B.C. is expanding the reach of its speculation and vacancy tax. The tax — meant to discourage housing speculation and vacant homes in major urban centres — will soon apply to North Cowichan, Duncan, Ladysmith and Lake Cowichan on Vancouver Island and to Lions Bay and Squamish on the Sea...
Studying the option of no charge transit services for OC Transpo riders could cost the City of Ottawa nearly one million dollars a memo states. A memo to Ottawa city council sent by Renée Amilcar, the general manager of the City's transit services and Wendy Stephanson, the City's chief...
The Ford government on Wednesday approved the highest rent increases in almost a decade. Rents in 2023 will be capped at a maximum 2.5 per cent, more than double the 2022 increase but the province says its lower than it could have been given current inflation rates. However, the cap does...
Housing in Canada might feel like it's in a perpetual state of unaffordability, but there's a chance that the Canadian housing market has peaked and we could see a bit of a decline in prices by 2023. According to a study conducted by Desjardins, wannabe homebuyers can expect to see...
The federal government has approved a new, approximately $10-billion loan guarantee for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, a move it says is common practice and does not reflect any additional public funding for the high-profile, over-budget oil pipeline. The Trans Mountain pipeline is Canada's only oil pipeline system from Alberta...
The minimum wage in Saskatchewan will increase to $13 per hour starting Oct. 1 this year and $15 per hour by 2024. At Star Egg and Maple Leaf Foods facilities in Saskatoon, Pat Horbay says many employees are working two jobs because they only make around minimum wage. The extra hours...
Owners of vacant residential properties in Vancouver will face a stiffer penalty next year. Vancouver city council voted unanimously Wednesday to approve increasing the city’s Empty Homes Tax from three per cent to five per cent for the 2023 reference year. The tax hike was proposed by Mayor Kennedy Stewart, who...
Vancouver city council will decide at the end of this month whether to increase the empty homes tax to five per cent of the assessed value of vacant homes. The tax was conceived by the Coalition of Progressive Electors in 2014 and introduced in 2017 by Vision Vancouver at the...
B.C. plans to raise its minimum wage by 2.96%, or $0.45, to $15.65 per hour, on June 1, Labour Minister Harry Bainssaid today. He explained that the province's Fair Wages Commission travelled the province, consulting businesses and other stakeholders, and recommended the increase, which was based on a 2.8% inflation...
The Bank of Canada raised its overnight lending rate by 25 basis points to 0.50 per cent on Wednesday, marking the first time the central bank has tightened monetary policy since 2018, while highlighting how Russia's attack on Ukraine could weigh on global growth and lift commodity prices further. The...