Clik here to view.
Water, water everywhere, and not a drop is free
Municipal water and sewer services may not be a sexy topic, but start talking about budget shortfalls and rate hikes for residents and it becomes hot news – quickly. Earlier this month, the City of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Build it where you want them to come
It’s simple. If you’re going to build a major entertainment venue, place it where there is a density of people to be entertained, where public transit can mitigate increased traffic volumes, and in a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Canada needs a national industrial policy that works
Industrial policy. It’s a phrase that has had a mixed reception in recent decades. “Industrial policy” has often meant government programs in which bureaucrats, with little experience in how free...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Brace yourself – choppy waters ahead for housing market
Is Canada’s housing market at a point where affordability issues just don’t make it sustainable without a significant correction? The International Monetary Fund says the Canadian housing market is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Brace yourself – choppy waters ahead for housing market: Part 2
RentSeeker.ca, a Toronto-based listing service that tracks rental opportunities across the country, recently released a telling, and damning, infographic about housing affordability in major Canadian...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Now is the time to take some chances
Ontario has become rather messy with derelict industrial corpses lying around. Seven years after the recession first hit, the once-mighty manufacturing engine of the nation’s economy is still...
View ArticleClik here to view.
When a developer has to be a headhunter
Real estate by nature tends to be a highly transactional and sometimes confrontational business. The divide between buyer and seller, tenant and landlord, can be pretty sharp, written deep in the fine...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Stop signs, traffic control and practical economics
Ahh, summer. Lazy, hazy days meant to be spent outdoors. The kids are off school and long evenings beg for front-yard socializing with the neighbours.If only the street wasn’t treated like a drag strip...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Court battles won’t fix what’s broken in small town Canada
Take the following headline at face value and you might think companies are deliberately pulling the rug out from under cash-strapped municipalities:“Tax shift: Companies dump burden of taxes on...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Are new standards leaving you with an unrentable building?
The modern office bears little resemblance to the old. Private offices and even cubicles have given way to communal workspaces without assigned seating. The traditional boardroom has become a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Are we taking a true measure of economic recovery?
I was recently in Toledo, Ohio, a city in the so-called U.S. Rust Belt.Why the rust? This is the region spanning the Northeastern U.S., the Great Lakes region and the U.S. Midwest that has suffered...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The competitive challenges of Ottawa’s Rideau BIA
There was a kerfuffle between the City of Ottawa and one particular group of local businesses recently over a three-year street closure related to light rail transit construction. The area in question...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Some ideas for growing the economy . . .
Dear Justin (may I still call you that?):Congratulations on a smashing victory this week. But now it’s time to get down to business, and put that new House of Commons majority to good use.You earned...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Road tolls could shake up urban markets
Road tolls have been big in the news since Ontario Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca said more are in our future as a way to combat growing road congestion.His comments coincided with the release...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Finding long-term investment ops in Trudeau’s activist plan
It’s a brave new world in Canada these days, with a new Liberal federal government that promises to be much more activist than the Conservative one.Our new prime minister has ambitious plans to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cheap oil, cheaper money and parties with big plans
Who would have guessed 12 months ago we would finish the year still dealing with record-low oil prices, along with the prospect of negative interest rates and a majority Liberal government in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Will investors play real estate as a safe haven in 2016?
We’re starting the year with oil prices that remain at record lows, stock market volatility, continued Middle East conflict and an activist Liberal government in Ottawa.What does this all mean for the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
It’s time to cut back on the carbs, er, carbon
I thought the Associated Press summed up the outcome of the December climate talks in Paris well:“The world is about to go on a carbon diet. It won’t be easy — or cheap.Nearly 200 countries across the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why pay ‘full value taxes’ on land you can’t use?
In theory, it’s pretty simple — a property’s assessment is based on its size, attributes, intended usage and local market conditions.But sometimes, a property has restrictions placed on what it can be...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Are we at risk of becoming tenants in Canada?
Canada is on sale.How could it not be, given the slump in the value of the loonie?Hooray, you say. A little foreign direct investment might give our sluggish economy a much-needed shot in the arm as we...
View Article
