Canadian Unemployment Hits Recession Levels, Private Sector Stalls
Statistics Canada reported a 0.4% drop in employment in February, wiping out 84,000 jobs—all full‑time—bringing the labour force back to September 2025 levels. Private‑sector employment fell 0.5% and has shown no growth over the past year, while all net gains stem from public‑sector hiring. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 6.7%, pushing the unemployed pool to 1.51 million, a volume typically seen only in recessions. Despite aggressive fiscal borrowing, the labour market now mirrors recession‑level weakness.
Canadian Building Intentions Surge, Mostly Government Spending
Canadian building permits rose 4.8% to $13.3 billion in January, but inflation‑adjusted values only reached $12.3 billion, still below pre‑2023 levels. Residential permits increased 1.8% to $8.0 billion yet fell 9.4% year‑over‑year, with single‑family permits up 8.9% and multi‑family down 1.5% amid a...
Canada’s Rental Bubble Moves East: Halifax Nears Toronto Prices
Statistics Canada data shows that while headline rents in Toronto and Vancouver cooled modestly in Q4 2025, the gap with traditionally affordable markets has narrowed dramatically. Halifax’s average asking rent for a two‑bedroom unit reached $2,260, about 84% of Toronto’s $2,670,...
Toronto Condos In Recession, Filled With Supply No One Wants: BMO
BMO Capital Markets declares Toronto’s condo segment in recession, citing a 9.5% year‑over‑year price drop and sales falling 6.4% in February. The market is awash with new units, many of which lack buyer interest, leading to project cancellations and delayed...
Toronto Real Estate Sales Fall To New Lows, Prices Tick Higher
Toronto’s February real‑estate market saw a modest 0.29% price uptick, lifting the typical home to $938,800, yet sales plunged to 3,868 units – a 6.3% year‑over‑year decline and the lowest February volume in over two decades. Active listings hovered around...
Canada’s Rental Crisis Moves East: Nova Scotia Now Least Affordable Province
A Rentals.ca study shows Canadian rental affordability improving since early 2023, yet most provinces remain unaffordable. Alberta is the sole province where average rent consumes 23.4% of median household income, comfortably below the 30% affordability threshold. Nova Scotia now has...
Canadian Mortgage Delinquencies Just Made A Rare, Historic Jump
Canadian mortgage arrears surged to a five‑year high of 0.219% in December 2024, marking the fastest monthly increase since the pandemic’s early days. The number of mortgages 90 days past due rose 4.2% month‑over‑month, adding roughly 520 delinquent loans and...
Toronto Mortgage Delinquencies Hit 13-Year High, Vancouver Quietly Follows
Mortgage delinquency rates in Canada’s two largest housing markets rose sharply in Q3 2025. Toronto’s rate climbed to 0.27%, a 4.5‑fold increase from its 2021 low and the highest level since 2012. Vancouver’s delinquency rate reached 0.19%, more than double its...
This Week’s Top Stories: Canadian Real Estate’s Hard Landing, Phone Bills Distort Inflation
Canadian home prices slipped 0.4% in January, pulling the national average back to February 2021 levels and pushing the sales‑to‑new‑listings ratio to a buyer‑dominated 36.4%. CIBC warns that while prices are below trend in Ontario and British Columbia, they remain...
Canadian Real Estate Prices Exit Holding Pattern, Dive Towards Hard Landing
Canadian home prices slipped 0.4% in January to $658,000, the lowest level since February 2021, marking a 5% year‑over‑year decline. The correction represents a 22.6% drop from the 2022 peak, yet prices remain 26.4% above early‑2020 levels. National sales fell 16.2%...
More Canes Than Cribs: Toronto Population Falls, More Seniors Than Kids
Statistics Canada reports that the Toronto CMA’s population slipped to 7.11 million in 2025, marking the region’s first post‑pandemic decline. The working‑age cohort (15‑64) contracted by 0.85%, shedding 42.5 k workers, while the senior segment (65+) rose to 1.18 million, now outnumbering children....