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March 2013 Ontario Economic Fundamentals

Ally

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Collapse of oilsands boom would scramble the Canadian economy





Disregarding global warming and the risk of putting all your eggs in one basket, the Harper government has bet Canada`s economic future on the oilsands. But do we want to return to a time when Ontario consumers paid half a billion dollars to subsidize an imperilled Alberta oil industry, with two-thirds of its capacity shut in for lack of sales?






At risk are hundreds of billions of dollars in jobs, government and industry revenue, and capital investment. Essential to diminishing hopes for an oilsands bonanza are three proposed pipelines, costing $17 billion, to move oil to the U.S. Gulf Coast and to the West Coast for tanker shipment to China. There is no certainty they will be built ` even assuming government authorizations.






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Canada and Ontario to invest in Highway 403 rehabilitation work in Hamilton






HAMILTON, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - March 15, 2013) -
Motorists using Highway 403, one of Ontario's busiest highways in the Hamilton area, will benefit from major road and bridge improvements thanks to joint federal-provincial funding announced today, on behalf of the Honourable Denis Lebel, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, and the Honourable Glen Murray, Ontario Minister of Transportation and Minister of Infrastructure.




"Safe and dependable highways are essential for our economy to grow," said David Sweet, Member of Parliament for Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale. "Upgrading local transportation infrastructure supports productivity, facilitates trade and promotes economic development in our area."





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Building for the future in Sudbury



Whether it's splitting a house into apartments or building hundreds of units, housing development proposals that come before the city are often met with their fair share of concern and outright opposition.





These concerns are almost always the same: Parking, traffic, the environment, that the feel of a neighbourhood will be changed and fear of lowered property values.





Charles Ramcharan, a biology professor at Laurentian University, said the environmental concerns are certainly valid. But, he added, develop-m ent needs to happen for cities to be self-sustaining and less costly to live in.





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Condos headed to Scarborough?




Well, it looks like we have a new condo headed to Scarborough! On the morning of March 12, Urbanation announced via Twitter that 3560 St. Clair Ave. (Kennedy and St. Clair) was sold to insoho Developments late last year for $850,000. A pretty good deal, considering the asking price was $1,349,000.




insoho Developments has opened registrations for their condo development, Imagine Condos. 3560 St. Clair Ave. is a pretty significant site, considering it`s just under an acre in size, it`s close to subway and other public transit, and it fronts three major arteries: Kennedy, St. Clair, and Danforth.





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Ottawa resale home market drops 9% in February




OTTAWA ` The market for resale home sales in Ottawa remained sluggish in February, according to the Ottawa Real Estate Board.




Figures released by the board Tuesday showed a 9.3-per-cent drop in sales compared with February 2012. According to the board, a total of 914 resale homes were sold through the board`s multiple listings service, down from 1,008 a year earlier.





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Juction Triangle fixer-upper creates a frenzy





It has a leaky roof and needs an `extreme renovation,` but the detached house in the sought-after Junction Triangle neighbourhood has gone so viral since being listed on MLS Sunday, realtors have had to do crowd control.






Close to 300 people have called, emailed or walked through the dilapidated house this week, which is listed at $419,900, causing traffic jams on the usually quiet Armstrong Ave. in the Wallace-Emerson area of Toronto`s west end.






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Ontario says no to special casino deal for Toronto




The Ontario government has stipulated that the same funding formula for casinos will be used everywhere, derailing a lottery corporation arrangement that was attacked for appearing to treat Toronto preferentially.




Premier Kathleen Wynne is adamant that she would not approve special terms for Toronto in the event city councillors approve a casino, a government official told The Globe and Mail on Sunday. `The hosting formula for Toronto will be the same as the one for other communities,` the official said.



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Transit funding tools




Yesterday, BILD President and CEO Bryan Tuckey and BILD Chair Steve Upton attended the Toronto Region Board of Trade`s announcement of its funding recommendations for Metrolinx`s The Big Move.




`It is time to get moving and invest in the execution of Metrolinx`s regional transportation plan because this is critical infrastructure that is needed for the long-term prosperity of the GTA,` said Tuckey.





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Did you know? Renting out a private parking spot in Toronto is illegal





For $80 a month, you can rent a west-end driveway on College St. Or there`s an off-lane spot in the Annex for $100. A Yorkville driveway goes for $12 per day.






Kijiji, Craigslist and parkatmyhouse.com list dozens of available parking spots for rent in Toronto. The problem, however, is that renting out private parking is technically illegal in this city and could result in a $25,000 fine, although that`s unlikely.






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Walkability and economic value



The Real Estate Investment Network (REIN) has just published an article on the impact of walkability on real estate prices, using walkscore.com walkability scores as a proxy.





If you haven't heard of it, walkscore.com is a Google map mashup that computes a location's walkability (on a scale from 0 to 100) based on the number and variety of destinations within 1.6 kilometres (1 mile).





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Toronto market sees low-rise sales overtake high-rise salse in February





RealNet Canada released new sales figures for February. And according to the tallies of the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD), sales of detached, semis and townhouses overtook condo sales for the first time in a long time.



February saw new home buyers purchase 1,078 low-rises. Despite that count being the second-lowest February in the last fourteen years, houses outperformed high-rises, which accounted for 952 purchases. Compared to February 2012, that`s a 7 per cent decline.





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Walton preparing development plans for massive land holdings in southwest Ottawa






Walton International Ontario executive Jason Child said the firm is currently consulting with municipal officials as well as local residents and businesses to research the best use of the roughly 3,200 acres of rural land under its control.






That process will then culminate with an application to the city, he said, though he declined to say what sort of proposal that would be.





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Oakville gas plant would never have got a building permit, mayor says




Oakville was on track to block the building of a controversial power plant when former premier Dalton McGuinty`s government decided to cancel it amid strong community opposition, Mayor Rob Burton said Tuesday.





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Watch Ben Myers of Urbanation dispel media misinformation about the Toronto market





Ben Myers, the Senior Vice President at Urbanation, has long been one of the most articulate voices speaking out against the Toronto market doomsayers. You wouldn`t call him an optimistic necessarily, just an undeniably well-informed individual with concrete facts about the market to back up his claims.






Last month Ben spoke at the Fortress 2013 Kick Off at Trump Hotel in downtown Toronto. The aim of his presentation was to dispel some of the misinformation recently published by the media about the Toronto market.





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25 storey Bathurst condo approved in 4-3 vote




Intensification of what Ward 5 councillor Alan Shefman called the most intensely developed area of York Region got even more of the same with the approval of a 25-storey residential building at Vaughan council Tuesday.




Despite a plea from Mr. Shefman, who represents the Thornhill ward, the building, to be constructed at Beverley Glen Boulevard and and fronting Bathurst Street, was approved in a 4-3 recorded vote at council.





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Vaughan poised to become the Vegas above Toronto?






TORONTO - Is the city above Toronto poised to become the Vegas above Toronto?




Mayor Rob Ford and Councillor Doug Ford were warning Toronto could miss out on a jackpot if the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation places a casino in the new spot on its gaming plan for the GTA in Vaughan.





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Are Toronto's new condos built to last?





Toronto needs its glass consciousness raised.






Building experts say resiliency and energy efficiency are going out the window with all those floor-to-ceiling glass walls being installed in the city`s towering condos.






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Slipping home construction in Ottawa indicates cooldown in capital housing market




Toronto, Ontario ` According to the latest data published by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, housing construction in Ottawa has declined in February. According to Marcus Arkan, CTO of Syndicate Mortgages, this could be a sign of a long term cool-down in Ottawa`s previously red hot housing market.




The latest data was also published by Ottawa`s major newspaper Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa Citizen reported on CMHC`s data in an article published on 8th March, 2013. According to the article, dipping construction is the latest sign of the Ottawa housing market decline. Mr. Arkan also predicted a slowdown in Ottawa. However, he refuted the speculations about a severe cool-down. `As mortgage experts, we have witnessed a red hot Ottawa market, but now the situation is changing all over Canada. Decline in construction is a very clear indicator of what the future might hold for Ottawa. Yet, Ottawa market is expected to remain strong as compared to a majority of other cities.`





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