0109HAMN 1 in 3 city homes fail lead test One in three homes with lead pipes that were tested by the city had unsafe drinking water. Mandatory testing done last fall on 116 homes with lead pipes found 38 of them exceeded Ontario`s maximum allowable concentration for lead in drinking water of...

0109WIND U.S. pushes ahead with new bridge A new bridge that will link Windsor and Detroit crossed a key hurdle late Wednesday when the U.S. government gave final environmental approval for the multi-billion-dollar project. The decision allows the State of Michigan to begin property...

Canadians abandon mutual funds Canadians pulled more money out of mutual funds than they put in last month, capping a disastrous year for the fund industry and putting a dark cloud over projections for the coming RRSP season. Investors redeemed $13.7 billion worth of mutual funds in December...

0109TNTO GTA TTC a barrier to transit plans, Metrolinx says Metrolinx wants the province to designate it a mega-transit authority, with the power to decide where TTC and other regional transit systems will pick up passengers, and which fares and transfers riders use when crossing city borders...

0109TNTO Jarvis St. must change with evolving environs As Toronto goes, so goes Jarvis St. In its heyday during the late 1800s, Jarvis was the place to live; Masseys, Mulocks and Cawthras could be seen there, as could Ontario Premier Oliver Mowat. The mansions were among the grandest in the...

0109VANC Downturn leaves development hanging -- literally For many Vancouverites, the symbol of the Great Depression was the Hotel Vancouver. Construction on the hotel began in 1928, but was stopped in 1930, and the building wasn`t finished until 1939. Which means the shell of the building...

0109VICT Building permit values up 10% The value of non-residential building permits issued in Greater Victoria increased 10 per cent in the last four months of 2008, despite what is widely believed to be a slide into recession during the quarter, Statistics Canada reported yesterday. There...

0109BCBC B.C. job market expected to shrink The Economic Analysis of British Columbia report predicts total employment in 2009 will fall by 42,500 persons, and another 6,500 persons in 2010 before rebounding in 2011. British Columbia`s job market will shrink almost two per cent in 2009 as the...

0109VICT (Langford) Langford cuts fees to encourage building Langford plans to waive residential building fees on new housing, and will offer 10-year tax holidays for new government-office construction and rental accommodation as part of its own economic stimulus package to be announced this...

0109CALG Office construction to slow More than eight million square feet of office space in Calgary is set for completion between 2009 and 2011 and pre-leasing levels of 60 per cent have helped alleviate pent-up demand in an otherwise tight market, says global real estate firm DTZ Barnicke. In...

0109CALG Calgary`s MLS average price drop leads nation, volume decline trails only Vancouver Calgary was second in the country for the biggest percentage annual decline in MLS residential sales in 2008 - and the city led the country in the average sale price drop, according to stats released...

0109ALTA Youthful Albertans seen as economically resilient Alberta is well-poised to weather the looming recession as new statistics show it remains Canada`s most youthful province. Young adults, the backbone of the country`s mobile workforce, have more options in an economic downturn, experts...

0109ALTA Cash-strapped Alberta faces possible deep spending cuts, Stelmach says Premier Ed Stelmach hinted Thursday the economic downturn could force cash-strapped Alberta --which is forecasting possible deficits in the near future--to revisit deep spending cuts experienced in the early 1990s...

0109EDTN Sector`s numbers build for `09 After what was a banner year in 2008, Edmonton`s non-residential construction industry doesn`t expect a collapse this year. "There`s guarded optimism," said Michael Spitowski, president of the Edmonton Construction Association. The organization, which...

0109EDTN Tight for space After a hot summer, Colliers International says the city`s downtown office market is showing signs of cooling - but only slightly. Ian Bradley, the real estate company`s senior vice-president of office leasing in Edmonton, said he expects the suburban sublet office...

0109ALTA Alberta won`t copy B.C. on stumpage fees The Alberta government won`t follow B.C. and lower stumpage rates for the hard-hit forestry industry. Premier Gordon Campbell dropped stumpage rates on the B.C. coast by 50 per cent to $5 a cubic metre Wednesday as part of a plan to kickstart...

0109EDTN Edmonton airport leads pack in growth The international airport led the country in passenger growth for the third year in a row, and it`s one of the few major airports forecasting more growth this year. Passenger numbers jumped six per cent to a record 6.5 million, with domestic...

Housing sales, prices down again in December The Canadian housing market continued its decline in the last month of 2008, according to figures released Thursday by the Canadian Real Estate Association. The group said the average price of listed homes sold through registered agents in December...

0109FTSK Future of bitumen upgraders gloomy The possible bankruptcy of the builder of a partially completed $4-billion bitumen upgrader near Fort Saskatchewan is part of a larger picture of gloom faced by firms hoping to process Alberta`s bitumen within the province, says a group representing...

0109EDTN Province throws city $1M curveball over property assessment fees A surprise provincial move limiting the fees municipalities can charge business owners to appeal their property assessments is going to chop city revenues this year by nearly $1 million. The 2009 Edmonton budget that...