Cost of housing in Canada

[Kirkhill]

Canadian investments abroad have grown dramatically since 2015 relative to foreign investment in Canada. In 2014, about $100 billion more was being invested abroad by Canadians than by foreign investors here, Statistics Canada data show. By 2022, the difference had grown to $726 billion.

Pensions push back on Liberal government pressure to invest more in Canada

The Liberal government's latest fiscal update made it clear they would like to see more of the funds spent at home, but won't legislate it.

nationalpost.com

The government would like Canadian investors to invest more in Canada. For reasons known to themselves investors have been fleeing Canada since 2015.

Cause and effect?

I wonder if those investors include the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

 

[Kirkhill]

Interesting concept.

'We can live:' How Fredericton's growing, affordable tiny home community offers hope

Nestled next to a Walmart on Fredericton’s Northside sits a new community with row upon row of tiny homes. Here's how the 12 Neighbours project is offering residents a chance at hope.

www.ctvnews.ca

A warm cabin, or a "But and Ben" in the parlance of my people, is a considerable improvement over a tent on a sidewalk

 

[mariomike]

And in Toronto the "Tiny Perfect Mayor" was David Crombie.

That he was.

But, he was "Old Toronto".

After 1 Jan., 1998 it became a whole new ball game.

Read something about the Province of Ontario recommending,"Allow any type of residential housing up to four stories".

That would do away with neighbourhood exclusionary zoning, which allows only single family detached homes in residential zones.

Four-storey walk-ups are good excercise.

But, a back-breaker for those who would be tasked hauling people up and down those four flights of stairs for a living.

The image is from former Mayor Crimbie's Old Toronto, on Kendal Ave. They became popular when re-building after The Big Fire of 1904.

After 1912, the City passed a by-law prohibiting their intrusion into residential neighbourhoods.

Sounds like they want to go back in time.

They were called "tenements".

 

[Kirkhill]

Tenements.

 

[mariomike]

View attachment 81395

Tenements.

Four-story walk-ups.

 

[Quirky]

Interesting concept.

'We can live:' How Fredericton's growing, affordable tiny home community offers hope

Nestled next to a Walmart on Fredericton’s Northside sits a new community with row upon row of tiny homes. Here's how the 12 Neighbours project is offering residents a chance at hope.

www.ctvnews.ca

Could be a good alternative for the CAFs housing issue, for single members anyway. Beats living in a barracks.

 

[Kirkhill]

Could be a good alternative for the CAFs housing issue, for single members anyway. Beats living in a barracks.

Not much different to this

 

[Colin Parkinson]

These were finished a few months ago on the local reserve.

Buildex Vancouver: Modular construction a housing solution for First Nations - Journal Of Commerce

One of the biggest challenges facing First Nations is the procurement of suitable housing for their members. At Buildex Vancouver 2023, a panel of housing experts will discuss how modular construction can help First Nations get the housing they need. Th

canada.constructconnect.com

 

[lenaitch]

These were finished a few months ago on the local reserve.

Buildex Vancouver: Modular construction a housing solution for First Nations - Journal Of Commerce

One of the biggest challenges facing First Nations is the procurement of suitable housing for their members. At Buildex Vancouver 2023, a panel of housing experts will discuss how modular construction can help First Nations get the housing they need. Th

canada.constructconnect.com

I've seen a steady parade of modular home units being trucked north through here in the last several weeks. I suspect they are getting ready to be hauled into some FNTs this winter.

A problem with getting them to remote fly-in territories is the ice roads beat the hell out of them.

 

[Good2Golf]

A problem with getting them to remote fly-in territories is the ice roads beat the hell out of them.

Even on an air-ride trailer?

 

[KJK]

G2G, it doesn't matter. The ice roads beat the hell out of everything. When I used to run the ice roads in the NWT back in the 90s the first things that left Edmonton at the beginning of the season was a couple of pallets of trailer springs and a couple of pallets of welding rods. Most companies didn't use their newer iron up there because of the damage incurred. Part of the damage was caused by the roads/portages but a lot of it was simply the incredibly cold weather. Front axles breaking in half were common. My jeep and lowbed combo was air ride but it would still have cracks after a couple of trips. In those days it was good money but I see the rates now and wonder how anybody makes money.

 

[Good2Golf]

KJK, thanks for the background! At least no one’s using Dayton wheels anymore.

 

[KJK]

I don't miss the Daytons at all. Collapsed spacers and sheared valve stems always made for a long day.

 

[KJK]

This is why it is so rough on equipment. All those cracks in the ice don't look like a problem but they can be quite deep and wide. You can't tell when you are driving though due to the fact they fill with snow making them seem ok until you drive over a big one. Once it gets too rough the road crews will open a new section of road parallel to the old section and it will be smooth for a while.

 

[lenaitch]

G2G, it doesn't matter. The ice roads beat the hell out of everything. When I used to run the ice roads in the NWT back in the 90s the first things that left Edmonton at the beginning of the season was a couple of pallets of trailer springs and a couple of pallets of welding rods. Most companies didn't use their newer iron up there because of the damage incurred. Part of the damage was caused by the roads/portages but a lot of it was simply the incredibly cold weather. Front axles breaking in half were common. My jeep and lowbed combo was air ride but it would still have cracks after a couple of trips. In those days it was good money but I see the rates now and wonder how anybody makes money.

And the closer it gets to break-up (or even a mild spell) the worse it can get. I was never a driver but was on the FNTs when the trucks would show up and some of it was pretty grim.

Housing in remote communities is an impossible task. If it is stick built, the materials have to sit until spring and most communities don't have the climate controlled storage. Even modular, if it gets there relatively intact, it still has to sit, wrapped, until spring, and mould will get into everywhere. Government contractors; well, need I say more. Houses are built/assembled to minimum standards, no inspections, no real codes to enforce. They are so desperate for housing they will accept a substandard structure that slowly rots away because they are only tenants and the 'landlord' doesn't care or have the capacity to do anything about it.

Even if the communities wanted to get into the house building business, there are insufficient raw materials locally.

A friend drove 'roads' in NWT and N/W Ontario for a few years. It was a break from hauling stone in southern Ontario when the construction industry would slow down. As you say, great money but a lot drawbacks. He also found it physically difficult.

 

[KJK]

And the closer it gets to break-up (or even a mild spell) the worse it can get. I was never a driver but was on the FNTs when the trucks would show up and some of it was pretty grim.

Housing in remote communities is an impossible task. If it is stick built, the materials have to sit until spring and most communities don't have the climate controlled storage. Even modular, if it gets there relatively intact, it still has to sit, wrapped, until spring, and mould will get into everywhere. Government contractors; well, need I say more. Houses are built/assembled to minimum standards, no inspections, no real codes to enforce. They are so desperate for housing they will accept a substandard structure that slowly rots away because they are only tenants and the 'landlord' doesn't care or have the capacity to do anything about it.

Even if the communities wanted to get into the house building business, there are insufficient raw materials locally.

A friend drove 'roads' in NWT and N/W Ontario for a few years. It was a break from hauling stone in southern Ontario when the construction industry would slow down. As you say, great money but a lot drawbacks. He also found it physically difficult.

It is interesting that there is little to no inspections. My Dad was a carpenter, he worked on the reserves in Northern SK and MB building houses in the 60s and 70s. At that time there were stringent inspections. You could lose a contract for putting only 3 nails where the contract specified 4 or using a hinge that was functionally identical but not the brand specified in the contract. I remember him and other tradesmen we knew talking about it often over malt beverages.

 

[lenaitch]

It is interesting that there is little to no inspections. My Dad was a carpenter, he worked on the reserves in Northern SK and MB building houses in the 60s and 70s. At that time there were stringent inspections. You could lose a contract for putting only 3 nails where the contract specified 4 or using a hinge that was functionally identical but not the brand specified in the contract. I remember him and other tradesmen we knew talking about it often over malt beverages.

I don't directly know since I was not involved, but I have seen new builds being occupied on FNTs that in no way would get an occupancy permit in Ontario. The is no real enforceable federal building code and if some government bureaucrat tried to keep a family from moving in to an otherwise finished house, the council would probably BCR (band council resolution) off the reserve. The inspectors your dad spoke of might have been government contract compliance inspectors or auditors, back when the government actually cared about the end-use of its (our) money.

 

[KJK]

I don't directly know since I was not involved, but I have seen new builds being occupied on FNTs that in no way would get an occupancy permit in Ontario. The is no real enforceable federal building code and if some government bureaucrat tried to keep a family from moving in to an otherwise finished house, the council would probably BCR (band council resolution) off the reserve. The inspectors your dad spoke of might have been government contract compliance inspectors or auditors, back when the government actually cared about the end-use of its (our) money.

I think you are correct that they were government inspectors and apparently they were very through. In those days the contractors would camp out in a finished house until the inspectors signed off that everything was good so they would get paid for their work. How times have changed.

 

[IKnowNothing]

TD doubles forecast for housing price drop amid ‘sudden surge in supply’ - National | Globalnews.ca

One of Canada’s major banks is forecasting a steeper drop in home prices amid a “sudden surge” of supply in the real estate market.

globalnews.ca

In my neck of the woods said 10% price drop would reset the average back to where it was this January, which is where it was in ~April of 2021.

 

[Brad Sallows]

In which I have learned something new that interests me. Ta.