as they desperately look for a place to rent.
“There’s not a lot out there, and they seem to be going up. Fifteen, seventeen, nineteen hundred dollars for a one bedroom apartment,” he said. “Our price range is disappearing.”
Armstrong described the situation as frustrating and costly. The couple couldn’t even prepare their own meals in the motel.
“It is very, very difficult,” he said. “Hard to cook as we’re not allowed to have our own cooking material. No toaster oven, that’s against the fire code.”
The couple says they faced denial after denial, losing out on dozens of apartments amid stiff competition during their 16-month search for stable housing.
Rents are indeed rising quickly in the area, according to a recent report by Rentals.ca and Bullpen Research and Consulting. Average apartment rents for the nearest major city — London, Ont. — climbed to $1,933 in June, up 28.5 per cent from the same time last year.
WATCH | How Canadians are being priced out of rental housing:
Soaring rents price out some Canadians
4 days ago
Duration 2:01
Some Canadians are finding themselves increasingly priced out as the cost of rent soars across the country.
Some analysts predict that the rental market may get even hotter throughout Canada.
Ben Myers, president of Bullpen Research & Consulting, a real estate advisory firm, says higher interest rates are pushing potential homebuyers to the sidelines, putting more strain on the rental market.
“These two factors will keep renters in their properties, further reducing rental supply,” Myers said.
Rental supply has also been an ongoing issue in Halifax. There, the vacancy rate is less than one per cent, among the lowest in the country, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
“We have new construction and existing construction, but they cannot keep up with the pace of the number of people who are looking for rental units,” said Lesley Dunn, program director for RentersEd, which educates Canadians on renting.
Rental prices rising across Canada
She says households with lower incomes are rapidly being priced out as rents increase faster than people’s paycheques rise. Dunn says the rental market is so hot it’s putting unfair pressure on applicants.
“Now you’re asked to pay three months rent before you will be considered for an apartment. That’s devastating,” Dunn said.
“For most newcomers, for most youth, for most people who are houseless, for most people who are on a fixed income, there is absolutely no way that they can afford that.”
The market is tight for renters in the biggest cities too, as they are the priciest. The highest average apartment rents in Canada are in Vancouver, at $2,936 a month, almost 25 per cent higher than a year ago, according to Rentals.ca. In Toronto, the average for apartments is $2,463 a month, up nearly 20 per cent year over year. Experts have pointed to a decades-long decline in building housing specifically meant for rental, known as purpose-built rentals, as another reason underlying supply issues.
Murtaza Haider, professor of management at Toronto Metropolitan University, says purpose-built rentals provide more rental stability than condominiums, in which landlords who are focused on investment are more likely to take their properties off the rental market to sell whenever they feel the time is right.
“Purpose-built rentals provide the security of tenure because you know that this is a rental property and it will stay as a rental for them for the time being,” he said.
‘Government has a big role to play’
Haider wants all levels of government need to work together to encourage more construction.
“The government has a big role to play. They can incentivize builders into this market by changing the playing field … in favour of constructing more purpose-built rentals,” he said. “The impetus is on us not to wait for another 50 years or even five years and start making those changes.”
After 16 long months, Armstrong says he and his wife finally found a place to call home.
Nathan Armstrong and his wife lived in a motel in Woodstock, Ont., for more than a year because they couldn’t find an affordable apartment. (Rob Krbavac/CBC)
“It feels amazing. A kitchen to cook in to help save money on food costs, especially now with the price of everything rising,” he said.
He hopes the rental market improves for others just beginning their search.
“It should have never taken over a year to finally get a permanent place to live,” he said.
TORONTO – Canada Goose Holdings Inc. says it has signed a deal that will result in the creation of its first eyewear collection.
The deal announced on Thursday by the Toronto-based luxury apparel company comes in the form of an exclusive, long-term global licensing agreement with Marchon Eyewear Inc.
The terms and value of the agreement were not disclosed, but Marchon produces eyewear for brands including Lacoste, Nike, Calvin Klein, Ferragamo, Longchamp and Zeiss.
Marchon plans to roll out both sunglasses and optical wear under the Canada Goose name next spring, starting in North America.
Canada Goose says the eyewear will be sold through optical retailers, department stores, Canada Goose shops and its website.
Canada Goose CEO Dani Reiss told The Canadian Press in August that he envisioned his company eventually expanding into eyewear and luggage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Almost seven years since news broke of an alleged conspiracy to fix the price of packaged bread across Canada, the saga isn’t over: the Competition Bureau continues to investigate the companies that may have been involved, and two class-action lawsuits continue to work their way through the courts.
Here’s a timeline of key events in the bread price-fixing case.
Oct. 31, 2017: The Competition Bureau says it’s investigating allegations of bread price-fixing and that it was granted search warrants in the case. Several grocers confirm they are co-operating in the probe.
Dec. 19, 2017: Loblaw and George Weston say they participated in an “industry-wide price-fixing arrangement” to raise the price of packaged bread. The companies say they have been co-operating in the Competition Bureau’s investigation since March 2015, when they self-reported to the bureau upon discovering anti-competitive behaviour, and are receiving immunity from prosecution. They announce they are offering $25 gift cards to customers amid the ongoing investigation into alleged bread price-fixing.
Jan. 31, 2018: In court documents, the Competition Bureau says at least $1.50 was added to the price of a loaf of bread between about 2001 and 2016.
Dec. 20, 2019: A class-action lawsuit in a Quebec court against multiple grocers and food companies is certified against a number of companies allegedly involved in bread price-fixing, including Loblaw, George Weston, Metro, Sobeys, Walmart Canada, Canada Bread and Giant Tiger (which have all denied involvement, except for Loblaw and George Weston, which later settled with the plaintiffs).
Dec. 31, 2021: A class-action lawsuit in an Ontario court covering all Canadian residents except those in Quebec who bought packaged bread from a company named in the suit is certified against roughly the same group of companies.
June 21, 2023: Bakery giant Canada Bread Co. is fined $50 million after pleading guilty to four counts of price-fixing under the Competition Act as part of the Competition Bureau’s ongoing investigation.
Oct. 25 2023: Canada Bread files a statement of defence in the Ontario class action denying participating in the alleged conspiracy and saying any anti-competitive behaviour it participated in was at the direction and to the benefit of its then-majority owner Maple Leaf Foods, which is not a defendant in the case (neither is its current owner Grupo Bimbo). Maple Leaf calls Canada Bread’s accusations “baseless.”
Dec. 20, 2023: Metro files new documents in the Ontario class action accusing Loblaw and its parent company George Weston of conspiring to implicate it in the alleged scheme, denying involvement. Sobeys has made a similar claim. The two companies deny the allegations.
July 25, 2024: Loblaw and George Weston say they agreed to pay a combined $500 million to settle both the Ontario and Quebec class-action lawsuits. Loblaw’s share of the settlement includes a $96-million credit for the gift cards it gave out years earlier.
Sept. 12, 2024: Canada Bread files new documents in Ontario court as part of the class action, claiming Maple Leaf used it as a “shield” to avoid liability in the alleged scheme. Maple Leaf was a majority shareholder of Canada Bread until 2014, and the company claims it’s liable for any price-fixing activity. Maple Leaf refutes the claims.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:L, TSX:MFI, TSX:MRU, TSX:EMP.A, TSX:WN)
TORONTO – TD Bank Group, which is mired in a money laundering scandal in the U.S., says chief executive Bharat Masrani will retire next year.
Masrani, who will retire officially on April 10, 2025, says the bank’s, “anti-money laundering challenges,” took place on his watch and he takes full responsibility.
The bank named Raymond Chun, TD’s group head, Canadian personal banking, as his successor.
As part of a transition plan, Chun will become chief operating officer on Nov. 1 before taking over the top job when Masrani steps down at the bank’s annual meeting next year.
TD also announced that Riaz Ahmed, group head, wholesale banking and president and CEO of TD Securities, will retire at the end of January 2025.
TD has taken billions in charges related to ongoing U.S. investigations into the failure of its anti-money laundering program.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
