Canada’s national housing agency says progress is being made on building enough housing to fix the country’s affordability gap, but almost 3.5 million new units will still have to be built by the end of the decade, over and above what’s already in the works.
That was the main takeaway from a new report the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation published Wednesday, updating its initial assessment from June 2022.
At the time, the housing agency said the country was on track to build about 2.3 million new housing units by 2030. But it calculated that just over 5.8 million new units would be needed by that year to adequately address supply, leaving a gap of roughly 3.52 million new units.
In its update Wednesday, the agency says incremental progress has been made, narrowing the gap slightly, but Canada still needs another 3.45 million new units above and beyond what is currently planned.
“This latest report reinforces the need for urgent action to increase housing supply to make housing affordable for everyone in Canada and continues our work on improving the understanding of what drives housing demand and supply,” CMHC economist Aled ab Iorwerth said.
The supply picture has improved somewhat in Ontario, but has worsened in other provinces like Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia, the CMHC says.
Ontario still makes up the bulk of the shortfall with a 1.48 million gap, but that’s down from the 1.85 million projected last year.
Making a multiplex in Toronto
Toronto-based architect Tom Knezic explains the work that has gone into the making of a soon-to-be complete fourplex in the city’s Regal Heights neighbourhood.
Quebec needs an estimated 860,000 units, 240,000 more than last year; B.C. needs 610,000, an increase of 50,000; and Alberta needs 130,000, compared with 20,000 projected last year.
The agency’s target is based on the affordability level in 2004, when housing costs were relatively low and the economy was stable.
In most provinces, CMHC considers housing to be affordable if it takes up about 30 per cent of income, but that target is 37 per cent in Ontario and 44 per cent in B.C.
Robert Hogue, an economist with the Royal Bank of Canada, says that while Canadian housing affordability remains at a crisis level, he agrees with the assessment that incremental progress is being made on the supply side of the picture
“We’ve seen some progress in terms of housing construction,” he told CBC News in an interview. “But that’s not enough to to accommodate all the newcomers into Canada.”
TORONTO – Cineplex Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year ago as it was hit by a fine for deceptive marketing practices imposed by the Competition Tribunal.
The movie theatre company says it lost $24.7 million or 39 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $29.7 million or 40 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
The results in the most recent quarter included a $39.2-million provision related to the Competition Tribunal decision, which Cineplex is appealing.
The Competition Bureau accused the company of misleading theatregoers by not immediately presenting them with the full price of a movie ticket when they purchased seats online, a view the company has rejected.
Revenue for the quarter totalled $395.6 million, down from $414.5 million in the same quarter last year, while theatre attendance totalled 13.3 million for the quarter compared with nearly 15.7 million a year earlier.
Box office revenue per patron in the quarter climbed to $13.19 compared with $12 in the same quarter last year, while concession revenue per patron amounted to $9.85, up from $8.44 a year ago.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
TORONTO – Restaurant Brands International Inc. reported net income of US$357 million for its third quarter, down from US$364 million in the same quarter last year.
The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says its profit amounted to 79 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with 79 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue for the parent company of Tim Hortons, Burger King, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs, totalled US$2.29 billion, up from US$1.84 billion in the same quarter last year.
Consolidated comparable sales were up 0.3 per cent.
On an adjusted basis, Restaurant Brands says it earned 93 cents US per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 90 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents US per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Fortis Inc. reported a third-quarter profit of $420 million, up from $394 million in the same quarter last year.
The electric and gas utility says the profit amounted to 85 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 81 cents per share a year earlier.
Fortis says the increase was driven by rate base growth across its utilities, and strong earnings in Arizona largely reflecting new customer rates at Tucson Electric Power.
Revenue in the quarter totalled $2.77 billion, up from $2.72 billion in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Fortis says it earned 85 cents per share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 84 cents per share in the third quarter of 2023.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 82 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
