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Ontario Economic Fundamentals

In some neighbourhoods, Toronto`s real estate market is as hot as ever

Who says the real estate market in Toronto is softening?

The other night, sitting in the back of my friends` car waiting to learn whether $100,000 over asking is enough to win them a detached house in Riverdale over a dozen other bidders, I`m almost as nervous as they are.

I`ve been in their position before. In my case there were two other bidders, and although I don`t usually partake in a bidding war (because I believe whoever gets it overpays), I made the tactical mistake of falling for the property. I stood in the kitchen and said out loud: "I want this house."

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/t...ot-as-ever.aspx
 
Ontario to get handouts as have-not province by 2010: TD

TORONTO -- Ontario will officially become a "have-not" province in 2010-11 and begin to qualify for entitlement payments under the federal government`s new equalization formula announced in last year`s budget, according to a report from Toronto-Dominion Bank.

The bank calculates Ontario stands to collect as much as $400-million in fiscal 2010-11 and $1.3-billion in fiscal 2011-12.

http://www.financialpost.com/most_popular/....html?id=480243
 
Realtors share property purchase horror stories

Imagine buying a house, hiring professionals to inspect it and still finding skeletons in the closet (so to speak).

John Morand, a lawyer, bought a waterfront property near Port Hope, Ont., home of a former uranium refinery. He got a safety certificate from the low level radioactive waste office. But while digging a new foundation for an extension, he found radioactive soil and lots of it – nine barrels, to be exact.

After the soil was cleared away, the replacement sand wasn`t drained properly. This led to a discovery that all the sill plates, along with many joists and studs, were rotten.

http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/419704
 
Filmport ready to roll

On a wet spring day, Ken Ferguson is standing in a pile of sticky muck, mud sloshing off rubber waders. Behind him, looming over the Toronto waterfront like the glistening metal bones of a futuristic creature, are the makings of North America`s largest movie soundstage.

"This is it," says Ferguson, president of Toronto Film Studios, one of the developers of the site, on reclaimed industrial land on the east-end waterfront. "This is as big as it gets."

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/418214
 
417 ready to reopen

The westbound section of Highway 417 that was closed after a culvert collapse Sunday was expected to open overnight for this morning`s rush-hour traffic, said a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Transportation.

Brandy Duhaime said the culvert was in place yesterday, but crews still had to put in the backfill, guard rails, and pave the area. She said the westbound lanes between Boundary Road and Anderson Road would be re-opened in the middle of the night.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/c...e4-735fa19bd794
 
Manufacturing job losses not over: StatsCan

Canada`s struggling manufacturing sector last year suffered its steepest job losses since the protracted recession of the early 1990s, Statistics Canada reported yesterday.

And there have, and will continue to be, further job losses this year, according to a separate analysis by a private-sector think-tank also released yesterday.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/b...e9-28c661afcab2
 
Advisory issued for water

Excessive bacteria counts have led to a massive boil-water advisory for four municipalities in Essex County, affecting an estimated 55,000 customers of the Union Water system.

Managers who operate the Union Water treatment plant in Ruthven said it`s the first time in recent memory that an advisory has been issued across the entire system.

http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/sto...a4-5676d36f516b
 
Realtor convicted in financing scam

Real estate agent Raymond Joseph Laprise was convicted of fraud and theft Tuesday in relation to phoney documentation he used to secure more than $20,000 in financing on sales deals.

Superior Court Justice Joseph Donohue all but called Laprise a liar, rejecting his testimony that he knew nothing about the fraudulent documents and "sloughing off" blame on his assistant, Linda Eaton, and boss, Robert Janisse. The judge said it was "beyond belief" that others would participate in the fraud when only Laprise prospered from it. "I do not find him credible."

http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/sto...d4-e53bfc81b789
 
Town`s taxes rise 2.9-4.1%

LEAMINGTON - Taxes in Leamington are going up between 2.9 and 4.1 per cent, depending on whether you live in a rural or urban area.

The urban rate, which includes the cost for sewers on top of the general tax rate, is increasing 4.1 per cent. It`s a $98 increase for a home assessed at $150,000, Cheryl Horrobin, Leamington`s director of finance and business services, said Tuesday.

http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/sto...0b-957e1ef4d8e6
 
Residents warned flood waters rising

Homeowners along the St. John River are facing rising waters and a deadline to evacuate.

Time is running out for people to decide whether they want to leave their homes or hunker down and wait out the rising water, which was at 7.1 metres Tuesday and projected to hit 7.8 metres by Wednesday.

http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/sto...0e-140203027aa0
 
The race for auto jobs

Despite the latest round of General Motors layoffs and slumping North American car sales, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty predicted yesterday the province will get a new auto assembly plant and the high-paying jobs that go with it.

McGuinty said Ontario is still willing to invest directly with automakers to secure jobs even though GM plans to eliminate nearly 1,000 workers at a plant in Oshawa, in which the province invested $235 million.

http://www.thespec.com/News/Business/article/361903
 
Mississauga ranks 11th among home towns

Mississauga ranks 11th among the best Canadian cities to live in, according to MoneySense magazine.
Ottawa topped MoneySense
magazine`s third annual list of Canada`s Best Places To Live, released today. The magazine studied 154 communities and ranked them on a range of factors, including crime, weather, jobs and home prices.
This was the first year Mississauga was ranked for the list apart from the GTA.

http://mississauga.com/article/13571
 
Plant future not safe

Ford of Canada`s St. Thomas assembly plant still faces an uphill battle to have a long-term future and land a new vehicle, automotive industry observers said yesterday. Ford and the Canadian Auto Workers struck a tentative deal this week that extends the life of the plant for one year to 2011. But after that, all bets are off, said Richard Cooper, vice-president of J.D. Power, a top industry-monitoring agency in Toronto.

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Business/2008/...428226-sun.html
 
Businesses welcome creative cluster plan

Wing Tam is not alarmed when shown a draft plan of Brock University`s School of Fine and Performing Arts sitting right on top of his buildings.

Tam owns two St. Paul Street buildings: a day spa and Kwong Chow Restaurant, which opened in 1981. It is exactly the area highlighted in a draft plan for a "creative cluster" that includes a Niagara Centre for the Arts and a new arena.

Tam has seen revitalization plans before. Such studies tend to be expensive and produce little in the way of results. He will believe these results when he sees them, he said.

http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/Article...SAMANTHA+CRAGGS
 
City supports waterfront plan

A community group and residents in Holmedale are excited that city council is ready to embrace the writing of a waterfront master plan to protect green spaces and access points along the Grand River.

"I`m so relieved, it`s been such a long fight for our neighbourhood" Mary Ellen Kaye, leader of a group called Keep Our River Public, said outside the council chamber after a series of provisions in a resolution from Coun. Jennifer Kinneman received overwhelming approval on Monday.

The resolution called for the city to:

Consider the acquisition of waterfront lands to incorporate into its parkland system;

http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ArticleDi...el-Allan+Marion
 
Officials dismiss levy on developers to pay for costs

The bill the city pays for defending its position against developers before the Ontario Municipal Board isn`t pocket change.

But levying additional fees to all planning applications to build a rainy-day fund to cover those six-figure legal fees wouldn`t be appropriate, city officials said this week.

"At the risk of sounding pro-development, it strikes me that dinging developers in this way is unfair and unreasonable," Coun. Don Evans said during Monday night`s council committee meeting.

http://www.orilliapacket.com/ArticleDispla...uth=Teviah+Moro
 
Small shock for hydro users; Electricity bills up a bit beginning tomorrow

Barrie Hydro rates are heading up tomorrow, but residential users will only feel a small shock.

The average city household will be paying another $1.63 per month in delivery and electricity costs, an increase of 1.42 per cent, effective tomorrow.

"It`s important to realize this increase is related to the use of electricity, as opposed to the price of electricity," said Mark Henderson, president and CEO of Barrie Hydro.

http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/ArticleDi...auth=BOB+BRUTON
 
Mark Holland talks infrastructure needs

PICKERING -- Why is the recently-announced rail link from Union Station to Peterborough planning a stop on the Federal Airport Lands? asks Ajax-Pickering MP Mark Holland. "Are they already going ahead and planning infrastructure before an airport has even been approved?" he said.

http://newsdurhamregion.com/news/ajax/article/97947
 
Downtown on the edge Oshawa

There`s a lot happening in downtown Oshawa. A new courthouse is on tap, an historic theatre is under renovation, and 300 university students are on the way.

New businesses are opening but many vacant storefronts remain. A new hotel is in the works, but at the core the long vacant Genosha stands empty and in disrepair.

Controversy swirls around crime, methadone, support services and their clients...but what`s perception and what`s reality?

http://www.featuresdurhamregion.com/index.php?fid=49
 
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