Time for your cheat sheet on this week’s top stories. Canadian Real Estate Canadian Variable-Rate Mortgages Surge As BoC Recreates Renewal Trap 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’t fresh demand—it was a wave of renewals arriving five years after […]
Canadian employment wasn’t impressive last month, but it was the best Labour Force Survey (LFS) of 2026. Statistics Canada (StatCan) data shows minor job growth, with unemployment unchanged in March. The AI and trade war job cuts that everyone fears? It turns out employment is stabilizing, layoffs are lower than expected, and heck—wages are even […]
Canadian borrowers are aggressively returning to variable-rate loans after hitting record lows just a few years ago. Bank of Canada (BoC) data shows uninsured mortgage funds advanced—cash lenders provide for originations, renewals, and refinancing—hit a new peak in January. While the overall funding reached a monthly high, annual growth is slowing, masked by some of […]
Ontario real estate developers are raising prices despite facing some of the weakest demand on record. The reason? The Government of Ontario’s expanded Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) relief. The thinly veiled bailout is already undermining policymaker narratives few believed, with experts warning the “savings” are being rolled into higher new home prices. Ontario’s Latest Builder […]
Toronto real estate might be in a glut, but that didn’t stop buyers from paying more last month. Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) data shows prices climbed in March. Despite another monthly uptick, sales remain weak, and inventory continues to be elevated, as bearish conditions persist for the market. Toronto Real Estate Prices Rise […]
Canada’s population is shrinking for the first time since Confederation, but not all provinces are shrinking. Statistics Canada’s (StatCan) Q1 2026 population estimates show a 0.25% decline (-103.5k people) to 41.47 million, with most of the drop coming from Ontario. Meanwhile, Alberta is the sole province growing—a divergence shaped by tighter immigration policy hitting some […]
Time for your cheat sheet on this week’s top stories. Canadian Real Estate Canadian Banks See Mortgage Delinquencies Hit 2015 Recession Levels Canadian banks rarely see mortgage delinquencies surge, but they are now. The CBA national arrears rate climbed to 0.27% in January, the highest level since 2017. The banks held 13,422 mortgages in arrears […]
Vancouver home prices demonstrated resilience against rising rates, and they may be doing the same with weakening demand. Greater Vancouver Realtors (GVREB) data shows prices rose in March, a first in a very long time for the region. Before declaring the market back from the dead, the minor growth may be noise, considering that sales […]
Canadians said goodbye to lower gas prices and hello to higher inflation last month, as the Iran War shocks global oil markets. Gas prices made the sharpest surge on record in March, according to BMO Capital Markets. The bank warns this will drive the Consumer Price Index (CPI) much higher, even before considering the spillover […]
Ontario’s real estate woes are quickly turning into one of the worst downturns in the province’s history. Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) data shows mortgages in arrears surged in January, reaching 5x the lows seen just four years prior. The surge has pushed Ontario’s arrears rate above the national rate, something that’s only occurred twice before. […]
