Time for your cheat sheet on this week\u2019s top stories.<\/p>\n
Canadian Real Estate<\/p>\n
Canadian Variable-Rate Mortgages Surge As BoC Recreates Renewal Trap<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n Canadian banks advanced $38.3 billion (+3.3% y\/y) in uninsured mortgages in January, the largest for the month on record. But this wasn\u2019t fresh demand\u2014it was a wave of renewals arriving five years after the then-record surge in 2021. The bigger story is variable-rate loans are capturing 45% of the market, a sharp jump from the record low of 4.9% roughly two years earlier. Variable-rate mortgages are now significantly cheaper than the traditionally preferred 5-year fixed loans after the Bank of Canada\u2019s rate cut misstep helped recreate the same rate trap seen in 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n Continue Reading\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n Ontario\u2019s HST Rebate Is Driving New Home Prices Higher Without Sales<\/a><\/p>\n Ontario\u2019s newly announced HST rebate for new home buyers may not save them much after all. Sold as an affordability measure that also extended to investors, industry professionals are warning buyers to exercise caution and not assume they\u2019re saving money. In many cases, they say builders have simply raised prices to absorb the \u201cHST savings,\u201d resulting in double-digit price increases despite no comparable surge in demand. The HST relief is leaving buyers with higher prices, while taxpayers foot the bill for another builder bailout.\u00a0<\/p>\n Continue Reading\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n Canada\u2019s Shrinking Population: Most Losses In Ontario, Alberta Grows<\/a><\/p>\n Canada\u2019s population shrank 0.25% (-103.5k people) to 41.5 million in Q1 2026, the first decline since Confederation. However, not all provinces are seeing losses: Ontario lost 0.3% (-54.9k people) of its population, representing more than half of the national drop. Meanwhile, Alberta continued to grow, with its population rising 0.14% in the same quarter. The contrast reflects very different growth models: Ontario focused on temporary residents, while Alberta focused on attracting domestic migrants from other provinces. Now that immigration has slowed, Ontario continues to lose residents to other provinces, while Alberta benefits from that outflow.\u00a0<\/p>\n Continue Reading\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n Canadians Face Fewer Layoffs Than Normal, But Good Luck Finding A Job<\/a><\/p>\n Canada\u2019s latest job report was hardly impressive, but March was the best result year-to-date. The country added 14,100 jobs after six-digit losses in the first two months. Despite the weak report, a few bright spots stood out: wage growth hit 4.7% year-over-year and the layoff rate was just 0.6%\u2014below the pre-pandemic average, despite warnings of AI- and trade war-related layoffs that still haven\u2019t materialized. Canada\u2019s employment problems are less a story about job losses and more about a lack of business confidence that has frozen hiring.\u00a0<\/p>\n Continue Reading\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n Toronto Real Estate<\/p>\n