A high-speed rail line linking Canada’s two largest cities, Montreal and Toronto, has been the stuff of dreams — and political campaigns — for decades.

But with the federal Liberal government poised to announce more detailed plans for the project, that dream is a step closer to reality.

In Ontario, the line would include stops in Peterborough and Ottawa. In Quebec, it would stop in Laval, Trois-Rivières and Quebec City.

“For me, it’s really something that could revolutionize Quebec and Canada,” Stéphane Boyer, the mayor of Laval, located just north of Montreal, told Radio-Canada.

“To better connect cities, in a more environmental way, is a game changer.”

Canadian households may be even less confident about the future of the economy than we think. Statistics Canada (Stat Can) data shows active businesses were unchanged in July. In fact, despite a booming population, the country has seen no growth in the number of businesses that operate. With businesses continuing to close at a faster rate than those opening, the problem may intensify as the global economy weakens.

Canada’s business community continues to show virtually no progress. The country reported 936,904 seasonally adjusted active businesses in July, unchanged from a month before. It was a slight improvement from a drop of 0.2% (-2,000 businesses) in June. It’s a trend that’s become sticky recently.

“… the number of active businesses has not posted a positive growth rate since January,” notes Stat Can.

Menkes’ Kimberly Sears tells STOREYS that the company has screened “over 175 offers to lease” over a six-month course, and of those, “over 90 of them were disqualified due to discrepancies found during the screening process.”

We’re at a really nuanced point in the Toronto area’s rental market. The market continues to be exorbitant, but it’s definitely cooling.

Still, that hasn’t put an end to the complications arising due to the fact that it’s a tough market for renters to break into — even if rents are continually coming down.

The Florida housing market has always been a topic of interest for buyers, sellers, and investors alike. With its sunny beaches, vibrant cities, and booming tourism industry, the real estate market in the Sunshine State has seen significant growth over the years. However, with any market experiencing rapid growth, there comes the question of sustainability and the potential for a downturn.

Is Florida’s housing market predicted to crash in the next two years? Experts say no. While growth may slow due to rising interest rates, Florida’s demographics and rebound predictions suggest a market with staying power. Here are the latest trends in Florida’s housing market.

A new report says the average asking rent for a home in Canada reached $2,185 in June, up seven per cent compared with a year ago despite representing the slowest annual rate of growth in 13 months.

The report by Urbanation and Rentals.ca, which analyzes monthly listings from the latter’s network, says average asking rents decreased 0.8 per cent from May — the largest month-over-month decline since early 2021 and atypical compared with usual monthly increases this time of year.

Based on the report, the average asking rent for a one-bedroom unit in Canada was $1,918 in June, up 7.7 per cent from a year ago, while the average asking price for a two-bedroom unit was $2,301, up 9.6 per cent.

Overall, asking rents for purpose-built rental apartments in June jumped 11 per cent compared with a year earlier to reach an average of $2,121.

Meanwhile, condominium apartment rents, which averaged $2,320, were up 2.6 per cent.

RE/MAX examined condominium activity between January – August 2024 in seven major markets across the country including Greater Vancouver, Fraser Valley, City of Calgary, Edmonton, Greater Toronto, Ottawa and Halifax Regional Municipality, and found that condo listings have soared in anticipation of increased demand in the fourth quarter of 2024 and early 2025. Growth in inventory levels was highest in the Fraser Valley (58.7 per cent), followed by Greater Toronto (52.8 per cent), City of Calgary (52.4 per cent), Ottawa (44.5 per cent), Edmonton (17.7 per cent), Halifax Regional Municipality (8.1 per cent) and Vancouver (7.3 per cent). Values have held up surprisingly well given the influx of listings, with gains posted in Calgary (15 per cent), Edmonton (four per cent), Ottawa (2.3 per cent), Vancouver (1.9 per cent), Fraser Valley (1.9 per cent), and Halifax (1.2 per cent). Meanwhile in Greater Toronto, the average price fell two-per-cent short of year-ago. While sales were robust in Alberta thanks to in-migration from other parts of the country, Edmonton led the way in terms of percentage increase in the number of condos sold, up just close to 37 per cent from year-ago levels, marking the region’s best performance in the previous five-year period. This is followed by a more tempered Calgary market, which was up 2.6 per cent over 2023. Remaining markets saw home-buying activity soften in the condominium sector.

Since the Bank of Canada (BoC) started raising interest rates in the spring of 2022 at a time of post-crisis sky-high home prices, first-time homebuyers have sat on the sidelines amid a housing affordability crisis. They have been waiting to dip their toes in the Canadian real estate market in this span. However, two groups of buyers have taken advantage of the current housing environment: seasoned buyers and investors.

Seasoned homebuyers and investors have driven many “hot pockets” of the Canadian real estate market in the first half of 2024, according to the findings of a new RE/MAX Hot Pocket Communities study.

Many homeowners have extra space they may want to convert into rental suites, such as an unused basement, or a garage that could be converted into a laneway home. Historically, the cost of renovating, combined with municipal red tape, has made this both difficult and expensive.

Recent municipal zoning reforms in Canada’s major cities, made possible through Housing Accelerator Fund agreements, are creating new opportunities for homeowners to add additional suites and increase density. New rental suites would provide more homes for Canadians and could provide an important source of income for seniors continuing to age at home.

In Toronto’s Bridle Path, Bayview Village, and Willowdale neighbourhoods, the average resident can expect to live past 84 years of age—higher than even Japan’s world-leading life expectancy. Meanwhile, in less affluent parts of the city, such as Rexdale, Oakridge, and Moss Park, death comes more than a decade earlier—on par with countries like Tunisia and Nicaragua.

Those stark numbers, published here for the first time, are the results of a monthslong collaboration between The Local and researchers at MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions at St. Michael’s Hospital. The project uses the latest available data from the 2021 census and 2020 and 2021 provincial death records to examine life expectancy at birth in all 158 neighbourhoods of Toronto—that is, how long a child born in a particular corner of the city would live if current patterns of mortality remain unchanged.