“Homelessness & Affordability Crisis”

Vancouver officials say dozens of homeless people staying in the city’s only legal encampment have to temporarily move because the site has become unsafe and unhygienic.

Deputy city manager Sandra Singh says the section of Crab Park designated for the tent city will be shut for a week starting March 25 so equipment can be brought in to clean piles of debris and unsafe structures.

Consumers in Ontario and British Columbia increasingly missed payments on mortgages and credit cards in the fourth quarter of 2023, Equifax Canada said.

The fourth quarter saw a continuation of what’s been happening for a while now as the impacts of higher interest rates and inflation continue to weigh on consumers, said Rebecca Oakes, vice-president of advanced analytics at Equifax Canada, in an interview.

Homeless camps are full of stories that justifiably tug at heartstrings: residents are destitute, often abandoned by their families, and often victims of crime. But that doesn’t mean that governments should surrender public space to maintain nylon shantytowns. Indeed, they really shouldn’t.

But that’s the suggestion of the federal housing advocate. Her name is Marie-Josée Houle, and her final report on the management of homeless camps was released earlier this month. In her report, she recommends, among many other things, a nationwide end to “forced evictions” of homeless camps.

Greater Toronto’s soaring prices got a lift from mortgage fraud at a major bank. Earlier this month investigative journalist Sam Cooper and The Bureau, revealed whistleblower allegations of a massive mortgage fraud scheme at HSBC Canada’s Greater Toronto operations. RBC acquired the bank shortly after the alleged incidents occurred, with the government approving the sale just a few weeks ago. Now a Canadian lawmaker wants an investigation into the issue and for the country’s largest bank to set aside $100 million for any resulting fines.

Ontario’s regional planning authorities are overstating the number of lots that are ready for construction by nearly a million housing units, according to a new study commissioned by groups representing the province’s building and land development industry, a discrepancy the industry says debunks any notion it is “sitting on supply.”

VANCOUVER – Renters across the country faced record low vacancy rates and record high rent increases in 2023, but Statistics Canada says Toronto and Vancouver residents who don’t own their homes face the greatest financial and mental pressures.

The agency says survey results over the last few years show renters are more prone to reporting lower quality of life than homeowners, especially in Vancouver and Toronto.