The future of housing? Your opinions

[jeff2]

Besides the usual NIMBYs, mass immigration,greenbelt,taxes,materials, labour, how about dual incomes?

Double Income Families Driving Housing Market

No doubt you have thought about the affordability of the current Canadian housing market and chances are you have even thought about where houses prices will go in the future! Maybe you have parents that tell

darick.ca

 

[oil&gas]

This could be the future of housing for those who cannot afford
a decent place to live in some areas of America.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Ghetto-ization of American Life
Charles Hugh Smith
April 25, 2024

Consider the defining characteristics of a ghetto:

1. The residents can't afford to live elsewhere.

2. Everything is a rip-off because options are limited and retailers / service providers know residents have no other choice or must go to extraordinary effort to get better quality or a lower price.

3. Nothing works correctly or efficiently. Things break down and aren't fixed properly. Maintenance is poor to non-existent. Any service requires standing in line or being on hold.

4. Local governance is corrupt and/or incompetent. Residents are viewed as a reliable "vote farm" for the incumbents, even though whatever little they accomplish for the residents doesn't reduce the sources of immiseration.

5. The locale is unsafe. Cars are routinely broken into, there are security bars over windows and gates to entrances, everything not chained down is stolen--and even what is chained down is stolen.

6. There are few viable businesses and numerous empty storefronts.

7. The built environment is ugly: strip malls, used car lots, etc. There are few safe public spaces or parks that are well maintained and inviting.

8. Most of the commerce is corporate-owned outlets; the money doesn't stay in the community.

9. Public transport is minimal and constantly being degraded.

10. They get you coming and going: whatever is available is double in cost, effort and time. Very little is convenient or easy. Services are far away.

11. Residents pay high rates of interest on debt.

12. There are few sources of healthy real food. The residents are unhealthy and self-medicate with a panoply of addictions to alcohol, meds, painkillers, gambling, social media, gaming, celebrity worship, etc.

13. Nobody in authority really cares what the residents experience, as they know the residents are atomized and ground down, incapable of cooperating in an organized fashion, and therefore powerless.

I submit that these defining characteristics of ghettos apply to wide swaths of American life. Ghettos are not limited to urban zones; suburbs and rural locales can qualify as well. The defining zeitgeist of a ghetto is the residents are effectively held hostage by limited options and high costs: public and private-sector monopolies that provide poor quality at high prices.

Daily life is a grind of long waits / commutes, low-quality goods and services, shadow work (work we have to do that we're not paid for that was once done as part of the service we pay for) and unhealthy addictions to distractions and whatever offers a temporary escape from the grind.

We've habituated to being corralled into the immiseration of limited options and high costs; the immiseration and sordid degradation have been normalized into "everyday life." We've lost track of what's been lost to erosion and decay. We sense what's been lost but feel powerless to reverse it. This is the essence of the ghetto-ization of daily life.

Behind the facade of normalization, even high-income lifestyles have been ghetto-ized. But saying this is anathema: either be upbeat, optimistic and positive or remain silent.

What's worse, the ghetto-ization or our inability to recognize it and discuss it openly?

Of Two Minds - The Ghetto-ization of American Life

www.oftwominds.com

 

[Frankfooter]

If you didn't fuck over landlords so much, you wouldn't need the government to buy run down buildings
I know a guy who is owed 7 grand by his tenant, they basically told him to pay him off. No wonder people don't want to fix up run down buildings. It's not just him, it's been in the news. I am by adoption related to someone who does this also, just flat out tells his landlord to fuck off. One time he took a payment still refused to leave, he got booted, my bro thinks he must of fucked up real bad for that to happen.
But sure incentives don't matter, whatever.

Also government buy buildings, use government workers. Fuck man. Why am I even bothering.

That's DoFo again.
He's rejigged the landlord tenant board so that corporate landlords get fast service and all mom and pop landlords get put at the back of the very, very long line.

 

[TomFord1980]

doom a generation of young Canadians to living in their parents basement because you refuse to acknowledge the root cause of our excessive population growth?
wrong

View attachment 320808




wtf
unsustainable population growth has far reaching impacts on inflation, housing, infrastructure needs and health care capacity


nobody is talking about reducing population
slowing the current unsustainable population growth rate via reduced immigration is required
do not worry Canadian couples are humping away to crate more taxpayers as we speak

btw mass immigration has not addressed Canada productivity issues, which it should have


its not a minor factor
access to affordable housing is the most important issue facing Canadians after 1, reducing the cost of everyday items like groceries and 2. inflation

Affordability is top concern for Canadians as Parliament resumes: poll - National | Globalnews.ca

Affordability issues are front of mind for Canadians as Parliament resumes for the winter sitting, and immigration has joined the top issues, according to Ipsos.

globalnews.ca

you need to drop the bias and start to look at the issue objectively

John Kautilya is an immigrant so you have to take things with a grain of salt. He will defend immigration to the death as it means more of his people will flood the country.

 

[TomFord1980]

This could be the future of housing for those who cannot afford
a decent place to live in some areas of America.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Ghetto-ization of American Life
Charles Hugh Smith
April 25, 2024

Consider the defining characteristics of a ghetto:

1. The residents can't afford to live elsewhere.

2. Everything is a rip-off because options are limited and retailers / service providers know residents have no other choice or must go to extraordinary effort to get better quality or a lower price.

3. Nothing works correctly or efficiently. Things break down and aren't fixed properly. Maintenance is poor to non-existent. Any service requires standing in line or being on hold.

4. Local governance is corrupt and/or incompetent. Residents are viewed as a reliable "vote farm" for the incumbents, even though whatever little they accomplish for the residents doesn't reduce the sources of immiseration.

5. The locale is unsafe. Cars are routinely broken into, there are security bars over windows and gates to entrances, everything not chained down is stolen--and even what is chained down is stolen.

6. There are few viable businesses and numerous empty storefronts.

7. The built environment is ugly: strip malls, used car lots, etc. There are few safe public spaces or parks that are well maintained and inviting.

8. Most of the commerce is corporate-owned outlets; the money doesn't stay in the community.

9. Public transport is minimal and constantly being degraded.

10. They get you coming and going: whatever is available is double in cost, effort and time. Very little is convenient or easy. Services are far away.

11. Residents pay high rates of interest on debt.

12. There are few sources of healthy real food. The residents are unhealthy and self-medicate with a panoply of addictions to alcohol, meds, painkillers, gambling, social media, gaming, celebrity worship, etc.

13. Nobody in authority really cares what the residents experience, as they know the residents are atomized and ground down, incapable of cooperating in an organized fashion, and therefore powerless.

I submit that these defining characteristics of ghettos apply to wide swaths of American life. Ghettos are not limited to urban zones; suburbs and rural locales can qualify as well. The defining zeitgeist of a ghetto is the residents are effectively held hostage by limited options and high costs: public and private-sector monopolies that provide poor quality at high prices.

Daily life is a grind of long waits / commutes, low-quality goods and services, shadow work (work we have to do that we're not paid for that was once done as part of the service we pay for) and unhealthy addictions to distractions and whatever offers a temporary escape from the grind.

We've habituated to being corralled into the immiseration of limited options and high costs; the immiseration and sordid degradation have been normalized into "everyday life." We've lost track of what's been lost to erosion and decay. We sense what's been lost but feel powerless to reverse it. This is the essence of the ghetto-ization of daily life.

Behind the facade of normalization, even high-income lifestyles have been ghetto-ized. But saying this is anathema: either be upbeat, optimistic and positive or remain silent.

What's worse, the ghetto-ization or our inability to recognize it and discuss it openly?

Of Two Minds - The Ghetto-ization of American Life

www.oftwominds.com

This has to be out of the Trudeau playbook. Pay more for less.

 

[TomFord1980]

I have no interest in any of that.

In my post I said we need to cut down on students and temp workers.

My opposition is to simplistic arguments that argue that reducing immigration will make housing more affordable. It won't.

Record levels of immigration means more demand that outpaces supply.

Its economics 101. Maybe they do not teach that in India, but its tried and true in the west.

 

[JohnLarue]

]You produce this graph again and again. What this actually shows is that we are building less houses than we did in 1971 when the population was half of what it is today. Therefore it is a supply issue. And no Canada's fertility rate is below replacement levels, which is kinda why we need immigration in the first place.

where did you learn to mis-read a chart?
2024

Canada Housing Starts

Housing Starts in Canada increased to 223.80 Thousand units in September from 213 Thousand units in August of 2024. This page provides the latest reported value for - Canada Housing Starts - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic...

tradingeconomics.com

Housing starts in Canada fell by 7% over a month earlier to

242,195 units in March 2024, below market expectations of 242,200 units, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

242,195 annualized housing starts currently march 2024

1971- 240,000 +/- 5,000 total housing starts

https://www66.statcan.gc.ca/eng/1973/197306190607_Charts,%20Housing%20starts,%201962-72.pdf

long term averages 200,000


to address the housing crisis the pace would need to be doubled +
you do not have clue what you are taking about

Your flawed position is based on this extraordinary and ill conceived assumption that housing supply will continue to remain at current levels, AFTER reducing demand! Reducing demand by such a massive number, may result in a subsequent reduction in supply, where builders stop building new houses, to keep their margins. Which means housing costs may go up even more. Cutting immigration may not reduce raw material costs either, because the manufacturers of raw materials may also drop their production to keep their margins.

my god you are ignorant
you get very confused about growth rates
the excess demand is already here and will be here for many years to come

Reducing demand by such a massive number,

????

no one is suggesting deporting the new comers who are already here
the need is to decrease the unsustainable population growth rate by reducing the unsustainable rate of immigration

26% of Ontario's construction workforce are also immigrants. With a drop in housing construction,

there will not be a drop in housing construction (unless it is via red tape)
where did you pull that from ?

and in immigration, there could be a construction labor shortage, which could increase labor costs even more. Which could jack up housing prices that much more. Those are just a couple of points off the top of my head.

points off the top of your your pointed head

your logic is flawed

With a drop in housing construction, and in immigration, there could be a construction labor shortage

there will not be a drop in housing construction (unless it is via red tape)
however to pint out your flawed logic: a decrease in housing construction means less demand for labour
yet you claim there could be a construction labor shortage

how did you get from

Reducing demand by such a massive number,

to

Which could jack up housing prices that much more.

??

where did you study but not learn economics
reducing demand does not jack up housing prices

re shortage of construction workforce
have in demand skills & a job offer: welcome to Canada

Your proposal to address ONE minor factor amongst several, to tackle ONE issue amongst many, may result in a more severe housing crisis, because your positions are not based on any real world understanding of actual interdependencies between various factors or a thorough cost-benefit/impact analysis on how immigration impacts ALL industries, taxes, consumption, GDP, social services, pensions, productivity etc., They are rather based on poorly thought through, populist, oft repeated talking points. In the absence of robust research to identify root causes and measures to fix, a prudent approach will be to tackle both supply and demand side issues, via compromise solutions.

learn some economics
and learn what objectivity means

 

[JohnLarue]

I have no interest in any of that. ]

you mean you have no interest in being confronted on that

In my post I said we need to cut down on students and temp workers.

all new commers add incrementally to the demand problem
no need to discriminate , unless they have in demand skills and a job offer in place

My opposition is to simplistic arguments that argue that reducing immigration will make housing more affordable. It won't.

not at all logical

you have already conceded "we need to reduce students and temp workers"
why do that if you do not believe we need to reduce demand.to make housing more affordable.??

you are not very bright

 

[JohnLarue]

Record levels of immigration means more demand that outpaces supply.

Its economics 101. Maybe they do not teach that in India, but its tried and true in the west.

he thinks he is a policy expert
but does not understand basic supply / demand dynamics

i can see how a former immigrant / now citizen would be biased and conflicted when confronted with the factual impacts of excessive / unsustainable immigration.
that is just human nature

but one can not let personal bias and a desire for political correctness dictate fact based economic policy

 

[JohnLarue]

Yes, thanks for proving again and again and again, that we are not building enough houses and infact building less than what we did in 1971 when we had half the population. So population has grown, aka demand has grown, but housing starts have reduced. Per your own figures. So it is a supply side issue that has gone on for the last 50 years. Time to fix it.

you can not be that stupid
1971 and 2024 home starts are at the same levels , both above the long term trend
the long term trend roughly 200,000, this is what Canada is able to produce
trying to double ++ that capacity ' is not gong to happen' and the attempt will be inflationary
trying to double ++ 1971 or 2024 pace of 240,000 ' is not gong to happen' and the attempt will be inflationary

Because my post acknowledges that there are multiple factors that impact housing. There is a short term solution by reducing demand WHILE INCREASING SUPPLY. And the longer term solution to increase supply. Your position on the other hand is an overtly simplified "If we reduce immigration everything will be back to normal". It wont. It amounts to talking points.

no everything wont be back to normal
a full stop on immigration still leaves Canada in need of over a million incremental new home starts

if a reduction in red tape increases supply 10 to 20% >> fine, but that will not address the issue
clue in

it is a demand problem which can not be solved by foolishly trying to double ++ supply' that is not gong to happen'
the solution is to reduce demand, which you have already 2/3 conceded "we need to reduce students and temp workers"


again why admit that if it is not a demand issue ?

answer the damn question !!!!!!!

Because immigrants amount for 26% of construction labor. So you cut immigration, you are going to have a labor shortage. It is one of the reasons for immigration anyway.

re shortage of construction workforce
have in demand skills & a job offer: welcome to Canada
temp worker who can build homes & have a job offer? OK we hope you enjoy your time here while being productive
shortage of construction workforce >>> construction companies will look externally


but this has been pointed out to you several times, only for you to pretend it never was

you are not very bright and very disingenuous

 

[JohnLarue]

The long term trend is that

a) Demand has gone up due to population doubling since 1971.
b) Supply has stagnated and infact REDUCED over that period of time.

When demand goes up, supply needs to go up to keep up. It hasn't. Hence it is a supply side issue.

Infact if the demand due to immigration goes down, it is likely that even the current levels of housing development will go down further, because the greedy developers want to keep their margins. They WANT the upward price pressure on housing, so they'll just reduce supply further. Building more houses on the other hand may infact leverage some economies of scale, based on project size that could actually reduce per unit average cost.

Therefore saying "it is not going to happen" - is basically admitting, that the housing crisis is there to persist, whether or not immigration reduces. So you are basically making a case for not reducing immigration, because it doesn't make a difference anyway, without knowing you are making a case for it.

Your last bit about the construction workforce, didn't make sense, so am ignoring that.

you are completely wrong
and ignorant of basic economics
Canada's population growth (demand) is the fastest in 60 years

Canada’s population hits 41M, seeing fastest growth in more than 60 years | Watch News Videos Online

Watch Canada’s population hits 41M, seeing fastest growth in more than 60 years Video Online, on GlobalNews.ca

globalnews.ca

you also cant seem to grasp the fact that the demand has accelerated despite the observed demand line going straight up

demand goes through the roof and you conclude its a supply problem
your flawed and disingenuous pretzel logic turns every demand increase into a supply issue
that is pure failure of economics 101




it is a demand problem which can not be solved by foolishly trying to double ++ supply' that is not gong to happen'
the solution is to reduce demand, which you have already 2/3 conceded "we need to reduce students and temp workers"
again why admit that if it is not a demand issue ?

answer the damn question !!!!!!!

Your last bit about the construction workforce, didn't make sense, so am ignoring that.

you lie
that has been explained to you at nauseum

one last time, only explained to you like you are a child


canada gets to decide who is allowed into the country
if we have a shortage of construction workers, we can admit construction workers, who can easily get a job offer in hand , ahead of entry

you are not very bright and you are not honest or trustworthy
that is a terrible combination

 

[Butler1000]

I challenge you to say the facts below are not true, with a straight face, because if you did, there is no point in talking further, because that would be outright lies.

The Facts:

a) Demand has outpaced supply since 1955. Except for one year in 1978 demand has ALWAYS remained high.
b) The ONE spike in 2023 can be ignored because that is not the cause for the housing crisis - meaning it did not start in 2023. The housing bubble started in 2002. This is a statement of fact, and the graph is inaccurate in drawing a line called "liberals elected" as if it was the liberals fault. No it was not.
c) Supply has stagnated for most of Canada's history since 1955, and infact presently LESS than what it was in 1971, when the population was HALF of what it is today.
d) Cost of land, labour and raw material have gone up steadily. This is nothing extraordinary, it happens everywhere.
e) Zoning, permitting, taxation and other supply side issues are outdated and archaic and need changing PRONTO.

Conclusion:

The population aka demand has burgeoned, for the last 50 years. However, supply has REDUCED and supply side issues such as zoning, permitting etc have remained unchanged, while costs have gone up.

THEREFORE THE ROOT CAUSE IS A SUPPLY SIDE ISSUE.

Quite simply, we dont have enough houses, we are not building enough houses and therefore we need to build more houses.

Now, granted this supply side issue cannot be immediately solved tomorrow. It is a longer term solution to the problem.

So we need to come up with a solution that addresses BOTH supply side and demand side pressures. And that solution needs to be differentiated for the short term, and long term.

Short term - we need to tackle demand side pressures, by reducing immigration by cutting on student and temp worker intake. However, we need to acknowledge that there is a demographic crisis in Canada and permanent residents and new citizens are very much needed, for Canada's future. So they should not be affected. SIMULTANEOUSLY we need to start fixing supply side issues, with zoning, permitting, taxation etc., BOTH need to happen at the same time. Not one. BOTH.

Long Term - The only solution is to fix the supply side. Population increase is GOOD. So keeping population OLD and LOW, is not a solution and will result in long term decline. Therefore we need a young growing population and we need our supply to keep up.

That should answer your question as well.

Except they are basically out of land in the prime areas. Its all been filled in. So really you have to build up. But people have not gotten used to the idea yet. That living urban means smaller spaces.

I think we will continue to see a rise in multigenerational homes. Zoning for tri-plexes are coming. And larger taller buildings as well.

But owning is always going to be expensive now. That's the price of becoming a 2nd tier world class city.

 

[DesRicardo]

Canada is going to look like the largest ghetto housing project in the world in just a few decades.

 

[jalimon]

Canada is going to look like the largest ghetto housing project in the world in just a few decades.

Not just Canada. Australia and New Zealand face the exact same problem. They recently announced a serious cut down on immigration.

I suspect some other country too like the UK for sure. And longer term Portugal will get in the same swamp.

Maybe Japan could open up its border a bit so we can go live in their 10 million empty houses!

 

[JohnLarue]

I challenge you to say the facts below are not true, with a straight face, because if you did, there is no point in talking further, because that would be outright lies.

The Facts:

a) Demand has outpaced supply since 1955. Except for one year in 1978 demand has ALWAYS remained high.

wrong

one salary was able to buy a home in Canada in the1940s , 1950s, 1960s & the first years in the 1970s & there were no headlines about housing shortages that even come close to this debacle

b) The ONE spike in 2023 can be ignored because that is not the cause for the housing crisis - meaning it did not start in 2023. The housing bubble started in 2002. This is a statement of fact, and the graph is inaccurate in drawing a line called "liberals elected" as if it was the liberals fault. No it was not.

very straight faced: wrong

you want to ignore the most recent data,???
where did you fail economics ???

duel incomes required for housing affordability stated in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but families made it work no headlines about housing shortages
Housing prices increased at a faster pace starting in the 1980s
the price pace accelerated in and around 2014 to 2016 & then really accelerated a couple of years later. this is when headlines about housing shortages started becoming more frequent

its a fact the liberals were elected in 2015
its also a fact that the liberals greatly accelerated immigration, interrupted by the pandemic, and obviously reaccelerated. (look at the god dam graph)

open door policy and then a housing crisis ? what did you think was going to happen ?

This is cause and affect

your still trying to defend the liberals ??

you are disingenuous and wrong

c) Supply has stagnated for most of Canada's history since 1955, and infact presently LESS than what it was in 1971, when the population was HALF of what it is today.

see above
one salary income could cover homeownership until the 1970s

d) Cost of land, labour and raw material have gone up steadily. This is nothing extraordinary, it happens everywhere.

the cost of land has increased at a much faster pace than inflation, for a long time

After posting a year-over-year increase of +22.9% in Q1 2022, a 40-year high, residential building construction costs in Canada's 11 largest metros have trended steadily lower to their current (Q3/2023) pace of +6% y/y.

e) Zoning, permitting, taxation and other supply side issues are outdated and archaic and need changing PRONTO.

agreed
the problem is liberals create the red tape
And the municipalities view housing development as a cash cow
A 10 to 20% increase in housing starts via red tape reduction would be welcome , but very optimistic unlikely to happen

you continue to ignore the basic math here

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/cmhc-housing-report-1.6965250

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.

the gap is 153% greater than capacity
wake up

its not going to happen

if some damn fool opens up all the taps in your house , your solution to the flooded basement is to try and build a bigger basement, while leaving the taps running
if the word flooding triggers your sensitivities ......... grow up, the analogy spells it out

Conclusion:

The population aka demand has burgeoned, for the last 50 years. However, supply has REDUCED and supply side issues such as zoning, permitting etc have remained unchanged, while costs have gone up.

THEREFORE THE ROOT CAUSE IS A SUPPLY SIDE ISSUE.

then why do you believe "we need to reduce students and temp workers"
you refuse to answer this question


logical Conclusion:
supply side efforts physically can not fix the problem of excessive demand, not even close

therefore
reduce the growth in demand
put the brakes on immigration

Quite simply, we dont have enough houses, we are not building enough houses and therefore we need to build more houses.

supply side efforts physically can not fix the problem of excessive demand

Now, granted this supply side issue cannot be immediately solved tomorrow. It is a longer term solution to the problem.

supply side efforts physically can not fix the problem of excessive demand

So we need to come up with a solution that addresses BOTH supply side and demand side pressures. And that solution needs to be differentiated for the short term, and long term.

supply side efforts physically can not fix the problem of excessive demand

Short term - we need to tackle demand side pressures, by reducing immigration by cutting on student and temp worker intake. However, we need to acknowledge that there is a demographic crisis in Canada and permanent residents and new citizens are very much needed, for Canada's future. So they should not be affected. SIMULTANEOUSLY we need to start fixing supply side issues, with zoning, permitting, taxation etc., BOTH need to happen at the same time. Not one. BOTH.

Long Term - The only solution is to fix the supply side. Population increase is GOOD. So keeping population OLD and LOW, is not a solution and will result in long term decline. Therefore we need a young growing population and we need our supply to keep up.

supply side efforts physically can not fix the problem of excessive demand

That should answer your question as well.

no it does not ,
you refuse to answer a direct question about your quoted post which speaks very loudly about the value of your bullshit

the solution is to reduce demand, which you have already 2/3 conceded "we need to reduce students and temp workers"
again why admit that if it is not a demand issue ?

answer the damn question !

 

[jeff2]

Not just Canada. Australia and New Zealand face the exact same problem. They recently announced a serious cut down on immigration.

I suspect some other country too like the UK for sure. And longer term Portugal will get in the same swamp.

Maybe Japan could open up its border a bit so we can go live in their 10 million empty houses!

https://dailyhive.com/canada/japan-cheap-homes

Home - Cheap Houses Japan

Yes, even if you're not Japanese. Yes, even if you're not a resident. You can even buy a house on a tourist visa and have full property ownership rights. It's

cheaphousesjapan.com

 

[JohnLarue]

Yikes, JL has reached the, repetitive short circuited robot rambling stage at this point. None of that makes any sense or is even a response to my post.

the gap is 153% greater than capacity
wake up

its not going to happen

if some damn fool opens up all the taps in your house , your solution to the flooded basement is to try and build a bigger basement, while leaving the taps running
if the word flooding triggers your sensitivities ......... grow up, the analogy spells it out

 

[JohnLarue]

Not just Canada. Australia and New Zealand face the exact same problem. They recently announced a serious cut down on immigration.

I suspect some other country too like the UK for sure. And longer term Portugal will get in the same swamp.

Maybe Japan could open up its border a bit so we can go live in their 10 million empty houses!

Japan will not open up its borders

 

[tastingyou]

As I wrote we need to think differently. I have owned buildings. I still own one actually (but now a 3-unit commercial one) that was empty from 2020 to 2023. I know what I am talking about.

Back 10 years ago I had a residential 6 units. One dude did not pay for like 4 months. I removed his door When he complained I hire a private security firm to send 2 guy to check what was his problem. He finally left without paying. But that episode told me I was not cut for this and sold the building.

Right now no entrepreneur will build anything else but single homes or luxury condo complex. Building something to fix the housing crisis is the last thing in their mind.

So we need our government to step in and hire staff (at good conditions because privately many construction workers are not that well treated) and renovate older buildings.

To be honest I never thought we would, in Canada, reach such a point.

If you do not agree just make sure you do not complain if you see tents in every park and homeless just outside your residence that scares you out to talk a walk at night.

I love your method of dealing with scum that will not pay rent. Traditional methods of dealing with rent defaulters , exacerbated by incompetent government policies and enforcement mean that small landlords are totally at the mercy of their tenants. AS for myself if I had tenants giving me the runaround I would shut off the power , the water and the hydro , if that did not work I would bring in muscle to get them out. The court system would take forever to getting around to me.

 

[JohnLarue]

Capacity? You mean there is no land in the worlds 2nd largest country? You mean there is no way to build UP in cities like Toronto? Stop the half baked arguments.

the construction industry has a capacity
name any industry that can sustain a 152% increase in output over 7 years

its not going to happen
demand growth has to be reduced
slam the brakes on immigration

if some damn fool opens up all the taps in your house , your solution to the flooded basement is to try and build a bigger basement, while leaving the taps running
if the word flooding triggers your sensitivities ......... grow up, the analogy spells it out

you are not very bright