November 2011 Ontario Economic Fundamentals

[Ally]

Good news for boomers, as kids finally move out

The bad news? They may have nowhere to go




The echo boomers are finally moving out of their parents` homes and expected to be the biggest rush of renters to hit Toronto`s housing market since the early 1990s, according to projections by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.




But they`re likely to be renting for quite a while ` much longer than their parents, thanks to a job market that remains tentative and offers far less of the stable, full-time employment that made their parents the most affluent generation of all time.




That boom in rental demand is already being felt with bidding wars for prime units and vacancy rates for apartments and rental condos hovering at 1.6 per cent, the lowest vacancy rate in a decade, says Shaun Hildebrand, CMHC`s senior market analyst for the GTA.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Sudbury in economic sweet spot




Sudbury is still an "economic sweet spot" when it comes to job creation, but faces the prospect of labour shortages, a Laurentian University economist says.




David Robinson made the comments in an analysis of October's employment numbers released Friday by Statistics Canada. They showed the unemployment rate in the city dropped to 6.3% last month, compared to the national unemployment rate of 7.3%. Ontario's jobless rate was 7.6% in October.




"We said last month that Sudbury was in the economic sweet spot for Canada's economy," Robinson wrote in his analysis, posted Friday on the Institute of Northern Ontario Research and Development website. "It remains true. Ontario's economy is stalled but employment in Sudbury rose 1.1%, which is just slightly less than the 1.3% increase reported last month. Employment rose by 900 on a base of 83,800.





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[Ally]

Average prices increasing in the Durham region



Durham Region REALTORSÂ reported 800 sales in October which is a nine per cent decrease from September. So far in 2011 there have been a total of 8,605 sales in Durham Region.





In October, 1,352 new listings entered the market place bringing to total number of available homes to 2,167. `We are beginning to see the market slow as the temperature drops. The number of listings is down 20 per cent this month from September bringing the number of available listings down six per cent over all,` reported Dierdre Mullen, President of the Durham Region Association of REALTORSÂ.





However, the average selling price of a home in Durham Region still shows modest gains of 1% to $319,807 in October compared to $317,634 in September. This number is also slightly higher than the Year-to-Date average sales price of $317,447.





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[Ally]

Condos are driving up demand for downtown offices




All those new downtown condos that are now home to bright, young workers are helping drive demand for office space away from the suburbs and back into Toronto`s core, a new report says.




Also fuelling the increasing demand ` so strong that the vacancy rate for downtown office space fell to 5.1 per cent in Q3 ` is interest in new environmentally sound office towers, redevelopment of the waterfront and frustration with long commutes.




Toronto isn`t alone, according to commercial real estate brokerage Cushman & Wakefield`s Occupier Insight Report released Wednesday.





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[Ally]

Politicians revise Waterloo train route




WATERLOO ` Regional councillors have revised the route for rail transit in downtown Waterloo, voting 11-0 Tuesday to make changes. The revised route:






` Maintains northbound trains on King Street and southbound trains on Caroline Street, but switches trains to the west side of Caroline.






` Relocates northbound trains to the spur line beside Waterloo Town Square, rather than using Erb Street.




` Adds stations in both directions at Allen and King streets.






` Relocates a northbound station to the spur line, from Willis Way.





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[Ally]

North America back in the saddles as black gold superpower




The real price of oil has been a mystery for the past two years. In Europe, the benchmark Brent crude climbed while North America`s benchmark, West Texas intermediate, went in the opposite direction. The result was a mismatch between the two that bore no relation to economic reality.




At one point last summer, the difference, or `spread` between the two crudes went to $27 (U.S.) a barrel and there was no shortage of Wall Street smarties, among them Morgan Stanley, who predicted the gap would go to $40 or $50 a barrel. Cue the hedge funds. Having made a killing when the spread went from $10 to $20, they piled in again, expecting the spread to double once more.





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[Ally]

Inflation eases, analysts eye Carney's next move




The rise in prices Canadians pay for most goods began to moderate last month, dipping below 3 per cent for the first time since July and beginning what analysts expect is a trend to lower inflation.




Statistics Canada said Friday that annualized inflation fell three-tenths of a point to 2.9 per cent in October, while the core index ` which excludes volatile items such as energy and some fresh foods ` edged down a notch to 2.1 per cent.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

They walked from house deal and were sued




The paperwork that comes with many real estate deals says the terms of the sale are `conditional on lawyer approval.`




This clause confuses buyers, sellers and real estate agents and rightly so. What is the lawyer supposed to be approving? The price? Some particular part of the contract? Does the phrase give someone the right to walk away if the lawyer does not find anything really wrong with it?




The law says that every condition must be exercised in good faith. You can`t just say `I changed my mind` and walk away from a deal. But in practice, it is not so easy to understand, as we see in the following two cases.





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[Ally]

WTO ruling could have meat flowing once more




WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Canada can expect "significant positive news" on Friday from a World Trade Organization ruling about a U.S. meat labeling law, Canadian government sources said Thursday.




The law currently requires U.S. packers to label meat with the name of country it is from, raising their costs and discouraging imports of cattle and hogs.




Trade Minister Ed Fast and Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz will hold a news conference on Friday at an Alberta ranch. A government advisory said they will announce "significant positive news" for livestock producers.





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[Ally]

CREA ups 2011 sales forecast




The Canadian Real Estate Association has raised its sales and price estimates for 2011 after stronger than expected activity in the second and third quarters.




CREA said it`s now expecting national sales to reach 450,800 units this year, that`s up less than 1%. The association had been expecting a decline of about 1%. However, it said it has cut its estimates slightly for next year because higher prices are eroding affordability.




National sales activity in 2012 is forecast to ease seven-tenths of a percentage point to 447,700 units, which is roughly on par with its 10-year average.





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[Ally]

Where the jobs will be




Economic uncertainty, the spectre of a jobless recovery and debt crises threatening the eurozone ` no economy stands immune from the instability.




But there are bright spots amid the gloom.




Jobs by the tens of thousands are opening in the Canadian mining industry ` one of the top five sectors expected to be hiring in 2015, trend analysts say. Canadian job forecasters also predict employment growth in oil-and-gas, health care, construction, and information and communications technology.





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[Ally]

Ontario lags on 'prosperity potential'




Ontario has done a lot of things right to become more competitive in the past decade, but so far those efforts aren`t translating into greater prosperity, a new report says.




In fact, Ontario has slipped further behind major American states and is now losing ground against many other provinces in per-capita gross domestic product, according to the 10th annual report of Ontario`s Task Force on Competitiveness, Productivity and Economic Progress.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Bradford taxes climb by $104



Barring any final adjustments, property taxes in Bradford West Gwillimbury are poised to rise by about 4.28 per cent.





For a resident with a home assessed at $333,920, that figure means you`ll be paying the town another $63 per year or so. However, once the police, Simcoe County and education levies are factored in, the blended increase is projected to be about 2.73 per cent in total or an additional $104.98 per year on average.





The police services board, the county and Ministry of Finance, which is responsible for the residential education tax rate, have yet to finalize their figures, treasurer Ian Goodfellow explained at Tuesday`s special budget meeting, but noted the figures listed in his presentation were a reasonable estimate.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Barrie home to hydro command centre



BARRIE - For most of us, high tech control rooms with sprawling wall mounted computer screens and masses of interconnected terminals are the stuff of movies and space ships.



But tucked away in Barrie is one of the most sophisticated control rooms in the world.





At the Ontario Grid Control Centre (OGCC) on Sarjeant Drive, the control room monitors Hydro One`s electricity transmission and distribution networks for the province of Ontario.





`We have some of the most sophisticated technology in the world,` said John Hamilton, Manager of Grid Operations, Distribution. `We are very much on the cutting edge.`





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Alliston Honda plant adding 400 jobs





ALLISTON - Early next year, the Alliston Honda plant is adding 400 new jobs to its workforce.





Honda of Canada Mfg. made the announcement this morning Tues., March 30, 2010). The new jobs will allow the Plant 2 to return to two production shifts.





Since 2008 Honda's Plant 2 in Alliston has been operating at half-production, producing 400 vehicles per day. Adding the 400 new positions in 2011 will increase the daily production to 600 units per day by spring 2011.





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[Ally]

McGuinty needs to give us more than promises




There are two sides to Premier Dalton McGuinty keeping his election promise of a 30% tuition break for Ontario's college and university students.




OK, three if you count a politician actually keeping an election promise.




The tuition break, actually in the form of a grant, will be good for post-secondary students -- saving each $1,600 in university fees and $730 in college fees annually. Ontario has some of the highest university and college fees in Canada.




But the flip side is affordability.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Laurentian University outlines ambitious plans for Barrie



Laurentian University`s vision for downtown Barrie includes a vibrant new campus in the city core with enrolment of 3,000 students by 2020, says Laurentian President and Vice-Chancellor Dominic Giroux.







The Laurentian President came before City Council last night to outline the university`s ambitious expansion plans, and to update the community on the steps Laurentian and the City will be taking in the months ahead.





`We believe that there is a need for a standalone campus in downtown Barrie, and we hope to be signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the City over the next few weeks,` said President Giroux. `Laurentian`s vision for Barrie aligns with the provincial Growth Plan and also meshes perfectly with the City`s strategic goal of a post-secondary presence in the city centre.`





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

University campus process set in motion



Barrie's university campus cards are on the table, now it awaits the province's hand.





Council gave final approval Monday to a motion asking the Liberals to designate Barrie for the province's next university campus, as well as committing $14 million in city money toward a downtown campus.





"Whatever process the province sets out, whatever that will be, we need to make it clear that we are university ready," said Coun. Lynn Strachan, who represents the downtown.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Libs will deliver LRT money



The $600 million from the province to help fund Ottawa`s $2.1 billion LRT plan isn`t going anywhere, a senior cabinet minister says.





Bob Chiarelli, minister of infrastructure and transportation, told reporters at Ottawa City Hall Friday that despite massive budget challenges at the province, the LRT money is `strongly committed and there is no likelihood in any way, shape or form that it will be withdrawn.`





The feds have also committed $600 million and Chiarelli said all three levels of government have signed a contribution agreement.





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[Ally]

Creating jobs and growing the economy - the three E's




During the election campaign, my platform to support economic growth in Barrie was based on what we called the `three E`s` ` Expansion (growing companies in Barrie), Entrepreneurship, and Education (particularly, post-secondary).




On Education, 2011 has seen the opening of the largest expansion in Georgian College`s history, the 165,000 SF health and wellness building, which the City supported in a number of ways. But the very exciting news now is that Barrie seems closer than ever to achieving the dream of a university campus in our city, with both Provincial parties promising capital investment in universities after the election, and Barrie being talked about all over Ontario as the next city to get a campus. This is absolutely critical for our city - for our economic growth and for our kids to have the same range of opportunities as other cities.




On Entrepreneurship, I have put together a team of volunteers from the community to come up with proposals to pull together the huge range of resources available to small and medium size enterprises (SME`s) in Barrie. I want us to start working together closely to foster entrepreneurship ` we have many small organizations doing great things, and more starting up all the time, but they too often work in isolation. Together, these groups can become a powerful resource to SMEs, providing support in everything from financing, to business plans, to marketing, to finding new customers.





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