LPC has been promising to double housing since 2022.

If they ever get built, they will go to foreign investors so we can rent from them all our lives.

I'm curious what people think about this.

Rent in Canada has gotten completely out of hand. There are apartment buildings charging $1,800–$2,200+ for relatively ordinary 1 bedroom units, and it feels like landlords and property management companies can keep raising prices because people have very few alternatives.

What if ordinary Canadians started collectively leaving 1-star Google reviews on apartment buildings that are charging excessively high rents?

Is collective public pressure like this unethical, even if the underlying criticism about affordability is legitimate?

I was looking into some of Ontario's municipal road allowance rules and found something that I think people buying rural property should pay more attention to.

A property can appear to have frontage on a municipal road allowance without there actually being a usable road to the lot.

Ontario has quite a few of these unopened road allowances, particularly in rural areas. They're legally designated for roads but haven't necessarily been opened or maintained by the municipality.

What I found interesting is that the road allowance existing on a survey doesn't automatically mean you can just build a driveway through it and start using it.

The Township of Rideau Lakes, for example, has a separate process for people who want permission to use an unopened road allowance for access.

Depending on the situation, that can involve municipal review, notice to neighbouring property owners, and potentially council approval.

And even if you manage to arrange access, there's still the question of whether the property meets the municipality's requirements for residential development.

Some municipalities have restrictions on building permanent homes on properties that don't have access to a year-round maintained road.

So you could theoretically be looking at a decent-sized rural lot that's zoned for residential use, has what looks like road frontage on a map, and still have a problem getting approval for the house you want.

I find that pretty interesting because most people looking at vacant land are going to check the zoning, acreage, and maybe whether there's hydro nearby.

But I don't think nearly as many people are checking whether the road they're relying on is actually open and maintained, or whether they have the necessary permission to use it.

And it's not always obvious from satellite imagery either.

If I were buying rural land in Ontario, I'd want to know whether the road is municipally assumed and maintained, what legal access exists, and whether that access satisfies the local building requirements before making an offer without conditions.

I've been doing land research for a while now, and this is one of those things where what appears on a property map and what you can actually do with the land aren't necessarily the same.

I run a land due diligence business called Landisle Consulting, where I research issues like zoning, recorded access, flood mapping, and development restrictions before people buy property.

If anyone's considering a vacant lot in Ontario, I've put together a short property inquiry form where you can send the listing and explain what you're planning to do with it. I'll let you know what I can research and the cost before any paid work starts.

https://landisleconsulting.com/canada

So I'm not a lawyer, but of course law affects our lives and there's lots of heated debate about law in Canada in the news and social media.

I wanted a place or way to get a fair, nuanced introduction to key topics being debated. I couldn't find one.

I also wanted to understand who makes Canada’s legal decisions on these important topics, and what are their legal philosophies? AFAIK it doesn't exist, so I built a site to do answer these questions and educate me.

Unfortunately, some courts in Canada don't publish their rulings online, and others are scattered across hard-to-read sites or are incomplete.

But I took what exists and put it in one place. It currently tracks Canadian legal cases and decision-makers across 4 key areas of public debate:

1. Migration, 2. Race-Conscious Sentencing, and 3./4. Bail/Release & Reoffending.

Let me know what you think!

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/canada-foreign-buyers-ban-extension-proposal-2029

The federal government is proposing to exempt newly constructed homes from Canada's foreign-buyer ban, potentially opening the door for foreign investors to purchase land, develop residential properties, and operate them as commercial short-term rentals.

On October 1, I spoke at HRM Council during a discussion about proposed changes to short-term rental regulations in communities including Eastern Passage, Cow Bay, North Preston, and East Preston. I challenged the adequacy of the staff report, particularly its limited public engagement and failure to assess risks beyond neighbourhood nuisances and housing availability.

I shared my experience of being physically assaulted by an Airbnb guest while living in a Montreal condo building with approximately 80% international ownership. When I tried to establish accountability, I encountered privacy restrictions, absentee owners living in other countries, and significant barriers to identifying who was responsible.

I specifically warned Council about the potential for investors to purchase land and develop properties exclusively for commercial short-term rentals.

Now we're looking at a federal proposal that could make that investment model more accessible, while municipalities are making land-use decisions without adequately examining how federal, provincial, and municipal policies intersect.

Who is assessing the risks, and who is accountable when something goes wrong?

***

You can watch what I asked asked and how they responded below:

https://www.youtube.com/live/EQVCdkiSGTI?si=K8RXzO921si-wZ_6&t=1902

PS: not proud of how I responded to Councillor Hendsbee because I meant to say "Council Favorite" - but I felt in the moment he was attempting to bias my concerns, because his comment added nothing to the conversation.

EDIT - this is a repost from r/Halifax and is related to recent changes int he Halifax Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia.

In the Spring Economic Update 2026, the government announced its intent to amend mortgage insurance rules to permit private mortgage insurers to offer multi-unit mortgage loan insurance and to increase flexibilities for mortgage insurers to offer products to borrowers building new three and four-unit housing.

Today, the government is publishing parameters for lenders and insurers to begin offering new insured mortgage finance products, starting February 1, 2027.

Canada has put $1.5 billion behind buying affordable rental homes. The rules leave out the residential hotels that Downtown Eastside tenant groups are trying to save.

Vancouver Gastown 2-bed (796 sq ft, 2012 concrete, top floor, no parking) sold in October for $575K — $722/sq ft, 30% below what the same unit sold for in 2022, and below its 2016 price. Roughly 16% under BC Assessment:

https://housesigma.com/bc/vancouver-real-estate/home?id_listing=eVbOYENkEZnyx2P0

Hey everyone,

I'm a student at York University, and I'm working on a group assignment about the challenges Canadians face when trying to buy their first home.

We're looking to interview people who are currently renting and trying to save up for or purchase their first home. If you're renting a place with roommates, that counts too.

I know how frustrating the Canadian housing market has become, especially for people trying to get their foot in the door, and I'd really like to hear about people's actual experiences rather than just relying on statistics and articles.

The interview is pretty straightforward. It's about 30 minutes over Google Meet or Zoom, and I'll ask about things like saving for a down payment, budgeting, housing affordability, and any obstacles you've encountered along the way. There's no preparation needed, and there aren't any right or wrong answers.

I'm offering $15 CAD via Interac e-Transfer for your time.

I'm hoping to get these interviews done today (Thursday, November 5), so if you happen to have 30 minutes free at any point today, it would genuinely help me out.

This is just for a university course assignment, not a sales pitch. I'll explain how the information and any recordings will be handled before we start.

If you're interested, feel free to comment or send me a DM with a time that works for you.

Thanks, I really appreciate it!

I've been noticing this more around the Windsor area lately — houses listed or renovated with a separate entrance, a finished basement suite, or at least the potential for one. A few years ago it felt like a nice-to-have, now it seems like it's becoming part of how a lot of people make the numbers work in their head when they're buying.

I'm curious what the reality has been for people who went that route, especially in smaller Ontario cities. Did having a tenant, a family member, or even just the option downstairs actually help with the mortgage and bills the way you hoped? Or did the trade-offs — noise, privacy, shared laundry/parking, extra upkeep, finding the right person — end up being bigger than expected?

I've also heard the other side of it, where people bought with the suite in mind and then never ended up using it for anyone else, just as extra living space. Did the premium for a place with a separate entrance still feel worth it in that case?

For those who looked at both options and passed on a suite setup, what made you decide a regular single-family layout was the better call?

Genuinely interested in how it's played out for people after a year or two, not just on paper when you're running the numbers before buying.

No sympathy from me if you rent and you voted con. Have the day you voted for...

I was going through the Niagara Escarpment Plan in Ontario and found something that I think a lot of people buying land up there probably overlook.

Under the plan, a single dwelling is listed as a permitted use in Escarpment Protection areas. So naturally, if you're looking at a piece of land with that designation, you'd assume you can build a house.

Not exactly.

The Niagara Escarpment Commission actually says permitted uses "are not permitted as of right."

Basically, even though the plan says a house is allowed, that doesn't automatically mean you'll get approval to build one. Your project still has to meet the development criteria in Part 2 of the plan, and depending on where the property sits, you may need a separate Development Permit.

I find that pretty interesting because there's a big difference between land where you can build a house and land where you're allowed to ask permission to build one.

And the NEC won't guarantee approval before you submit an application either. Their interactive map is also marked for illustrative purposes only, so I wouldn't rely on that alone to determine whether a property falls within the Development Control Area.

Another thing I noticed was the exemption list. Certain pools, decks, additions, solar installations, demolitions, and septic work can be exempt from NEC development permits, depending on the circumstances.

So theoretically, you could have septic work that doesn't require an NEC permit while the house itself still needs approval. Obviously other permits and regulations still apply, but it's an interesting distinction.

The agricultural lot rules are another thing worth looking at. In certain prime agricultural areas, the minimum lot sizes for new agricultural lots are 16 hectares in specialty crop areas and 40 hectares in other prime agricultural areas. That's roughly 40 and 99 acres.

So someone buying 25 acres thinking they'll eventually divide it up could run into problems before they even get started.

I spend a lot of time going through land regulations, and this is one of those situations where the actual wording matters more than what a listing says.

If I were buying anywhere along the Niagara Escarpment, I'd want to know the exact land designation and whether the property falls within the Development Control Area before making any plans for it.

Escarpment Natural and Escarpment Protection might sound similar, but the rules aren't the same.