3 ms·

90% of the problems this has generated could be solved by a massive reform of housing law at every level. We're getting hammered by food, gas, etc prices worse

by dmix 3y ago

90% of the problems this has generated could be solved by a massive reform of housing law at every level. We're getting hammered by food, gas, etc prices worse than most places. But everything goes back to housing because its by far the biggest expense on every persons list and the speed it's increasing is insane. I guess the US isn't melting down at the speed of Canada because they can still build houses in many places where immigrants first land (the south like Texas). It's way worse here in Canada. Imagine SF but even in the suburbs and small towns basic houses go for millions. The entire country is basically waiting for the current gov to go away so the next one can actually attempt to fix it. It's very depressing and this is 100% contributing to the flight of our best domestic talent to the US more than ever (it was bad enough the last 2 decades).

adventured 3y ago
And the US doesn't have universal healthcare. Scaling that type of system up rapidly (while dealing with pre-existing supply constraints) is very difficult to say the least. Rapid immigration will just make every big shortage that much worse, and healthcare is particularly difficult to increase in terms of supply (doctors, nurses, hospitals, etc; just takes a lot of time).
voisin 3y ago
> The entire country is basically waiting for the current gov to go away so the next one can actually attempt to fix it. It is wild that the deal between the Liberals and the NDP is constitutional. All it did is disenfranchise Canadians for 3 years. Trudeau should be forced to have his government subject to non-confidence votes - sink or swim on his decisions, and if there isn’t confidence (which seems totally obvious!) then go to an election. Edit: I would love to hear from those who downvoted this. What’s your take? It seems indefensible to me.
- bawolff 3y ago
  sigh people really don't understand how parlimentry democracy works. Of course supply & confidence agreements are constitutional. Its not even a coalition government, which would also be constitutional. sheesh Edit in response to your edit [i did not downvote you] - for starters this is a really common feature of most parlimentary democracy. It helps mitigate some of the downsides of first past the post & vote splitting (NDP+liberals have > 50% of the popular vote. They are fairly simlar politically, agreeing on many things. Why shouldn't they get to do the things they agree on, since a majority of the country voted for them when combined, presumably a majority like the parts of their platform that are the same) The second thing, is that politics involves compromises, generally it is expected some wheeling and dealing might occur. e.g. MPs from alberta might vote for something that benefits fishermen in Nova Scotia in exchange for NS MPs voting for something that benefits alberta. I dont see anything wrong with that, this is just a more formal version. Last of all, the agreement is non-binding. NDP is allowed to pull out any time it wants with no penalty other than the liberals being mad at them. So it is not like it prevents a non-confidence motion if the NDP is unhappy (for that matter, individual MPs do not have to vote with their party on anything, the only penalty is they might get kicked out of their party. If the MPs don't like treadau they can kick him out anytime they want regardless of what party leadership thinks.
bryanlarsen 3y ago
Toronto and Vancouver build housing at a much higher pace than any similarly sized American city. At one point Toronto had as many skyscraper construction cranes as all American cities put together. But they're growing even faster than housing is built.
- red-iron-pine 3y ago
  are they growing, or are people buying up all the housing with foreign money, and/or large corporations grabbing a piece. > 1 in 5 properties across much of Canada are owned by investors. That makes it harder for 1st-time buyers https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/housing-investors-canada-bc-1.6743083 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/housing-inve...
  - bryanlarsen 3y ago
    40% of Camadians rent from investors. Not everybody wants to own.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
randomdata 3y ago
> the speed it's increasing is insane. I suppose you are referring to rent? On average, the price of buying a Canadian home in nominal dollars hasn't really changed since 2021, which, thanks to inflation, means that buying a home is around 12% less expensive now. That's a decrease, and not an insignificant one at that.
- snapplebobapple 3y ago
  Have you looked at this per province or per 1mm+ population city, rather than a Canada wide average? I don't think it's true if you use the proper data scope because the places that went absolutely bonkers (toronto area, vancouver area) have had a pull back from insane while the places that were only bad (i.e. Calgary, Halifax, probably montreal and Winnipeg) have pushed significantly higher. The places that were totally unaffordable haven't become affordable, they just became less unaffordable and the places that were previously somewhat affordable have become much less so. On top of that, most of the brown field development is catastrophically affecting rent because it's chopping the bottom end out of the rental market as it is redeveloped at the same time demand is surging from immigration.
  - randomdata 3y ago
    > Have you looked at this per province or per 1mm+ population city, rather than a Canada wide average? Not exhaustively, but it is as true nationally, as it is in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and even many rural areas. Sure, there is probably some outlier – there always is – and CREA (Canada's unfortunate source of housing price information) doesn't collect/publish data for every last nook and cranny of the country anyway, but the general trend is abundantly clear.

by dmix 3y ago

adventured 3y ago

And the US doesn't have universal healthcare. Scaling that type of system up rapidly (while dealing with pre-existing supply constraints) is very difficult to say the least. Rapid immigration will just make every big shortage that much worse, and healthcare is particularly difficult to increase in terms of supply (doctors, nurses, hospitals, etc; just takes a lot of time).

voisin 3y ago

> The entire country is basically waiting for the current gov to go away so the next one can actually attempt to fix it. It is wild that the deal between the Liberals and the NDP is constitutional. All it did is disenfranchise Canadians for 3 years. Trudeau should be forced to have his government subject to non-confidence votes - sink or swim on his decisions, and if there isn’t confidence (which seems totally obvious!) then go to an election. Edit: I would love to hear from those who downvoted this. What’s your take? It seems indefensible to me.

bawolff 3y ago
sigh people really don't understand how parlimentry democracy works. Of course supply & confidence agreements are constitutional. Its not even a coalition government, which would also be constitutional. sheesh Edit in response to your edit [i did not downvote you] - for starters this is a really common feature of most parlimentary democracy. It helps mitigate some of the downsides of first past the post & vote splitting (NDP+liberals have > 50% of the popular vote. They are fairly simlar politically, agreeing on many things. Why shouldn't they get to do the things they agree on, since a majority of the country voted for them when combined, presumably a majority like the parts of their platform that are the same) The second thing, is that politics involves compromises, generally it is expected some wheeling and dealing might occur. e.g. MPs from alberta might vote for something that benefits fishermen in Nova Scotia in exchange for NS MPs voting for something that benefits alberta. I dont see anything wrong with that, this is just a more formal version. Last of all, the agreement is non-binding. NDP is allowed to pull out any time it wants with no penalty other than the liberals being mad at them. So it is not like it prevents a non-confidence motion if the NDP is unhappy (for that matter, individual MPs do not have to vote with their party on anything, the only penalty is they might get kicked out of their party. If the MPs don't like treadau they can kick him out anytime they want regardless of what party leadership thinks.

bryanlarsen 3y ago

Toronto and Vancouver build housing at a much higher pace than any similarly sized American city. At one point Toronto had as many skyscraper construction cranes as all American cities put together. But they're growing even faster than housing is built.

red-iron-pine 3y ago
are they growing, or are people buying up all the housing with foreign money, and/or large corporations grabbing a piece. > 1 in 5 properties across much of Canada are owned by investors. That makes it harder for 1st-time buyers https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/housing-investors-canada-bc-1.6743083 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/housing-inve...
- bryanlarsen 3y ago
  40% of Camadians rent from investors. Not everybody wants to own.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]

randomdata 3y ago

> the speed it's increasing is insane. I suppose you are referring to rent? On average, the price of buying a Canadian home in nominal dollars hasn't really changed since 2021, which, thanks to inflation, means that buying a home is around 12% less expensive now. That's a decrease, and not an insignificant one at that.

snapplebobapple 3y ago
Have you looked at this per province or per 1mm+ population city, rather than a Canada wide average? I don't think it's true if you use the proper data scope because the places that went absolutely bonkers (toronto area, vancouver area) have had a pull back from insane while the places that were only bad (i.e. Calgary, Halifax, probably montreal and Winnipeg) have pushed significantly higher. The places that were totally unaffordable haven't become affordable, they just became less unaffordable and the places that were previously somewhat affordable have become much less so. On top of that, most of the brown field development is catastrophically affecting rent because it's chopping the bottom end out of the rental market as it is redeveloped at the same time demand is surging from immigration.
- randomdata 3y ago
  > Have you looked at this per province or per 1mm+ population city, rather than a Canada wide average? Not exhaustively, but it is as true nationally, as it is in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and even many rural areas. Sure, there is probably some outlier – there always is – and CREA (Canada's unfortunate source of housing price information) doesn't collect/publish data for every last nook and cranny of the country anyway, but the general trend is abundantly clear.