LIVE Evacuation order issued for some Fort McMurray neighbourhoods as wildfire nears
Four Fort McMurray neighbourhoods were ordered to evacuate as a wildfire gets closer to the city.
The former CEO of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation says the many factors contributing to Canada’s increasingly hot housing market, while notable, aren’t cumulating in a housing bubble.
In an interview on CTV’s Question Period airing Sunday, Evan Siddall, who was at the helm of the body from Jan. 2014 to April 2021, said “I don’t think we’re in a bubble, I really don’t think we’re in a bubble.”
“If demand is going up and supply is not, prices will go up, that’s not a bubble. So it’s a question of what the future brings and whether there will be supply and demand coming back into balance and that’s a crystal ball question.”
His comments come amid criticism directed at the Liberal government from opposition MPs, including Conservative finance critic Pierre Poilievre, who says Ottawa is contributing to a housing bubble.
“Not only are Canadians spending more when they buy a house, now they have to pay more on their taxes for the failed programs that this minister and government put in place to inflate the housing bubble to begin with,” said Poilievre during question period last week.
The national average home price in Canada was $686,650 in September, up 13.9 per cent the same month last year, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. Just five years ago, it fell just below $490,000.
According to Re/Max's housing market outlook report published Wednesday, sale prices are projected to increase by 9.2 per cent on average across the country in 2022.
Siddall, now the CEO of Alberta Investment Management Corporation, also disputed claims that the Liberal’s pandemic stimulus response is at the root of inflation.
“It’s about much more the demand and supply response. So that again, is market factors including slow approvals – there’s a lack of coordination among municipal, provincial and federal governments and it’s hard for people to build houses. That’s one problem. The other problem is low rates make housing more attractive. Mortgage insurance makes it further attractive,” he said.
Former Liberal finance minister and deputy prime minister John Manley agreed it comes down to supply and demand factors but said there must be an element of scaling back government spending, something he hopes to see carved out in the upcoming Fall Economic Statement.
“There has to be some plan to see our spending as a ratio of our economy start to come down, that this cannot go on indefinitely. Canadians will not prosper, we will not have the wealth to redistribute and to spend on all these programs if we don't attract the investment into our country that creates the wealth,” said Manley in a separate interview on CTV’s Question Period.
“Through all of this, I haven't heard a really comprehensive explanation of how we're going to build our economy for the future so that we create the prosperity that Canadians are going to need.”
A key pillar of the Liberal’s national housing plan that targets supply is their proposal to invest $4 billion in a Housing Accelerator Fund, which they say will create 100,000 new middle-class homes in Canada’s largest cities by 2024-25.
The plan also includes a first-time home buyer incentive and a tax-free first home savings account, among other policy ideas.
When asked whether these kinds of initiatives will prove effective enough to cool the market, Siddall said they are “at the margin.”
“Let’s face it, that’s all government can really do on the supply side. It’s too much for a government to handle. We’re talking trillions of dollars in housing activity. It’s is a supply problem, but it’s not a supply problem the government can deal with on its own. It needs private sector support,” he said.
Siddall says it’s time Canadians have the debate on whether to implement capital gains tax on primary residences, which he says could help minimize the housing inequality gap.
“One of the things that's really driving people apart in terms of inequality in our country is the amount of money people are making off houses who own them versus the amount of money people aren't making on their homes that rent them. It’s a real problem,” he said.
“Why don’t we tax gains on houses but we tax gains on other investments? It’s a serious, non-progressive situation in our tax code.”
He acknowledged that it’s an idea not on the minds of policy makers, as it would lead to “political suicide.”
“Politicians just aren't allowed to have this conversation because the opposition, and it's any colour, will skewer them for it. And so we don't have the debate we have to have.”
Four Fort McMurray neighbourhoods were ordered to evacuate as a wildfire gets closer to the city.
Canadian LifeLabs customers who filed an application for a class-action settlement began receiving their payments this week, though at a much lower amount than initially expected.
Nobel laureate Alice Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world's most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history's most honoured short story writers, has died at age 92.
The doctor who led Toronto through the COVID-19 pandemic as the city’s top public health official is stepping down.
Wildfires have led Environment Canada to issue air quality advisories for parts of B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, as forecasters warn the smoke could drift farther east.
Saskatchewan RCMP have revealed that a historic sexual assault investigation has led to the discovery of alleged crimes against children dating back to 2005.
An American accused of sexually assaulting a Pennsylvania college student in 2013 and later sending her a Facebook message that said, 'So I raped you,' has been detained in France after a three-year search.
The annual list of Canada's top restaurants in the country was just released and here are the places that made the 2024 cut.
Ontario Provincial Police are responding to a fatal collision involving two vehicles on Highway 417 in Ottawa's west end on Tuesday morning.
A team is ready to help an entangled North Atlantic right whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
A $200 reward is being offered by a North Vancouver family for the safe return of their beloved chicken, Snowflake.
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.
Mother's Day can be a difficult occasion for those who have lost or are estranged from their mom.
YES Theatre Young Company opened its acclaimed kids’ show, One Small Step, at Sudbury Theatre Centre on Saturday.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.