Canada prides itself on being an ideal environment for entrepreneurs but stats disagree. Statistics Canada (Stat Can) employment data shows self-employment is shrinking. These individuals now represent the smallest share of employment since the early 1980s. At the same time, the public sector has been hiring roughly two people per self-employed job lost. Employment might […]
Great news! The odds of a housing correction are soaring and people might lose a lot of cash — but the banks will be fine. That was a key takeaway from Bank of Canada (BoC) deputy governor Paul Beaudry today. Seriously. In a speech to the OSC, the central bank warned Canadian real estate has […]
Canadian financial institutions increasingly see the financial system as risk-free. That might be a risk itself. The Bank of Canada (BoC) completed its biannual Financial System Survey (FSS) this week. It found institutions are buying “riskier” assets to make up for low interest rates. Risk managers see the risk as low, believing the financial system […]
Are Canadian investors beginning to think real estate returns are a little stretched? Statistics Canada (Stat Can) data on net investment in foreign securities shows big growth for September. Investors have accelerated sending funds out of the country — primarily into US investments. At the same time dollar volumes for Canadian real estate investment have […]
Exuberant Canadian real estate buyers sent home prices soaring during the pandemic. Now some provinces have severely overvalued housing markets, according to Moody’s. The credit rating giant’s provincial models show severe overvaluations in provinces like Ontario. Analysts from the firm forecast this will result in slow price growth over the next few years. Not all […]
Canadian real estate prices are soaring due to demand, but how much of it is excess? That’s a question BMO tackled in its latest research note, looking at home sale dollar volumes. The bank estimates excess demand driven by the central bank is now the size of 6 points of gross domestic product (GDP). Remember, […]
Canada’s largest real estate board confirmed it’s building a for-profit subsidiary. The Toronto Real Estate Board (TRREB) emailed members to announce its new for-profit plan. This comes after brokers began to rally support for an inquiry into the decision to pursue profits. Some allege the plan was done in secret, but the board says they […]
A power struggle is quietly building at Canada’s largest real estate board. Brokers at the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) received an anonymous letter calling for an inquiry into its management. The letter claims the non-profit board is creating a for-profit entity without member approval. This lit up broker chats, which are rallying support […]
Australian lawmakers are learning how home prices have been inflated by money laundering. The Senate committee investigating the adequacy of anti-money laundering laws continues this week. A piece tabled is a study showing how high-profile individuals with questionable cash should have set off alarms. Instead, they were able to move millions of dollars of unknown […]
BC’s Inquiry Into Money Laundering might be wrapping up, but there’s still a lot of data to trawl through. One data set is from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and cash seized from travelers. Between April 2015 and March 2020, the agency seized well over $100 million in undeclared large cash holdings from travelers. […]
