The CMHC says it still projects that the country would need approximately another 3.5 million housing units in order to meet 2004 levels of affordability, or the share of after-tax income that a household with an average income would need to buy an average home.
“We need to get a lot of stuff built,” CMHC deputy chief economist Aled ab Iorwerth said Wednesday on The Vassy Kapelos Show.
While this “housing supply gap” remains relatively unchanged, the CMHC writes that the size of the gap has changed across provinces, with Ontario expected to have lower household income growth and, therefore, a reduced demand for housing. The opposite, meanwhile, is expected in Quebec and Alberta.
Iorwerth said the debate now is “not so much whether we increase supply, but how do we do it quickly.”
But asked if he believed building another 3.5 million housing units by 2030 is possible, Iorwerth responded, “No, but it’s the right question to ask.”
“Housing affordability is a clear problem for all Canadians, but it’s going to take a lot of time, a lot of effort, a lot of policy innovation, a lot of innovation by the business sector to fix it,” he said.
“The problem is not going away. Responding to it, it’s going to take time, but I think this is clearly now a priority for all Canadians.”
Appearing on CTV’s Power Play on Wednesday, Housing Minister Sean Fraser also responded to the CMHC report on the supply gap of 3.5 million units.
“Look, that’s my goal,” he said. “I should say that some of the measures that we’re working on now we’ll have to further refine to understand the precise impact that they’re going to have. But I have no interest in stopping short of solving Canada’s national housing crisis and restoring a level of affordability that allows ordinary people to be able to find a place that they can actually afford.”
Asked whether he believed building another 3.5 million units was even possible, Fraser said,” I don’t believe that it’s impossible, I believe it will be difficult.”
While immigration to Canada is currently higher than forecast, the CMHC says the number of households required to achieve affordability will not be significantly higher in 2030 compared to its previous projection.
Iorwerth said many factors drive up demand for housing, including immigration, but also rising incomes and lower interest rates.
“The challenge we’re facing is the supply … has not been responding for many years,” he said.
“So for whatever reason demand is going up, we need the supply response both to accommodate new immigrants, but also to improve the affordability of housing for Canadians or people who are already here, because we’re starting to have a situation with a lot of risks.”
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a $74-million deal with London, Ont., to fast-track more than 2,000 housing units over the next three years under the federal Housing Accelerator Fund, with thousands more planned in the following years.
The federal government says this will include high-density development, as well as duplexes, triplexes and small apartment buildings.
The $4-billion Housing Accelerator Fund aims to create 100,000 new housing units by encouraging municipalities to update their zoning and permit systems to fast track residential construction.
On the latest CMHC report, Trudeau said, “We’re facing a shortage of housing right now and that’s why prices of homes have become far too high … Housing in big cities around the world has already become out of reach for many … Places like New York, Paris, London, San Francisco, but we’re not going to follow those examples.”
With files from CTV News Senior Digital Parliamentary Reporter Rachel Aiello
HALIFAX – Ottawa is negotiating a $500-million bailout for Nova Scotia’s privately owned electric utility, saying the money will be used to prevent a big spike in electricity rates.
Federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson made the announcement today in Halifax, saying Nova Scotia Power Inc. needs the money to cover higher costs resulting from the delayed delivery of electricity from the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric plant in Labrador.
Wilkinson says that without the money, the subsidiary of Emera Inc. would have had to increase rates by 19 per cent over “the short term.”
Nova Scotia Power CEO Peter Gregg says the deal, once approved by the province’s energy regulator, will keep rate increases limited “to be around the rate of inflation,” as costs are spread over a number of years.
The utility helped pay for construction of an underwater transmission link between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, but the Muskrat Falls project has not been consistent in delivering electricity over the past five years.
Those delays forced Nova Scotia Power to spend more on generating its own electricity.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
