Reading Time: 3 minutes Incentive packages often include tax breaks on property, income or permit exemptions – and taxpayers pay the freight
Author: Josef Filipowicz
Josef Filipowicz is a local government and housing policy specialist with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. He holds an M.A. in Political Science from Wilfrid Laurier University and a Bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning from Ryerson University. From September 2014 to April 2020, Josef was a policy analyst at the Fraser Institute’s Centre for Municipal Studies, where he was the author of more than 15 studies on land-use regulations, housing affordability, property taxation, and municipal finance. He also commented frequently on policy issues in these fields, notably through radio and television interviews, panel discussions, public presentations, and more than 140 blogs and op-eds.
Ontario housing measures offer short-term gain but long-term pain
Reading Time: 3 minutes As much as rent control could benefit some existing renters, in the long run it reduces the incentive to build new rental housing
Don’t just blame speculators for soaring housing prices
Reading Time: 3 minutes Falling interest rates are an often-overlooked contributor to rising home prices in Canada’s most desirable markets
Ontario government’s focus on foreign buyers misses the point
Reading Time: 3 minutes Focus instead on reducing the time it takes to obtain a building permit and the per-unit costs to comply with regulations, which amounts to almost $50,000
How an NDP-Green government can free up B.C.’s housing supply
Reading Time: 3 minutes If housing affordability for average British Columbians is the goal, local and provincial governments should reduce barriers to development
Lower Mainland municipalities create roadblocks to new housing
Reading Time: 3 minutes Homebuilders were asked how long they wait for permit approvals, how much it costs, how often rezoning is required and the scope of local opposition
Vancouver can’t have both low-density and affordable housing
Reading Time: 3 minutes To take pressure off the cost of living in Vancouver, the city should build more housing units on its limited geographic footprint
Taxing foreigners no answer to Toronto’s housing woes
Reading Time: 3 minutes The idea might have some intuitive appeal but misses the bigger point – Toronto needs more housing
Let’s make room for skilled workers in Metro Vancouver
Reading Time: 3 minutes If housing costs remain high, and rental vacancy rates stay razor-thin, the region may soon be out of reach to locals and newcomers alike
B.C.’s interest-free loans could hurt new homebuyers
Reading Time: 3 minutes Stoking demand for housing without a significant increase in housing stock will likely do more harm than good