Dec. 15, 2010: Winnipeg city council approves demolition of the Shanghai Restaurant building at 228 King St. with the following condition for redevelopment: "preparation of a firm redevelopment proposal and a formal application for a building permit."
July 18, 2012: Approval for demolition is granted with the following change to the original conditions: "receipt of an urban design submission that meets the intent of council not to allow a surface parking area."
"We found something in town but it's very small," said Filz.
"We had to take what we could get but we have never stopped looking for something bigger," he added.
Filz moved from Winnipeg to the opportunity city in October of 2011, coming for a job in IT management. Unable to find a place to live when he first moved, Filz spent a very cold October and November living in a camper trailer parked near Lampman, making the daily commute to the city.
Canada's two hottest housing markets may finally be cooling, but industry officials insist the chill hasn't descended on Winnipeg, in spite of two consecutive monthly declines in MLS sales.
On the contrary, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. is still predicting Winnipeg will set a record for MLS sales this year.
Officials with both CMHC and WinnipegRealtors said Friday the two per cent sales declines in both June and July were too small to be considered a sign of a slowdown.
New housing starts in Saskatoon remained stable in July, according to a new report released today by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
CMHC says there were 212 housing starts last month, up slightly from 203 units in July 2011.
Of those, 138 were single family homes and 74 were multi-family units.
MANITOBA'S unemployment rate jumped to its highest level in more than a year -- 5.7 per cent -- last month after more than 5,000 full-time jobs disappeared from the local economy, Statistics Canada figures show.
The agency's July labour force survey showed the province shed an estimated 5,100 full-time jobs in July. While it also added 1,800 part-time jobs, that still left Manitoba with a net loss of about 3,300 positions.
Joe, a retired house painter, is wedged into a corner between the window and his television by a roomful of trash -- food containers, dirty clothes, mangy chairs, saggy boxes and bags.
"I'm living in a dump," said the 75-year-old, who still has an accent from his native Hungary. "I can't find anything better."
A tenant named Chris prepares to move out of the house, which he has lived in for free while doing repair jobs for the past several months. (JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)
Joe has been living in the Pritchard Avenue rooming house with at least three other men for more than two years. He has a bath once a week in the grimy communal washroom, fries an egg or two on his hotplate and, stooped and slow-moving, clambers over his recliner to get into his debris-filled bedroom. He pays $350 a month.
Asked whether he could clean up a little, he said, "What for?"
"It's going to be the same tomorrow or next week, so forget it."
Monday brought the news (from the economics research arm of the Royal Bank) that this province "saw one of the most significant deteriorations in housing affordability in Canada in the second quarter of 2012" - economicspeak for rising prices and rents that make it harder for residents to buy homes or find apartments at affordable prices.
It's not good news. The middle class is squeezed badly enough by a tight housing market; as one goes down the economic scale, problems become worse and worse.
REGINA - Tuesday morning twenty-four new family rental suites officially opened in the Coronation Park area of Regina.
“Once you get into your own home, that’s a dream for many people in Regina,” says Regina Walsh Acres MLA Warren Steinley who was there on behalf of Social Services Minister and Minister for the Saskatchewan Housing Corporation June Draude.
Since November 2007, 309 affordable rental units have been added to Regina’s landscape.
However, when it comes to housing the Government of Saskatchewan admits more needs to be done.
Hubich is president of the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour. Weir is president of the Progressive Economics Forum.
Recent Saskatchewan government news releases trumpet record numbers for wholesale trade, building permits and exports. But as Labour Day approaches, we should consider that many Saskatchewan workers do not share in the prosperity they create.
In particular, our province now has the embarrassing distinction of Canada's lowest minimum wage. On Saturday, Alberta's hourly minimum pay rises to $9.75, leaving Saskatchewan in last place at $9.50.