📉 Banned! (sort of)

Together with

Good morning! Does going to the moon require a special passport?

A 47-year-old man from London, Ont. will be the first Canadian to travel deep into space. Jeremy Hansen has been selected for the Artemis II mission which is part of a larger effort to establish a long-term human lunar presence.

The cost of lunar housing just might rival cities like Vancouver and Toronto. Keep reading to see how earthly efforts are going to curb these costs with a foreign buyer ban.

MARKETS

*Stock data as of last market close; currency, oil and crypto data as of 11:00 PM ET April 3rd, 2023.

Markets: It might be time to rethink that Summer road trip. In a surprise move, OPEC+ countries announced major cuts to oil production that analysts say is likely to cause costs in North America to jump. According to Reuters, the total planned cuts announced by OPEC+ will be 3.66 million bpd, equal to 3.7% of global demand. Experts say the cuts could throw a wrench into inflation-curbing efforts.

THE BIG STORY

Banned 2.0: Ottawa relaxes foreign buyer law

The federal budget announced plans to overhaul controversial laws designed to limit the number of foreign investors buying homes.

What changed:

• More work permit holders or those authorized to work in the country can purchase a home.

• The prohibition now doesn’t apply to vacant land zoned for residential and mixed-use. Non-Canadians can use it for any purpose, including residential development.

• An exception has been added for non-Canadians to purchase residential property for the purpose of development.

• Officials are increasing the corporation foreign control threshold from 3% to 10%.

Officials stated that they believe the amendments strike the right balance in ensuring that housing is used to house those living in Canada, rather than a speculative investment by foreign investors.

Why alter it?

After announcing the new regulations in Dec. 2022, industry groups like the Canadian Home Builders’ Association and the Canadian Real Estate Association argued that rather than protect Canadian home seekers, it would actually have the unintended consequence of limiting efforts to build new housing.

How many foreign buyers are there?

It may not be as big an issue as thought. Last year Statistics Canada released data that showed non-residents owned 2.2% of residential properties in Ontario and 3.1% in B.C. in 2020. The percentages were 2.7 and 4.2 in the Toronto and Vancouver metropolitan areas, respectively.

Kiwi experiment

One of the most recent examples of a similar ban happened in New Zealand in 2017. How has it worked out? According to last year’s housing affordability report by Demographic, Auckland saw modest home cost improvements from 2021, but is still up the equivalent of two years in median household income from pre-pandemic 2019. Auckland ranked a dismal 88th in affordability out of 94 markets. It was just behind Los Angeles, San Jose, Honolulu, Vancouver, Sydney and Hong Kong.

The bottom line

The thought of someone many miles away leaving an investment home empty is sure to make any average homebuyer angry. But there are many factors at play, like interest rates, immigration and simple lack of supply. And it’s not even as simple as affordability. The top city on Demographia’s list was Pittsburgh but when it comes to livability rankings, it and other U.S. cities struggled while Canada easily cracked the top ten. Forbes noted due to high social unrest and high healthcare costs. While foreign ownership is something worth investigating, it’s going to take a much larger effort to deal with housing affordability.

NEED TO KNOW

The week's headlines

🏠 Realtors in B.C. are warning that home completions need to increase massively for affordability to be achieved. A new report from the B.C. Real Estate Association (BCREA) found that new home completions in B.C. need to increase 25% above their historical average level for the next five years to fully offset the deterioration of housing affordability. This would require a record level of about 43,000 completions per year.

🚄 Transpod has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Building Trades of Alberta to help build a high speed train between Calgary and Edmonton. The project team has already secured $550 million in funding and revealed a test model last summer. The team also plans to build a 75-metre test track to showcase their technology.

🚔 The RCMP has arrested five people at two camps in the area where a natural gas pipeline is under construction in northwestern B.C. Police say they received a complaint from Coastal GasLink security that a worker had been “swarmed” by a group of people wearing masks. It is not the first incident where workers have been harassed.

📉 Businesses in Canada are pessimistic ahead of the next Bank of Canada rate decision. The bank’s quarterly business survey shows businesses expect sales growth to slow this year and inflation to remain an issue for the next few years. However, the report also shows companies are reporting improvements in labour shortages and other supply constraints.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

Butterfly takes flight above Vancouver

Emerging from the cocoon: Named the Butterfly in part to honour the late architect Bing Thom and to reflect the transformation it hopes to bring to Vancouver, this massive tower is one of the most striking to ever on the city’s skyline. The mixed-use development combines The Butterfly—a new 57-storey luxury market tower—with the heritage upgrade, rehabilitation, and expansion of the historic First Baptist Church, built in 1911. The project team includes Revery Architecture, ICON West Construction and Westbank. Completion is scheduled for later this year.

TOGETHER WITH PITT MEADOWS PLUMBING

Want to see the future?

Join Pitt Meadows Plumbing April 22 as they open the doors of their high tech shop to students, parents and others in the B.C. construction sector.

Here’s what you can expect:

• A peek at some of the high-tech methods the company is using at its Maple Ridge shop, including welding robots, digital modeling and prefabrication.

• A Keynote address from Autodesk’s Amy Marks, the “Queen of Prefab”, on the next 25 years of construction.

• Networking opportunities with other construction industry leaders.

Sign up here and use promo code “SITENEWS20” by April 11 to get 20% off tickets to the afternoon industry networking event.

FREE Tickets for students and their parents to attend the morning event are available here.

PROJECT UPDATES

PCL has topped off a massive, unique tower in Toronto

Tessera Group is planning to build a new corporate HQ in North Durham

Dehk’è Frank Channel bridge in N.W.T is getting a replacement

VINCI Construction Grands Projets snagged a $6B Ontario Line contract

Vancouver rejects plan to include bike lanes along Broadway Subway route

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

PHOTOS: 📸 SiteViews: The best construction shots from March

LIST: 💰 15 things you should know about the federal budget

READ: 🪚 Carpenter returns to Calgary project 72 years later

READ: ♻️ Nexii facility in B.C. is now zero waste certified 

WATCH: 🏠 Inside a Legendary $16,000,000 Canyonside Mansion

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Here’s to a great rest of the week!