On a month-over-month basis, CREA said home sales in April were down 1.7 per cent, while newly listed properties available for sale rose 2.8 per cent to kick off the spring market.

The average price of a home sold last month amounted to $703,446, down 1.8 per cent from April 2023, according to data released Wednesday by the association.

Home sales rose 10.1 per cent compared with a year ago, but CREA attributed the gain primarily to the early Easter long weekend. Good Friday and Easter landed on March 29 and March 31 this year compared with April 7 and 9 last year.

CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart said this spring has seen contrasting conditions compared with the same season last year.

“April 2023 was characterized by a surge of buyers re-entering a market with new listings at 20-year lows, whereas this spring thus far has been the opposite, with a healthier number of properties to choose from but less enthusiasm on the demand side,” he said in a press release.

Slower monthly sales amid more new listings meant there was a 6.5 per cent jump in the overall number of properties on the market — the second largest month-over-month gain on record.

The national housing market is also seeing the highest inventory levels since just before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 4.2 months of inventory at the end of April, compared with 3.9 months at the end of March.

The long-term average is about five months of inventory.

Jason Ralph, broker of record for Royal LePage Team Realty in Ottawa, said that while local inventory levels in his market aren't quite as high as the national figures, relatively balanced conditions are giving buyers more negotiating power.

"Balanced markets tend to be a place where buyers can have conditions like home inspections, financing conditions," he said in an interview.

"We consider it a little bit more of a fair market where neither buyers or sellers have, let's call it, an advantage."

He added now is a good time to buy, even as some remain cautious about when the Bank of Canada will begin cutting its key interest rate.

"There are some buyers on the sidelines waiting for that positive news release with the interest rate drop, but I see more buyers [coming] out of the woodwork," said Ralph.

"We've had a pretty strong start to the year compared to last year ... I think people are becoming a little bit more comfortable with the rates that we're going to be dealing with."

Also on Wednesday, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. released its latest data on housing starts for April, showing the annual pace of starts edged down one per cent compared with March.

The overall drop came as the annual pace of starts in urban centres essentially flatlined in April. The national housing agency said last year's challenging borrowing conditions contributed to the downward trend.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 15, 2024.

Bank of Montreal says 72 per cent of respondents hoping to buy a home will wait until borrowing costs fall — an increase of four per cent compared with last year.

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While are expected in the second half of the year, BMO Capital Markets senior economist Robert Kavcic says it is still a long way for rates to be low enough to restore affordability to recent norms.

The survey, conducted by Ipsos from Feb. 28 to March 18, shows 85 per cent of respondents say they're making real financial progress toward buying their first home but face financial anxiety.

Among the top concerns are unexpected expenses, climate considerations such as wildfires and the high costs of homeownership.

BMO's Hassan Pirnia says despite the economic and market challenges, many young Canadians are preparing to embark on their homebuying journey and enter the real estate market for the first time.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 29, 2024.

The Canadian Press asked every province whether it agrees with the federal housing advocate that shelter is a human right, and if it intends to introduce legislation upholding that right.

Most did not answer the questions directly and responded with a laundry list of initiatives launched to address the housing crises brewing in their jurisdictions.

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When prodded a second time for a response, a spokesperson for Quebec's housing minister mistakenly sent a reply intended for a government colleague, asking whether she should continue to "ghost" the reporter.

Manitoba said it recognizes "Canada’s rights-based approach to housing," and Newfoundland and Labrador said it agrees with federal and international law recognizing housing as a human right.

Prince Edward Island responded with a link to its Residential Tenancy Act, whose first line acknowledges that Canada has a signed United Nations' treaty affirming housing as a human right — though critics point out there is nothing in the act upholding that right.

The federal housing advocate urged every province to adopt legislation recognizing housing as a human right in her report on homeless encampments released on Feb. 13.

Marie-Josée Houle wondered in an interview if provinces just don't understand what it would mean to make it explicit that they viewed housing as a human right.

Houle says that according to the bilateral agreement they all signed under the National Housing Strategy in 2018, that would mean that they take a "human rights-based approach to housing."

She says that includes meeting with and listening to people without homes and focusing on getting them housing that meets their needs, rather than deciding what's best for homeless people without their input and forcing them into stopgap measures, such as shelters, that they don't want to live in.

It also includes providing heat, electricity and bathrooms for people living in homeless encampments if adequate housing is not available, she says.

Essentially, it's a commitment to work from the recognition that homelessness is a systemic issue and people are homeless because governments of all levels have failed them, Houle says.

To the provinces, she said: "We need all players at the table."

• Top real estate headlines, all in one place

Dale Whitmore with the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights says provinces could take a simple first step toward recognizing and upholding housing as a human right by adding a clause to their tenancies act saying that eviction is treated as an absolute last resort.

Whitmore says it is critical for provinces to follow Houle's directives and enact legislation recognizing and upholding housing as a human right. The rules must do both, he added, noting that while P.E.I.'s tenancy act recognizes the right, it offers nothing to uphold it.

"We need rent regulation that keeps rents affordable and protects tenants against unreasonable and excessive rents, and we need eviction protections to stop people from losing their homes because of unaffordable rents," he said in an interview. "As the housing crisis continues to worsen, we're only going to need those things more."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 26, 2024.

The highly anticipated interest rate cuts so many have been banking on this year keep getting pushed back, while borrowers lost an aggressive rate advertiser after HSBC Canada was taken over by RBC.

The challenges mean it’s all the more important to do research and negotiate on rates, mortgage experts say, though they also caution that there's more to focus on than just what looks like the cheapest upfront option.

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It's not just brokers who emphasize the importance of negotiating — even RBC chief executive Dave McKay points out that they're expected.

In pushing back against criticism that the bank's takeover of HSBC Canada would lower mortgage competition, he said the international bank’s low rates were a marketing ploy and that it generally didn’t move from them, whereas other banks do.

“They didn't negotiate with the customer a better rate off the posted rate, whereas all the other banks, including ourselves, we put a posted rate out there, and then we negotiate with the customer off that rate,” McKay said in an interview.

But the loss of HSBC Canada does make it a little trickier to find out what the lowest rates might be, said mortgage strategist Robert McLister.

“As soon as they left, the lowest nationally available uninsured variable rate rose 14 basis points," he said. “A lot of people inadvertently overpay if they don't see those low advertised rates."

To find the absolute best rates you might get is going to take a lot of calls, he said, starting with a couple of brokers and lenders directly, along with checking comparison sites, and getting offers in writing.

Knowing what some of the best options are allows you to either go with what you’ve already found, or go to a bank or other competitor to see if they’ll match.

“It takes some leg work ... you need competitive intel; that’s your ammunition.”

It can be worth it, since knocking a few points off a mortgage can add up. Every 0.1 percentage point per $100,000 mortgage translates to roughly $480 of interest savings over five years on a 25-year amortization, he said.

Banks are keenly aware of how rate-sensitive shoppers are. McKay said customers will switch lenders over as little as 0.05 percentage points.

“This is an incredibly competitive marketplace,” he said.

The loss of HSBC Canada does mean less competition for the Canadian banking sector, but it likely won’t affect the available rates, said Claire Célérier, an associate professor of finance at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management.

She said customers are generally aware of the importance of mortgage rates, so banks will keep them attractive, at least for those who push. Banks expect to profit off fees and other routes, and possibly use the rates to get notoriously loyal bank customers to switch institutions.

“The mortgage market is relatively competitive, because this is how they attract new clients. You may change banks if you can negotiate a mortgage at a lower rate.”

In the low-interest rate years after the global financial crisis, Canadian banks also increased how much interest they added to the Bank of Canada rate to create their prime rate, from 1.5 per cent to two per cent, she noted.

The increase, ostensibly to help offset the effects of low rates, have stayed at the two per cent level, even as interest rates rose, potentially giving banks an extra buffer to play with, said Célérier.

But as important as it is to push for a lower rate, borrowers need to be wary of what seems like too great a rate, said Leah Zlatkin, mortgage broker and LowestRates.ca expert.

“There's certain mortgages out there that are very specialized products that offer you insanely low rates, but you have to sell the property or die to get out of that mortgage.”

Some lenders have mandatory default insurance, or will only hold a rate for a limited time, or have high fees if you want to break the mortgage early.

“If you don't truly understand why you're getting a low rate, or why that rate is so much lower than everybody else's, well, then you should really be asking those questions," she said.

On the flip side, there are benefits to look for beyond rates. Some lenders do automatic appraisals, rather than charging for one in person, which can save around $500, or offer the use of their in-house legal team, said Zlatkin.

Some lenders also offer cash back on rates, or will pay all the fees if you switch to them, including legal, appraisal and even discharge fees.

Finding the right offer also requires knowing what kind of mortgage you're looking for, which given all the uncertainty around interest rates can be a challenge.

After last week's higher-than-expected inflation read out of the U.S., BMO removed one of its expected interest rate cuts in Canada for this year, now expecting three cuts from the Bank of Canada and two from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The near-term uncertainly, combined with continued confidence that rates will trend down in the next few years, means that the three-year fixed is still generally the best bet, said Zlatkin.

A variable-rate mortgage can make sense for those who are incredibly bullish that inflation and interest rates will fall sharply, but overall it's a tough bet, she said.

“The spread on a variable to a fixed rate right now is just too high for that theory to make sense for me.”

• The latest on inflation in Canada

Both McLister and Zlatkin also noted it's good to be mindful of those helping you find a rate.

Zlatkin said it's better to be up front and transparent about intentions, so her team doesn't waste too much time, while McLister noted it can often make sense to go with a slightly higher rate if you trust the broker and they're being helpful.

"Sometimes paying a little bit more for good advice can save you more in the long run.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 18, 2024.

The growing construction labour shortage was cited by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. as one of three factors contributing to longer construction times in a housing supply reportlast month.

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Along with larger project sizes and increasing costs, the agency said workers are retiring faster than they're being replaced. This challenge was worsened by the pandemic, when some construction workers changed careers or retired prematurely rather than returning to the industry as the economy reopened.

"It's been the monster in the woods for a long time. We've known this is coming," said Jordan Thomson, senior manager of infrastructure advisory at KPMG in Canada.

"However, it's kind of reached a head now, in that there is a lot of work combined with just the reduction of the overall labour force."

Thomson said the industry is facing the dual challenges of replacing workers as they retire while trying to grow the sector to address Canada's rising need for homes.

Canadian Home Builders' Association CEO Kevin Lee estimated 22 per cent of residential construction workers are set to retire over the next decade.

While the labour shortage is an ongoing challenge, he said its effects have been somewhat muted over the past year as high borrowing costs have led to a slowdown in demand from potential homebuyers in many markets.

But he said arebound could lead to "more strain" on the sector.

"Once people are able to afford to buy and get moving and the market starts to turn around, at that point, we will really see the labour shortage be more and more of a crunch," Lee said.

Canada could need more than 500,000 additional construction workers on average to build all the homes that will be needed between now and 2030, according to a report by RBC assistant chief economist Robert Hogue.

The report, titled "The Great Rebuild," forecast the pace of housing construction in Canada would need to jump by nearly half just to meet future demographic growth. It offered seven ideas to fix Canada's housing shortage, the first of which is to aggressively expand the construction sector's labour pool.

Hogue said "all avenues should be pursued to get more people working in the sector," including prioritizing construction skills among new immigrants, setting "ambitious" targets for skilled trade school enrolments and incentivizing older construction workers to remain in the labour force for longer.

"If not addressed through, for example, attracting more people into trades and allowing more trades immigrants into our country, this may slow down the process of solving our affordability and housing crisis," Hogue said in an interview.

"We need to build a lot more."

The federal budget tabled Tuesday acknowledged skilled labour shortages contribute to the "entrenched structural barriers" holding back new housing supply and adding to affordability pressures.

The government said it would encourage more people to pursue a career in the skilled trades and break down barriers to foreign credential recognition, particularly for construction workers.

It noted the creation of apprenticeship opportunities "to train and recruit the next generation of skilled trades workers." The budget included $200.5 million earmarked in 2025-26 for a summer jobs program "including in sectors facing critical labour shortages, such as housing construction."

While some strategies being developed are geared toward the long term, prioritizing immigrants with skilled trade backgrounds could give the sector a quicker boost, said Mary Van Buren, president of the Canadian Construction Association.

She said skilled trades workers represent around two per cent of new Canadians. While some steps have been taken to rectify that imbalance, she said the points system that Canada uses when evaluating immigrant applications still favours those with higher education.

"You can't create a carpenter or a crane operator or project estimator overnight," Van Buren said.

Finding solutions is vital not only because of the immediate need -- the association has 52,000 active job openings -- but to help Canada compete with other countries for skilled trades workers.

Van Buren noted Canada is not alone in trying to solve a construction labour shortage.

"The U.S., U.K., Germany, Japan, Italy, France, they're facing a similar challenge, and all but Japan are strong reliers on immigration," she said.

Lee said another fix could include a shift to more factory-built homes over the medium-to-long term.

"We're going to need to increase productivity and that typically needs to be done through machinery or robotics, automation, that kind of thing," he said.

Then there's no question that we'll need more people, but we'll also need more factory-built to help fill the gap."

Around 86 per cent of business leaders in real estate and construction say that despite the influx of immigrants, their organizations still lack the skilled talent they need to grow, according to a February survey by KPMG on priorities ahead of the federal budget.

Thomson said that underscores the need to do things differently, rather than simply waiting for the workforce to scale up. He pointed to the rise of prefabricated homes and modularization, along with increased digital tools meant to improve productivity on construction sites.

"That's going to take time to bring more people online and get them through the apprenticeships and all these things. We don't have time to do that, to be honest," he said.

"The thing that's going to help do things faster is the way we build things. We need to explore different ways of constructing housing and delivering these really complex infrastructure projects with less."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 18, 2024.

However, it’s important to avoid the trap of becoming house poor -- a situation where an overwhelming portion of your income is devoured by housing costs, leaving little for other aspects of life.

Below, I’ll explain some practical strategies to maintain better financial health while owning a home. With careful planning and smart decisions, your home will enhance your quality of life, not constrain it.

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What does it mean to be house poor?

The next time that you drive through a nice neighbourhood to admire the homes, take a minute to consider how much the home owners are paying to live there:

• What’s their mortgage payment?
• How much do they pay for weekly landscaping?
• Do they have to pay condo fees?
• What’s their annual property tax?
• What are their annual maintenance costs?

Buying a home is often presented as a more affordable alternative to renting. If you were to compare monthly rent versus mortgage payments on the same property, the mortgage payments would almost certainly be smaller.

However, as the property owner, you’ll also have more financial obligations. You’ll bear full responsibility for maintenance, taxes, and repairs -- all of which you should account extra for in your monthly housing budget.

If you fail to do so, it’s easy to find yourself house poor, with a large portion of your monthly income going toward living expenses, and little left over for saving, investing, or doing other things you enjoy.

It’s also important to consider how mortgage interest rates change over time. For example, many Canadians are facing drastic mortgage payment increases this year, as renewal rates reflect today’s .

How to avoid being house poor

The good news is that being a homeowner doesn’t have to make you house poor. The key lies in proper planning and budgeting so you don’t find yourself in over your head.

1. Create a budget before you buy

Before you even begin looking for a home or working with a realtor, you should have a good idea of what you can afford in terms of a monthly mortgage payment.

Remember that real estate agents are, at their core, sales professionals. As much as it’s their job to help you find something within your budget, it’s also their job to help you find a house that you really love and upsell you on all of the benefits of it.

• Visit our opinion page for more editorials from this columnist and others

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Similar to buying a car, the home buying process can often lead you on an emotional rollercoaster, and you may find yourself willing to go outside of your budget for the perfect home.

As much as I’d encourage you to find your dream home, make sure that you’re also evaluating your options logically, with your budget in mind.

2. Estimate home ownership costs and utilities before you buy

Remember, your mortgage payment will not be your only expense.

You’ll have to include utilities like electricity, water, and internet. The bigger your house is, the more your space will cost to heat in the winter and cool in the summer. Bigger homes may also require Wi-Fi extenders to ensure the whole home has coverage.

Then, you have to account for maintenance and upkeep costs. Unless you’re a hardcore DIY pro, you’ll have to account for monthly maintenance costs like landscaping, weed control, snow shovelling, and pest control, as well as semi-annual repairs to plumbing, electrical, appliances, or your roof.

The size of your property relative to the dwelling unit itself can also play a factor here. A larger, more rural property may come with higher landscaping costs or require you to buy a four-wheel drive vehicle so you can drive up and down your dirt driveway.

The age of the dwelling unit could also play a part in your maintenance costs, as older homes are likely going to have more impending repairs compared to newer builds.

For example, a new roof could cost you $8,000 or more, and will usually be required every 15 years. This means you’ll need to budget $544 per year or $44 per month extra to account for inevitable roofing expenses.

Last, but not least, you’ll want to account for annual property taxes on the home as well as home insurance costs.

3. Use the 30 per cent rule

To get the best picture of how much home you can realistically afford, it’s best to factor in all estimated costs, including:

• Mortgage
• Utilities
• Maintenance and upkeep
• Property taxes
• Home insurance

Your real estate agent or financial planner should be able to help you out here, as long as you’re asking the right questions.

Many financial advisors recommend using the “30 per cent rule” when it comes to housing. This rule advises keeping your combined living expenses below 30 per cent of your income. Only around 20 to 25 per cent of Canadian home owners exceed this, according to the latest studies by the .

If you’re married or buying a home with a friend who will also contribute to your household income, you may be able to use your joint income to purchase a larger home while still staying within your budget.

4. Make a larger down payment

While it may not be feasible for everybody, making a larger down payment on your home will reduce your monthly mortgage payments, making home ownership more affordable in the long run.

What if you’re already house poor?

If you never got a chance to plan ahead and you’re already feeling the financial pressure, you have a couple of different options. These could include refinancing your home at a lower interest rate, renting out an extra room or space on your property, or it may come down to downsizing by selling your home and moving into something more affordable.

• Here’s what one expert says you should consider before downsizing your home

Christopher Liew is a CFA Charterholder and former financial advisor. He writes personal finance tips for thousands of daily Canadian readers on his .

Do you have a question, tip or story idea about personal finance? Please email us at dotcom@bellmedia.ca.

The national housing agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts amounted to 242,195 units in March compared with 260,047 in February.

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When looking at year-over-year figures, actual housing starts in large urban centres were up 16 per cent to 17,052 units last month compared with 14,756 units in March 2023. The year-over-year increase was driven by higher multi-unit starts, up 19 per cent, and higher single-detached starts, up two per cent.

Actual housing starts were 10 per cent higher in Toronto and 15 per cent higher in Vancouver year-over-year because of an increase in multi-unit starts. Montreal's actual starts dipped one per cent, dragged down by lower multi-unit starts.

The annual rate of rural starts was estimated at 21,452 units.

TD economist Rishi Sondhi said housing starts continue to trend “at a solid pace,” even with the month-over-month decline in March, supported by elevated prices and firm pre-construction sales in the past.

But he cautioned that further decreases to the number of starts are likely in the months to come.

“While governments are actively looking for ways to enhance supply, we think that housing starts are likely to decline further this year, on the back of more recent weakness in pre-sales activity,” he said in a note.

“What's more, industry analysis suggests that financing for purpose-built rental units currently under construction was obtained when borrowing conditions were more favourable. As they've turned tougher, this segment of the market could be impacted.”

• The latest on inflation in Canada

Month-to-month starts can fluctuate significantly since the launch of larger multi-unit developments can skew numbers. Adjusted starts in March were up 27 per cent in Vancouver, driven by an increase in multi-unit starts, while Toronto and Montreal declined 26 per cent and five per cent, respectively, due to decreases in multi-unit starts.

To smooth out those swings and give a clearer picture of the upcoming housing supply trend, CMHC also reports a six-month moving average of the adjusted rate.

In March, the indicator showed starts at 243,957, down 1.6 per cent from 247,971 in February.

“The slight decline in multi-unit housing starts in March likely just reflects the volatile nature from one month to the next of these large projects,” Desjardins economist Kari Norman said in a note.

“Looking forward, the gradual unwinding of interest rate hikes expected to begin this June will bring cautious optimism to housing starts. However, this optimism is tempered by challenges such as construction labour shortages, inflation in building materials costs and weaker homebuilder sentiment.”

She said those factors could potentially slow the momentum seen in early 2024, despite a favourable shift in monetary policy.

Roberts, an actor who has become a mainstay of rom-coms and campy horror — the latter, most recently with recurring roles in the anthology series “American Horror Story” — bought the home, which she shares with her three-year-old son Rhodes, in 2022 and hired the design firm Pierce & Ward to overhaul its interiors. In the , she reveals the results of that makeover.

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For Roberts, having a space that feels like home is a particular priority, she explained, as she moved often as a child. So when she saw the property listed as a rental on Instagram (it has been  as a former residence of Minnie Driver), she inquired if she could purchase it instead.

“I think I lived in 10 houses by the time I was 15 — so for me now, having a son, I wanted a place that felt really ours.” she told AD. “I have a picture of the day we moved in… I just remember feeling like we are exactly where we need to be.”

The designers, Louisa Pierce and Emily Ward, with whom Roberts had previously worked, are known for down-to-earth spaces that mix bohemian, mid-century modern and rustic styles. Their clients have included Roberts’ “Madame Web” co-star Dakota Johnson as well as Kate Hudson and Leonardo DiCaprio.

“We want a house to look like it’s been there for 50 years,” Pierce told AD in the cover story. “We never want a home to look new.”

In that spirit, much of Roberts’ furniture, art and decor is repurposed or reupholstered. In the living room, beneath a disco ball-like globe light, paperbacks are enclosed in living room cabinets while rarer books are openly displayed. Framed photographs of Debbie Harry and Joni Mitchell rest on wooden cabinets; elsewhere, one of Roberts’ most treasured artworks — a Julian Wasser portrait of Joan Didion in front of a Corvette — hangs on the wall.

Though many pieces are courtesy of design studios or antique finds, Pierce and Ward don’t look down on more accessible commercial brands. Roberts recalled when she asked if her new kitchen island was custom-made, they laughed and said it was from Urban Outfitters.

As for a room for Rhodes, who is starting his own book collection, Roberts opted for a soothing wallpaper scene of flying ducks on the ceiling, above a lush forest-themed upholstered bed.

“I remember as a kid, whatever’s on your wall and your ceiling is seared into your brain for the rest of your life,” Roberts explained. “So I wanted to make it extra cozy and fun, but not too overwhelming.”

"Today we are releasing the most comprehensive and ambitious housing plan ever seen in Canada," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in Vaughan, Ont. on Friday.

"It's a plan to build housing, including for renters, on a scale not seen in generations. We're talking about almost 3.9 million homes by 2031."

The parliamentary budget officer released a report Thursday that estimates Canada would need to build 3.1 million homes by 2030 to close the housing gap.

The Liberals'  which comes days ahead of the federal budget, is the minority government's latest effort to set the agenda on affordability as it loses significant ground to the Conservatives over cost-of-living issues.

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Ottawa is also sending a message to provinces, territories and municipalities that they too will need to step up, dubbing the plan a "call to action."

   "There's no way that one level of government is going to solve the national housing crisis on their own," said Housing Minister Sean Fraser in an interview.

   "But if we work together ... and create incentives to encourage each other to actually adopt policies that will help us get us to where we need to be, I know that we can accomplish this extraordinarily important task."

The Liberals' plan promises to tackle the spectrum of housing affordability challenges Canadians face, from the the out-of-reach dream of homeownership to skyrocketing rental costs to homelessness.

While much of the plan was announced during the government's recent pre-budget tour or even prior to that, several new measures are laid out in the document, including expanded tax incentives for homebuilding.

The federal government intends to increase the capital cost allowance rate for apartments from four to 10 per cent, which will increase how much builders can write off from their taxes.

It's also extending the GST exemption on rentals to student residences built by public universities, colleges and school authorities.

The plan also earmarks more money to tackle homelessness as communities across the country struggle with encampments and limited shelter spaces.

The Liberal government is topping up the Reaching Homes program, a federal homelessness initiative, with an additional $1 billion over four years.

Another $250 million is allocated to help communities end encampments and transition people into housing. The federal government is asking provinces and territories to match that amount.

The Liberals are also pledging a "historic shift" in how the government uses public lands to build housing, which will involve making more land available for home construction and leasing land as opposed to selling it off.

And they want to restrict large corporate investors from purchasing existing single-family homes.

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Other planks of the plan include training more skilled trades workers, easing foreign credential recognition and boosting productivity in the construction industry, measures that would presumably speed up the process of homebuilding.

   The federal government also promises to help families lower their energy bills, including through by launching a new program that will support energy-efficient retrofits for low to median-income households.

   The Liberal housing plan was applauded by the Canadian Home Builders' Association, which said the plan sets the stage for a "comprehensive approach" to addressing housing affordability.

   Its implementation will, in part, be contingent on co-operation from provinces and territories, some of which have already pushed back on the federal government over what they argue is jurisdictional overreach.

   Quebec, Saskatchewan, Ontario and New Brunswick were unhappy with Ottawa's decision to make access to new infrastructure money contingent on a set of conditions, including legalizing fourplexes.

   But Fraser pushed back on those critiques, arguing that Canadians just want their problems solved.

   "When people come knock on the door of my constituency office and they have a problem, the last thing that they want to hear is that it's not my responsibility to help them," Fraser said.

   "So from my point of view, it was important that we do what we can to embrace the challenge and demonstrate to Canadians that even where there may be technical jurisdictional obstacles, that wasn't going to give us a reason to do anything less than the very best that we can."

   As the Liberals aggressively sell their housing plan and the federal budget set to be released on Tuesday, whether it lands with Canadians will depend on whether they still have faith that the incumbent government can solve their problems.

   The federal Conservatives, who have have maintained a double-digit lead in public opinion polls since the summer, appear to have successfully convinced a large contingent of voters that the Liberals only make cost-of-living issues worse.

Tories have largely dismissed the government's recent housing announcements and argued that pouring more money into "government bureaucracy" won't solve the housing crisis.

"Justin Trudeau's vanity announcements and billion-dollar photo ops don't change the fact that his strategy has doubled housing costs over the last eight years," said Conservative housing critic Scott Aitchison in a statement.

New Democrats reacted to the housing plan Friday with a similar attack. In a statement, housing critic Alexandre Boulerice said "Canadians can't trust the Liberals to fix the problem they created."

Fraser acknowledged that Conservatives have succeeded at capturing Canadians' attention on housing, but he said their solutions fall short of what's needed.

"I think it's dangerous when politicians seek to prey on the very real anxieties of people without doing anything to help them. It communicates to me that it's motivated more by their appetite to seize political power than it is to actually help people who are struggling," Fraser said.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has argued that government should get out of the way and let developers build more homes.

His proposed housing plan centres heavily on requiring cities to increase home building by 15 per cent each year to receive their usual infrastructure spending, or see their funding withheld. Those who build more than the target would be eligible for "bonuses."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 12, 2024.

In its updated outlook for the year released Friday, CREA said it now expects 492,083 homes to trade hands this year, a 10.5 per cent increase from 2023.

In its January forecast, CREA had expected a 10.4 per cent increase in home sales this year and a 2.3 per cent rise in the average home price for 2024.

"If you look at last spring as a guide and add to that record population growth in the last year and a central bank that is far more likely to cut this summer than raise like it did last year, it could get interesting," said CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart in a press release.

"Will the story be high interest rates keeping a lot of people on the sidelines this year, or the much expected and anticipated first rate cuts enticing a lot of people back into the market? Probably a bit of both."

The revised forecast came as CREA reported the number of home sales in March rose 1.7 per cent compared with a year ago. The average price of a home sold last month amounted to $698,530, up two per cent from March 2023.

On a month-over-month basis, CREA said home sales in March were up 0.5 per cent.

The number of newly listed homes declined by 1.6 per cent on a month-over-month basis in March.

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Meanwhile, there were 3.8 months of inventory on a national basis at the end of March, unchanged from the end of February, but short of the long-term average of about five months of inventory.

Conrad Zurini, owner of Re/Max Escarpment Realty, said despite the Bank of Canada holding its key rate steady for the sixth consecutive time earlier this week, consumers are bracing for borrowing costs to come down.

"Consumers are thinking there's brighter skies ahead," said Zurini, who is based in Hamilton.

"That rate reduction, no matter when it comes this year, I think consumers are thinking it'll add fuel to the fire in terms of home prices and they've got to jump in now."

CREA chair Larry Cerqua noted that while home sales levels for March were "quite flat" on a month-over-month basis, anecdotal evidence from late last month and early April suggests activity is ramping up.

Zurini said he's seeing signs of that potential boom on the ground. According to in-house data at his firm, showings were up 25 per cent week-over-week to kick off the month of April.

"It's going to be, now, can we get the inventory to keep up with the demand?" he said.

He said an appreciation in the value of homes on the market as a result of higher demand could wipe out the savings of a modest interest rate cut when purchasing a home.

"There's an expression in the mortgage world: If you wait for the rate, it could be too late."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 12, 2024.

Truong My Lan, a high-profile businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022. The 67-year-old has been convicted for fraud amounting to US$12.5 billion — nearly 3% of the country’s 2022 GDP — and for illegally controlling a major bank and allowing loans that resulted in losses of $27 billion, state media outlets reported.

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Death sentences are not uncommon in Vietnam, but it is rare in financial crime cases and for someone this well known.

Here is a look at the key details of the case:

Who is Truong My Lan?

Lan was born in 1956 and started out helping sell cosmetics with her mother, a Chinese entrepreneur, in Ho Chi Minh city’s oldest market, according to state media outlet Tien Phong.

She and her family established the Van Thinh Phat company in 1992, when Vietnam shed its state-run economy in favour of a more market-oriented one that was open to foreigners. Over the years VTP grew to become one of Vietnam’s richest real estate firms.

Today the company is linked to some of Ho Chi Minh’s most valuable downtown properties including the glittering 39-story Times Square Saigon, the five-star Windsor Plaza Hotel, the 37-story Capital Place office building and the five-star Sherwood Residence hotel where Lan lived until her arrest.

Lan met her husband, Hong Kong investor Eric Chu Nap-kee, in 1992. He was sentenced Thursday to nine years in prison. They have two daughters.

What is she accused of?

Lan was involved in the 2011 merger of the beleaguered Saigon Joint Commercial Bank, or SCB, with two other lenders in a plan coordinated by Vietnam’s central bank.

She is accused of using the bank as her cash cow, illegally controlling it between 2012 and 2022, and using thousands of “ghost companies” in Vietnam and abroad to give loans to herself and her allies, according to government documents.

The loans resulted in losses of $27 billion, state media VnExpress reported Thursday.

She was accused of paying bribes to government officials — including a former central official who has been sentenced to life in prison for taking $5.2 million in bribes — and violating banking regulations, government documents said.

The court sentenced her to death, saying her actions “not only violate the property management rights of individuals but also pushed SCB into a state of special control, eroding people’s trust in the leadership of the (Communist) party and state."

Why is this happening now?

Lan’s arrest in October 2022 is among the most high-profile in a growing anti-corruption drive in Vietnam.

Weeks after her trial started in early March, former president Vo Van Thuong resigned after being implicated in the so-called Blazing Furnace anti-graft campaign, conducted by Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, the country’s most powerful politician since the campaign began in 2013.

The 79-year-old ideologue views corruption as a grave threat facing the party and has vowed that the campaign will be a “blazing furnace” where no one is untouchable.

While Lan’s arrest and the scale of her fraud shocked the nation, the case also raised questions about whether other banks or businesses had engaged in similar practices, dampening Vietnam’s economic outlook and making foreign investors jittery.

This is happening as Vietnam tries to argue its case for being the ideal home for businesses trying to move away from neighbouring China.

Speaking in Toronto on Thursday, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced the federal government will allow 30-year amortization periods on insured mortgages for first-time homebuyers purchasing newly built homes.

The change will take effect Aug. 1.

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Under the current rules, if a down payment is less than 20 per cent of the home price, the longest allowable amortization -- the length of time a homeowner has to repay their mortgage -- is 25 years.

"Faced with a shortage of housing options and increasingly high rent and home prices, younger Canadians understandably feel like the deck is stacked against them," Freeland said in a news release.

"By extending amortization, monthly mortgage payments will be more affordable for young Canadians who want that first home of their own."

Mortgage Professionals Canada CEO Lauren van den Berg called it a "step in the right direction" and said extending the amortization period "will help level the playing field for first-time homebuyers."

"We know that this is going to allow greater opportunities for home ownership and will ultimately contribute to economic revival and economic recovery," she said in an interview.

"But more still needs to be done for all Canadians to have that dream of home ownership within sight."

Van den Berg said the government should expand the option to all Canadians purchasing a home, regardless of whether it is a new build or a pre-existing home.

"There are a lot of areas, particularly in the Greater Vancouver area and in the Greater Toronto Area, where you have no choice but to build up, so the possibility for new builds are not the same across the country."

Ratesdotca mortgage and real estate specialist Victor Tran also raised concerns about how effective the change would be based on the eligibility criteria.

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"While it's currently possible to get an insured mortgage with a new build, it's rare," he said in a statement.

Tran also pointed out many properties in Vancouver and Toronto are priced at more than $1 million, which typically means buyers have to take uninsured mortgages.

But Canadian Home Builders' Association CEO Kevin Lee said the announcement would be a "game changer." The group has also been in favour of longer amortization periods, saying five more years would help with affordability and spur more construction.

"This measure will also go a long way to enable our sector to respond to the government's goal of getting 5.8 million new homes built over the next decade," he said in a statement.

"This measure is needed now to help turn the market around, and will be needed for many years to come if we are to work towards doubling housing starts."

He said the rental market should see some relief too, as the move could enable some Canadians to stop renting and become homeowners.

As part of the announcement, Freeland also said the government will raise the amount first-time homebuyers can withdraw from their RRSPs -- to $60,000 from $35,000 -- to buy a home. That will take effect April 16, the day the federal budget is set to be released.

The government said the change reflects the reality that the size of a down payment and the amount of time needed to save up for one are much larger than they used to be.

People who have made or will make withdrawals between Jan. 1, 2022, and Dec. 31, 2025, are also getting more time to begin repayment -- up to five years in total rather than two.

Ottawa said those changes are meant to work in tandem with the First Home Savings Account, which it launched last year. The rules governing that program allow prospective homebuyers to start saving for up to 15 years once they open an account, with an annual $8,000 deposit cap and a lifetime contribution limit of $40,000.

Freeland said more than 750,000 Canadians have opened an FHSA to date. While the program came online April 1 of last year, most Canadian financial institutions only began offering the account as of last summer or fall.

Ottawa also announced changes to the Canadian Mortgage Charter that will include an expectation that financial institutions offer permanent amortization relief to protect existing homeowners who meet certain eligibility criteria.

That would allow eligible homeowners to reduce their monthly mortgage payment to a number they can afford for as long as needed.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 11, 2024

CIBC survey, published Thursday, shows 76 per cent of Canadians who haven't yet entered the housing market feel home ownership is a far-off dream, but over half of them are holding on to their goal to one day owns a home.

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At least 70 per cent of non-homeowners said get priced out in the market while 63 per cent said it is hard to save for a down payment, the online bank survey shows.

The survey comes on the same day as the federal government announced longer amortization periods for first-time home buyers.

The federal government will allow 30-year amortization periods on insured mortgages for certain first-time homebuyers, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced Thursday.

Freeland also said the government will nearly double to $60,000 the amount first-time home buyers can withdraw from RRSPs to buy a home. That's up from $35,000, to take effect April 16, the day the federal budget is set to be released.

As well as prospective home buyers feeling priced out of the market, the CIBC poll also shows many homeowners have been cutting back on expenses amid .

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Half of homeowners with a variable mortgage say they've been cutting back on everyday expenses, while 21 per cent have put a lump sum amount toward their mortgage.

At least 45 per cent of homeowners with fixed-rate mortgages anticipate they'll cut back on daily expenses as their loans come up for renewal in the next two years.

The poll also found that 55 per cent of non-owners said they'll only be able to afford a new home with an inheritance or gift from their family.

One in every four non-homeowners also said they're considering buying a home with friends to afford home ownership.

The poll was conducted for CIBC in February by Maru Public Opinion. It was conducted in two waves among a random sample of Maru Voice Canada panelists.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 11, 2024.

The central bank is expected to again hold its key rate steady when it announces its decision Wednesday, but it's unclear what direction it will take next.

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With modest cuts likely in store later this year — some forecasts call for those to begin as soon as June — it could take months before buyers are confident enough to come crawling back from the sidelines.

That uncertainty may keep some buyers cautious throughout the spring, said TD Bank economist Rishi Sondhi.

"I think it's a bit of a muddy backdrop there and maybe that might be restraining some of the activity," he said.

But Sondhi said Canada's housing market is "akin to a bit of a coiled spring," noting sales activity and prices typically jump when there's a shift "that jolts the market" such as an interest rate cut.

"There's significant pent-up demand out there, particularly in Ontario and B.C., so it just takes a bit of a spark."

In its latest report on national home sales and pricing data, the Canadian Real Estate Association hinted that February could mark "the last relatively uneventful month of the year."

“After two years of mostly quiet resale housing activity, there’s a feeling that things are about to pick up,” CREA chair Larry Cerqua said in a statement last month.

“At this point, it’s hard to know whether buyers are going to wait for a signal from the Bank of Canada or whether they're just waiting for the spring listings to hit the market."

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Greater Toronto Area-Realtor Dean Artenosi called the current moment a "tipping point where the worst is behind us." He said the central bank has signalled that interest rates have "levelled out" through its consecutive rate holds, and that has made buyers more optimistic.

"The mood and the mindset, the psyche, is that we're back to a normal market," said Artenosi, co-owner of Coldwell Banker The Real Estate Centre Brokerage.

"People have gotten comfortable ... and are used to making the payments at these higher rates. Buyers are starting to come back into the marketplace. Obviously there's talk of the rates starting to come down now and we're seeing multiple offers again on some properties."

Out West, activity cooled in March after 2024 got off to a red-hot start, said Tim Hill with Re/Max All Points Realty.

The Vancouver real estate agent said many of his clients now find themselves in a holding pattern while waiting for rates to fall. He said others are weighing the pros and cons of buying before that point in time, which is expected to spur price growth amid lower borrowing costs.

"We can all feel pretty confident that (the central bank is) not making a change yet, as much as people might wish. But maybe we'll get some more information in their press release of where their heads are at and when we might see that Bank of Canada rate come down," said Hill.

"For me, I'm feeling now that we've seen this kind of lull, I think April is going to be a really tell-tale month for how the rest of the spring goes."

RBC assistant chief economist Robert Hogue predicted a "gradual" rebound later this year as the central bank's rate-cutting cycle progresses, rather than a major uptick in activity following its first reduction.

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He said there are some exceptions to that forecast, notably the Calgary market, which has remained strong despite elevated rates. Increased demand from interprovincial migration and below-average inventory have kept the market tight in that city, according to the local real estate board.

"That's a market that continues to be pretty robust and we don't see that changing," Hogue said.

Despite pent-up demand, affordability remains a major issue in markets such as Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.

"I don't see it as much of an issue of being prudent or cautious, but more in terms of the budget constraint to buyers," said Hogue.

He said Canada could see a "series of small waves" in some markets within the next few months, where activity picks up as some try to get ahead of interest rate cuts.

"For those mini-waves to be sustained, you need a critical mass of buyers making their way back into the market," Hogue said.

"For that, our view remains that we need to see a significant drop in mortgage rates, which I think is more of a second half of 2024 story than the spring market."

Artenosi said he's urging his clients not to wait. While borrowing conditions could be more favourable in the months to come, he warned of other factors, including Canada's growing population, that could make it more difficult to buy at an affordable price.

Statistics Canada's live population tracker showed Canada's population topped 41 million in late March, less than a year after hitting the 40-million milestone.

"Playing the waiting game is a mistake," said Artenosi, who added those holding out may increasingly find themselves in bidding wars.

"There's going to be no perfect scenario."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 8, 2024.

On Friday in Calgary, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said this package of new funding is meant to help change the way homes are built in this country, and make it easier and cheaper to build at the scale needed to overcome the current housing shortage.

The Liberals are also for the first time allocating money to the pre-promised modernized housing design catalogue, reviving a wartime housing effort that built "victory homes" or "strawberry box homes" nationwide.

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"We want to accelerate the pace of home construction to levels not seen since the end of the Second World War. To do that, we need to change our approach and adopt innovative technologies," Trudeau said.

Here's how the millions meant to grow Canada's homebuilding sector will be allocated:

• $500 million into the already topped-up Apartment Construction Loan Program to support new rental housing projects specifically using innovative construction techniques from prefabricated and modular housing manufacturers;
• $50 million for a new "Homebuilding Technology and Innovation Fund" that will also tap private sector funding to scale-up and commercialize housing technologies and materials such as those used in prefabricated homes;
• $50 million towards regional initiatives seeking to modernize building practices through modular housing, mass timber construction, robotics, 3D printing and automation; and
• $11.6 million to execute the Liberals' plans to standardize up to 50 "efficient, cost-effective, and liveable home blueprints" including frames for row housing, modular homes, fourplexes and other high-density designs.

According to the release accompanying Trudeau's latest housing-focused pre-budget spending announcement, these measures are just the jumping off point for plans to engage the housing, construction and building materials sectors, as well as labour unions and experts, "to develop a Canadian industrial policy for homebuilding."

The new technology fund will be led by an innovation cluster known as Next Generation Manufacturing Canada.

Housing Minister Sean Fraser said that these measures are meant to help avoid bottlenecking on the capacity side of Canada's construction workforce as the various federal policies meant to spur homebuilding start to translate into shovels in the ground.

"There's advantages to building in factories. You can do it faster. In fact, twice as fast as traditional stick-built homes. You can avoid having to deal with Canadian winters… you can also work around the clock, you can advance automation to become more efficient," Fraser said.

The housing minister said these programs would start rolling out "as soon as this summer and over the next two years."

In a statement reacting to the latest announcement, Conservative MP and housing critic Scott Aitchison questioned why Trudeau was touting "a 'new' program on innovation when a similar program already exists and re-announced two other existing programs," references to the apartment loan, and design catalogue commitments.

"All of these are his existing policies that have contributed to the doubling of the cost of housing," Aitchison said.

Facing reporters' questions about the rental and new-build focus of this week's announcements and whether there will be more measures coming for Canadians who already own a home but are facing mortgage renewals, Trudeau said to stay tuned.

"We will have more to say between now and the budget date on April 16, and perhaps we will save it for April 16," said the prime minister. "But, we have lots more to say because we recognize that the solution on housing is not any one thing." 

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The agency's latest housing market outlook, released Thursday, says despite an increase in rental housing coming on the market in 2023, supply is not forecast to keep up with demand, leading to higher rents and lower vacancy rates in the coming years.

"Unfavourable financing conditions are expected to make it more difficult for homebuilders to start new rental projects in 2024," CMHC chief economist Bob Dugan said in a statement.

"We anticipate by 2025-2026 lower interest rates, continued government support, and policies encouraging greater density in urban centres should make more projects viable."

The CMHC said affordability in the home ownership market will also be a concern for the next three years, as declining mortgage rates and the country's strongest population growth since the 1950s will likely spur a rebound in home sales and prices.

Home sales dropped by around one-third from their peak in early 2021 to the end of 2023, while prices fell by nearly 15 per cent over that time, CMHC said.

"During this time, the pool of potential homebuyers grew through robust population growth, increased savings and higher incomes," the report said.

"As mortgage rates and economic uncertainty decrease in the second half of 2024, we expect buyers to start returning to the market."

It said the resurgence would also be driven by a shift in demand toward lower-priced homes and markets across Canada.

The agency predicts sales activity from 2025 to 2026 will slightly surpass the past 10-year average but remain below the record levels recorded from 2020 to 2021, due to how expensive housing remains.

CMHC also says housing starts in Canada are expected to decline this year before recovering in 2025 and 2026, reflecting the lagged effect of higher interest rates on new construction.

A report last week from the agency showed construction began on 137,915 new units last year across Canada's six largest cities, a level that was roughly in line with those of the past three years due to a surge of new apartments.

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On a regional basis, the CMHC forecasts Ontario and B.C. will drive the decline in national housing starts this year, warning developers may struggle to boost even apartment construction amid challenges such as financing costs.

It expects the Prairie provinces to perform well, citing affordable home prices and a stronger economic outlook which will likely attract homebuyers and job seekers, leading to increased construction.

In Quebec, housing starts are expected to grow but remain below post-pandemic levels after a sharp decline in new home construction last year.

It said the Atlantic region will likely see less pressure on new home construction than it has since 2022 from unusually strong migration, as starts in certain eastern provinces "will remain historically robust but will realign more closely with weaker population growth."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 4, 2024 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the funding on Tuesday, alongside Housing Minister Sean Fraser in Dartmouth – to the sound of protesters chanting in the background – as the Liberals' pre-budget spending pledge tour continues. 

According to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the fund will include $1 billion for "urgent infrastructure needs" such as improving wastewater, stormwater, and solid waste systems.

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The remaining $5 billion will be set aside for the yet-to-be-negotiated agreements with provinces and territories.

The federal government will require provinces and territories to commit to a series of actions meant to increase Canada's housing supply in order to access this funding.

Among the requirements:

• Municipalities have to allow more "missing middle" homes such as duplexes, triplexes, and townhouses;
• A three-year freeze will have to be implemented on increasing development charges for municipalities with populations larger than 300,000;
• Incoming changes to the National Building Code aimed at supporting more accessible, affordable, and environmentally-friendly housing options will have to be adopted; and
• o Permitting pre-qualified or "as-of-right" construction, where developments conform to existing building and zoning approvals and don't require discretionary approval, for the federal housing design catalogue. 

As for the timing of this new funding, provinces will have until Jan. 1, 2025 to secure a deal with the federal government, while territories will have until April 1, 2025.

"If a province or territory does not secure an agreement by their respective deadline, their funding allocation will be transferred to the municipal stream," reads the PMO release accompanying Trudeau's announcement.

Beyond this new fund, Trudeau is also committing to top-up the existing $4 billion "Housing Accelerator Fund" with an additional $400 million which the federal Liberals say will allow more municipalities to get in on the initiative meant to reduce red tape and speed up new construction.

To date, nearly 180 agreements have been signed across Canada to fast-track more than 750,000 new homes. The Liberals estimate the added funding will help speed up the construction of 12,000 new homes over the next three years.

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"This is how we'll address the shortage of housing options for Canadians. And this is how we'll make it fairer for younger generations, who feel like they're falling behind because housing costs are too high," Trudeau said. "We're making a lot of progress cutting red tape to fast-track the construction of hundreds of thousands of homes, but we want to go even faster."

Trudeau also gave municipalities a head's up on Tuesday that, in order to access long-term public transit money through a forthcoming new fund, they will have to "take action that will directly unlock housing supply."

Specifically, municipalities are being told to:

• Eradicate mandatory minimum parking requirements within 800 metres of a high-frequency transit line and allow high-density housing in this space instead;
• Allow high-density housing within 800 metres of post-secondary schools; and
• Complete a "housing needs assessment" for all communities with a population greater than 30,000.

The minority Liberals have been making housing affordability a key focus of their targeted spending plans over the last year, amid an ongoing housing crunch and heightened political pressure to address the issue.

In the fall, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. estimated that in order to restore affordability to the market, 3.5 million new housing units need to be built across the country by 2030

Housing, including assistance for renters and younger Canadians trying to enter the market, is expected to once again be a core element of the April 16 federal budget, which Trudeau and his team have been trying to frame as focused on "fairness." 

Fraser said that in a few weeks he will be "publishing a plan to address Canada's national housing crisis," which will include three pillars: building more homes, supporting Canada's most vulnerable, and making it easier to rent or to buy a home.

"Between now and then we're going to be rolling out specific policies to highlight how we're going to achieve this," he said Tuesday.

Facing reporters' questions about promising yet another federal budget initiative requiring premiers' buy-in, Trudeau said his government is "stepping up" because Canadians need more help than any one level of jurisdiction is currently able to provide.

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"We're there to work to encourage provinces and municipalities to be as ambitious as possible," the prime minister said.

How long for affordability impact?

As for how the federal government plans to finance what's expected to more than one dozen pre-budget announcements, Trudeau said the Liberal spending plan balances fiscal responsibility with investing in Canadians, and that the full costing will be made clear in the budget. 

Asked about the initial pushback from some provinces, Fraser said in an interview on CTV News Channel's Power Play that provinces "can choose to negotiate or not negotiate" but his hope is that "by putting a federal incentive on the table, we're going to be able to make progress."

"I think it's premature to declare what an outcome may be," he said. "The reason that we wanted to spell out the detail was not out of a sense of paternalism, but out of a need to move quickly to address the national housing crisis."

The minister was also asked, but could not say specifically, when he thinks the various housing measures in the works will start to make homes more affordable, saying it will depend on the market.

"The measures we've introduced are already starting to have an impact. Some of them will take a few years … but that's no excuse to delay beginning with them," Fraser said, conceding that "it may be the better part of a decade" before a level of affordability comparable to those experienced by past generations is restored.

In statements reacting to the latest Liberal housing pledge, both the NDP and Conservative housing critics expressed reservations about the tangible impact of Trudeau's plans.

NDP MP Jenny Kwan said Canadians "can't trust those who created this mess to fix it."

"Developers who recently bought off an affordable housing complex in Dartmouth have served renoviction notices to about 1,000 tenants so they can jack up rent," she said. "The Liberal government's efforts to build affordable homes have not even offset the loss of affordable rental homes."

Conservative MP Scott Aitchison said the housing accelerator fund that the prime minister is now topping up, "hasn't built a single home."

"Today's photo op won't result in building the homes Canadians need. Canadians can't live in Liberal photo ops or announcements," Aitchison said. 

However, demand is still outpacing supply, with the spokesperson for the agency warning that the country needs a lot more, and fast.

"We need everything," Aled ab Iorwerth, deputy chief economist at the CHMC, told CTV News Channel on Wednesday. "More apartments are particularly helpful, they're essential for people getting into homeownership."

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It comes amid a new survey of business leaders, who see the as the biggest risk to Canada's economy, and after fresh pledges from the federal government to protect renters.

'We need a lot more'

Although the construction of apartments has hit an all-time high, which ab Iorwerth says is good news, it's not enough.

"Obviously these are relatively more affordable units," he told Todd van der Heyden in a one-on-one interview. "We just need a lot more."

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ab Iorwerth also indicated that financing for new housing starts is becoming more complicated, partially because of high interest rates but also because of "labour shortages and the cost of materials."

That's leading to pressure on detached housing starts, according to ab Iorwerth.

"That's why the picture in Montreal doesn't look so good," he explained. "They tend to have these smaller structures."

Shift to condominiums is 'inevitable'

The housing crisis and lack of supply is also causing a shift in how Canadians are choosing to live, a change that ab Iorwerth characterizes as "inevitable."

"Single, detached, just simply too expensive," he said.

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Even though the COVID-19 pandemic saw a surge of prospective homeowners moving to the "outer suburbs" where they could afford detached homes, ab Iorwerth warns that many are returning to city centres – and apartments are key to accommodating the influx.

"Frankly, we particularly need a lot more rental buildings to be built," ab Iorwerth says. "Home ownership … is just becoming out of reach."

'Interest rates are becoming an issue'

ab Iorwerth also raised a growing concern at the CMHC – the impact that high interest rates are having on housing starts.

"Our running hypothesis is that higher interest rates had a real effect on those single detached starts," he says. "Apartments are offsetting that."

However, that may not last, according to ab Iorwerth, who is worried that high interest rates are going to have the same effect on apartment starts in 2024.

He also warned that stagnating growth will have a spillover effect on Canada's housing crisis, which desperately needs "more condos, more apartments" and more density, "because it's just too expensive."

With files from the Canadian Press

Financial experts say they encounter myths every day in their line of work. Popular examples are that home ownership is the only way to get rich or budgeting rules that are outdated.

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The Canadian Press spoke with Jason Heath, an advice-only certified financial planner at Objective Financial Partners; Jessica Morgan, founder and CEO of blog site Canadianbudget.ca and Reni Odetoyinbo, founder of Reni, The Resource about misunderstandings or dated advice they hear from clients.

Here are a few.

CPP won't be there in the future

The Canada Pension Plan tends to be a point of confusion, says Heath. While many don't understand how the pension system works, some believe CPP won't stand the test of time and could be gone soon.

“A lot of people I talked to are skeptical about whether or not CPP will be around for them in the future - who think the federal government somehow has access ... and is going to use it for something else,” Heath says.

In fact, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is a Crown corporation and independent of the federal government, with a portfolio of roughly $600 billion in assets. The latest report from the office of Canada's chief actuary, which reviews the CPP's sustainability every three years, said the pension fund remains sustainable for more than the next 75 years based on current assets, contributions, and benefits being paid, Heath said.

Dividends are magical

Investors often gravitate to dividends and favour stocks with high shareholder payouts, Heath says.

“Some investors have an irrational focus on dividends,” he said. “Dividends aren't magical.”

Dividends are after-tax profits a company distributes among its shareholders, typically every quarter, and can be paid in cash or a form of reinvestment.

Heath said a company that pays a high dividend reinvests less of its profit into growth, potentially losing out on opportunities to up its market value. In Canada, stocks with high dividends come from a narrow slice of the stock market - banks, telecoms and utilities.

“Ideally, an investor should consider a combination of stocks with high and low dividends to have a well-diversified portfolio,” he said.

Contribute to RRSP, save on taxes

“There's a lot of taxpayers, investment advisers and accountants who really promote the concept of putting as much into your (Registered Retirement Savings Plan) as you absolutely can,” said Heath.

As a financial planner, he thinks the contrary. Heath says using RRSP contributions to get the biggest tax refund possible is not necessarily the best approach for people in low tax brackets and can hurt them in the long run when they withdraw those savings at a higher tax bracket in retirement.

“Sometimes, it's OK to pay a little bit of tax, as long as you're paying at a low tax rate,” he said.

Instead, Tax-Free Savings Account contributions could be better for someone with a low income.

It can be wise to use the low tax bracket by taking RRSP withdrawals early in retirement, even though it might feel good to withdraw only from your TFSA or non-registered savings and keep your taxable income low.

“Lifetime tax reduction - so-called income smoothing - may be the best approach,” Heath said.

50-30-20 budgeting

Fifty per cent of the paycheque for needs, 30 per cent for wants and 20 per cent for savings - the popular budgeting strategy doesn't work anymore, says Morgan of Canadianbudget.ca.

“In today's environment, it doesn't fit as well as it maybe used to a decade ago,” she said. “Because of (the) high cost of living (and) high cost of housing in Canada, it's a bit harder to make things fit into that proportion.”

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Morgan added people mistakenly think of budgeting as restrictive - having to cut back on everything, including fun.

“But people don't think of every company out there in the world that has a budget and they stick to it because it's a way to use your money that benefits you and helps you reach your goals,” she said.

Morgan suggests following a zero-based budget, which means assigning a “job” to every dollar, even if it is being put aside for savings - and not leaving any dollar unused.

“Even if that means you're leaving a buffer amount of $200 to protect you, (and) you're over in a certain category, you've given that $200 a job - that job is to protect you,” she said.

Investing is complicated

“So many Canadians hand their money over to the bank, which is then invested in high-fee mutual funds or, even worse, (people) don't invest at all,” says Morgan.

Robo-advisors such as Wealthsimple and Questrade have democratized and simplified investing to a level that anybody can start their investment journey without specialized finance knowledge and still maintain a level of safety, she added.

“It is easy these days to start investing,” Morgan said.

It doesn't require a complex understanding of financial markets and institutions but a general knowledge of how investing works and the fees involved, she said.

Owning vs. renting

While home ownership has its upsides, Odetoyinbo says renting can be a more financially viable option in certain situations.

“It's important to run the numbers to see which one (owning or renting) is truly more affordable for you in your circumstance,” she said. “People often think (home ownership) is more of an investment than it actually is because they never sat down to run the numbers.”

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Homeownership is also more complicated than just a down payment and monthly mortgage - closing costs, repairs and maintenance fees are additional expenses people may overlook.

Odetoyinbo's advice to non-homeowners is to invest that extra money in the stock market or other avenues instead to grow income and find stability.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 26, 2024.