In Focus: Still work to be done to spur rental supply

We’re not going to pretend to know where the random number generator that is next week’s Canadian Labour Force Survey will land. It makes sense to us that any rebound in employment will fall short of labour force growth, seeing the unemployment rate edge up again...

The First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) held their 7th Annual conference ‘Our Collective Advantage: Indigenous Consent’ in Toronto on April 22-23, 2024. Check out the key takeaways.

Americans’ voracious appetite for goods is being driven by a wave of wealthy retirees and lifestyle changes associated with work-from-home. And while consumers aren’t immune to a slowdown, the permanent shift in spending preferences towards goods and away from services is complicating the Fed’s ability to achieve its inflation goal, as the chances of returning to the ultra-low goods inflation era that was seen over the post-financial crisis period have dwindled.

Would we all be better off living in straw huts? Does adequate housing make us worse off That seems to be the implication from those who argue that investment in residential real estate has weakened Canada’s GDP per capita, a claim cited in a review of the literature in the April Issue of Statistics Canada’s Economic and Social Reports.

In its 2024 federal budget, Canada demonstrates its ongoing commitment to reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples through a series of targeted initiatives. The CIBC Indigenous Markets team has conducted a thorough review of the 2024 federal budget and aims to provide our clients with a comprehensive summary of its key highlights.

It’s now become a steady countdown, and not one that’s going to be followed by a spectacular liftoff. Financial markets had at one point been pricing-in expectations for six quarter-point rate reductions from the US Fed in 2024, and even Jay Powell seemed to be hinting that the first one could come before midyear. Now even two cuts are seen as no certainty.

What started out as an advantage for the Canadian economy spiraled out of control as 2023 progressed. Population growth led by non-permanent residents initially helped to fill elevated job vacancies coming out of the pandemic, but the surge since mid-2022 has also resulted in housing shortages and rent price inflation.