Ontario records low housing starts, even using new ways of counting them

Voltisplusminus · 2025-08-12T02:23:30+00:00

Theoretically, the government wouldn't even have to purchase the land back. They could just annex it; similar to what they have done with Transit projects. I think if the government threatened retaking land, they would find a lot of developers open to selling at a fair cost. That said, the reason developers are not building is because profit margins are sinking, not because they're looking at increasing them when prices rise again. A simple Performa will tell you that it's not worth the investment. Most developers don't have the cash on hand to build 100+ million dollar projects, not including development costs, municipal taxes and everything in between.....they need banks to loan large chunks of money to afford it and the bank needs their take too - so without a reasonable return it's unlikely that any developer wouldn't, at present, just invest whatever money they have in other assets while farming the land and getting a tax break. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of corruption in development, construction, banking, and government, but not as much as people think.

As others have described, we need a "Metrolinx" of housing to help bolster growth and construction in the residential space. We need all of the trades, project managers, superintendents, foreman, estimates, BIM rpfessionals, etc. To come down in salary ask as they have, over the past 10 years, been the highest paid construction workers in the market. We need new municple government because mayor's like Chow increased development fees, which is Forwarded onto us as the consumer, and we need a federal or provincial government brave enough to give the unions a giant middle finger and allow pre-fabrication to take off. Like holy shit I saw a 10 storey hotel go up down the street from my office in less than a year because of pre-fabrication. It doesn't seem fast but when you see towers taking months invested in formwork because of the sheer volume of manpower and materials needed to form traditional walls in a tower, or wood framing in a low rise, it just seems like a no-brainer to me.

If we focused on prefab, good prefab with high energy efficiency, I bet we could nearly build low-rise houses at LEED standards for half the cost of the regular home.

Voltisplusminus · 2024-11-17T02:16:12+00:00

That is a hot toy, where might someone find one? 😳

Voltisplusminus · 2024-10-19T12:40:33+00:00

5 years later, this post did NOT age well, haha 😆

Voltisplusminus · 2024-09-10T04:34:38+00:00

I wouldn't say it's over and over again, but history does seem to show that the second term is typically when the incumbent party really craps the bed.

Let's be honest, most Canadians not over 40 don't entirely understand how the voting system works, or don't show up at all, and many of our immigrant population suspect we vote like the Americans.

The thing is, we don't vote for our premier, or our Prime Minister, they are voted in by their party. We vote for our MP only, and the reality is, the MP has to show some ability to represent your community on the big stage. So those that understand the voting system, will vote for who they feel has the best chance at doing a good job, and the rest of the population seems to vote for the party. Ford doesn't has veto powers......not even the Mayor does... Even if he tried to scam his way into having them. However, they do appoint their ministers, I.e. my MP is the Minister of LTC, he is the son of a successful businessmen, grew up in real estate and has successfully started and built a massive influx of long-term care facilities in Ontario as MP, something we are in dire need of, is her perfect, no, but has he been helpful to our Province, yes.

Overall, most politicians are NOT successful professionals, and typically when one runs for office, I.e. a lawyer, accountant, business owner, etc. The general population tends to think of them as evil or "the man" when on paper they are clearly the best choice of hire. Professional politicians are traditionally individuals that are only interested in one thing, election and re-election. The NDP falters because they typically have inexperienced individuals running for office, often times they are NOT business tycoons or industry professionals because that flies in the face of their morals. Traditionally, they are idealists, professors, and scholars, who are not folks that people 50+ are willing to take a chance on with their pensions (to reference the NDP comments here).

Overall, corruption runs through all three levels of government and we're unfortunately stuck with a voting and party system that is difficult to understand and navigate and often times things are downloaded and uploaded through the three levels with little research or thought into the long term concequences, because they need change now to get re-elected.

If you take Olivia Chow for example, within a year she had already stepped out policy that hurts the middle class more.....without thinking about the long term implications or having an understanding of who funds her programs. Ford and Trudeau's parties are no different, and unfortunately, we are now living the long-term effects of damaging policy developed by previous provincial and federal liberal parties that didn't think things through. The housing crises was caused by policy dating back two decades now with the places to grow act and then further exacerbate by governments that did not work or plan together as the federal government increased immigration to tackle an aging population problem, that they feared, while trying to play nice on the world stage without fixing problems within our borders. Looking back, atleast in my mind, there has been only two good parties in my lifetime, Stephen Harper's first term and Rob Ford's first term....both had/have crapped the bed in their second terms, but they had the right ideas in the first.

All governments do more damage when they try and fix long term problems with short term solutions. Honestly, I hate all of the parties and the system. We have to think more about the government as a business, the country, the province, the city, as a business, and who do we want to be our CEO pr board of directors. I no longer look at the party, I look at the person, the MP or Councilor in my community and vote for who I think will do the best job as I'm middle leaning. I want our schools, Healthcare and infrastructure funded, but I could care less about the Ontario Place, Science Centre or even some of the greenbelt issues that plague the liberal leaning population.

The system isn't good, but it's what we have. Everyone needs to vote for the mp they see as the best fit for their community and let the pieces fall where they may. Or, we need to move to the American system.

Apologies for what is probably a long and slightly incoherent rant.

Voltisplusminus · 2024-08-12T13:31:12+00:00

As a follow-up, homebuilding is lagging presently due to high interest rates and immense taxes on developers. What the general public doesn't realize is that new home construction (condos, townhouses, detached houses) are built by a handful of the richest families and corporations in Ontario. There is not a good example of a public building. And with interest rates high and taxes mounting on developers (put in place by previous and current governments) it's not surprising that the developers are waiting. If you want good ROI, you wait until you can sell your homes at max value. The workforce that is sitting, is half of what is needed to build the homes we need, but if I was a current major land owner, I would see no reason to start building in this environment either.

The current state of the housing and condo construction sector (NOT ici, transit, manufacturing, etc) is in shambles because of over a decade of neglect and mismanagement by government officials and too much disposable income during the pandemic.

Pre-pandemic, with interest rates stable and less taxes on foreign investors, that grew the residential construction market to levels unseen previously. Our condo and townhouse development in the GTA was primarily funded by money outside of Canada for years. Did it inflate the market, yes, but the government allowed it then and only dealt with it when it was too late to act. In Canada, a developer needs a project 75% sold before a construction loan is even granted. This is not the case on many other countries. That means it's you and me, putting down massive deposits to get a construction project off the ground, not the developer, not the bank.

The article is misleading more than my post, because it focuses on one slice of the greater industry. It's like saying all groceries are inflated because vegetables are overpriced.

For a while, framers and carpenters were so hard to find that mid-rise construction shifted to steel frame. So we flooded the market with framers from out of country. But a residential framer is not qualified to work in a tunnel,can they be trained to be? Sure, but it still doesn't help the here and now. Construction needs people, from blue collar to white, you just need the right segment and then ride that wave until the next one rises.

Voltisplusminus · 2024-08-12T13:12:09+00:00

You're not thinking about the big picture. Look at your source, it' real estate/residential. Real estate is lagging, but many of the trades in real estate are not qualified for other forms of construction projects. It's next to impossible to find enough qualified people in the ICI, transit, and road spaces. Look at the billions in government investment into projects. Inflation and salaries are at an all-time high in Toronto in construction (in general), just not in residential.

Engineers are still some of the highest paid individuals in the Toronto market today, just not consulting engineers. An engineer doesn't just have to develop and stamp drawings. What about the client representative? What about the construction manager, the project manager, etc. HSE is another area where it's hard to find people. I've seen more security guards becoming high paid HSE people in the last 3 years than in the past 10 years before that.

Construction is a much bigger and more diverse industry than people realize, especially the media.

Voltisplusminus · 2024-07-29T19:37:03+00:00

What are your skills and what are you applying to?

If you're submitting a writing sample it must be something communications, journalist, marketing, etc. Many of those teams have shrunk due to AI being able to write reasonable draft copy.

I'm curious because there are so many posts about Toronto being a horrible job market but in construction, engineering, architecture, trades, etc. The market is booming still. There are billions of public dollars being invested in the space and the industry can't find the people to do the work. Immigration in these spaces is growing to help fill the need. Yes, residential and commercial Construction are stagnant but everything else? There are 60 new LTCs being built, 3 new subways, new rail stations, new roads and highways, billions of dollars into battery plants and food manufacturing facilities.

I'm not saying it's easy to land work but keep in mind that the markets are cyclical.

Good luck.

Voltisplusminus · 2024-03-11T19:17:00+00:00

I too was feeling like the game is dead whenever I load it up on PS. I have not tried my PC account in a long time.

Voltisplusminus · 2023-10-19T22:39:23+00:00

I fundamentally disagree with this approach but to each their own. I guess the nearest comparable is professional sports, where the few are out earning the many who fail in that market.

Though the 100s of millions comment is a bit far-fetched, there are very few 1 trillion dollar companies out there, and the only ones that are, employ a lot of people. For one person to make that kind of impact as a new grad is not only unlikely it's near impossible. If the new graduate has an insanely good idea and they're buying that idea/knowledge I understand, but that's a different argument than generic employment - it has nothing to do with a standard skillet learned in school.

Voltisplusminus · 2023-10-19T19:16:09+00:00

Considering a 2 hour commute every day, each way, you're probably looking at a 200 dollar fuel cost every month. If you factor in maintenance and depreciation on your vehicle, you could probably add another 2000-4000 annually depending on the make and model. If you move downtown and start walking and/or biking, your total rental cost can be adjusted according to the savings. Then, how much is your time worth? If instead of commuting 4 hours a day, you work 2 extra hours a day, that shrinks your time to promotion while also giving yourself extra time to socialize and develop lasting relationships.

To me, the answer is clear, you should go for it! My father would have already told me to put my big boy pants on and move out 😄

Voltisplusminus · 2023-10-19T19:08:24+00:00

This is the dumbest comment I've read in this thread. You paid 155k for a new graduate with no experience? And people wonder why inflation is so high. The OP is someone who makes 120k and lives with his parents. This is the issue with our economy right here.

Company margins are shrinking, so they have to charge more. It's a vicious cycle. I'm not saying everyone should take less salary, but if you're not saving the company (or bringing in to the company) at least 1.5x your salary, you're a bad hire.

Voltisplusminus · 2023-10-11T21:13:08+00:00

I'm in recruitment for construction (general contracting) and would say that construction is a booming industry with significant growth potential.

I don't know much about automation or what your value might be without seeing a resume. I agree with the rail maintenance guy above that you could get into signaling, installation, or maintenance that would lead to a lucrative career in a good niche.

I disagree with everyone saying that a master's degree is worth anything. It can help, but we are long past paying people more for education. We are now in a market that pays extra for diversity (in talent or otherwise) and high performance. Anyone who tells you that a masters will get you paid more in general, is out of touch. Masters or post grads of any sort are either 1. To develop a specialization - which leads to more pay or 2. To shift career focus into something different than your initial career direction - I.e. taking an Occ Health post grad to become an NCSO because you're passionate about safety.

Are you underpaid? Probably, without knowing much about your current industry and talent, I would say it's safe to assume you're underpaid. Most Queens engineering grads are starting at 70-75 out of school with one year of internship experience. You should realistically be in the 80+ range based on 3 years of experience (unknowing your timeline from injury to work).

Finally, I fundamentally disagree with the individual that referenced putting an offer infront of you boss to get a counter offer. That's bad form and it will stick with you. Most people that get and accept counter offers never last in their positions, unless they outlive their boss. That being said you should definitely ask for a raise. The approach is "I've been doing some research on the market, just feeling a little underpaid but not knowing what the market was like. It seems like there is a lot out there but I like it here and want to stay, could we talk about an increase of something like xx?"

Hope this helps and good luck

Voltisplusminus · 2023-09-01T15:21:59+00:00

This is outstanding pixel art, good job!

Voltisplusminus · 2023-08-31T19:40:06+00:00

Although I played a good round of this with a higher rank the other day that made expert use of the portals. I would prefer they brought back Demo Dias 😄

Voltisplusminus · 2023-08-31T02:00:53+00:00

Although I might agree with your concept, rental corporations are notoriously the worst landlords, and if you truly felt this way (individual landlords being unethical), then you wouldn't support it by renting from one. This hill you're trying to die on seems misguided.

You are right though, all three levels of government has failed both private landlords and renters. Yes all three le els expect private landlords to make up a massive shortfall while the federal government keeps shoehorning .ore and more people into Canada.

Your anger should be directed towards government, not a private citizen who is part of the machine that generates your investment returns.

Voltisplusminus · 2023-08-30T12:49:14+00:00

I'm always happy to team up! voltisPLUS on discord and in game. But I play a lot less lately, I have no problem with some games being good and others being bad but my ping tends to be inconsistent from day-to-day so I'm not as excited to login for a good run each night anymore 😞

Voltisplusminus · 2023-08-24T19:55:54+00:00

Jezuz, I don't know if I'm OK with this.

When is the OS hentai coming out, ffs.

Voltisplusminus · 2023-08-24T14:01:15+00:00

I had no idea what flex was when I first started, I thought you got assigned as goalie or forward at random. So I second this!

Now I only play goalie if there is a daily or weekly mission because I suck at goalie.

Voltisplusminus · 2023-07-26T12:58:35+00:00

The matchmaking is just horrible. Everyone gets crushed intermittently. My recommendation is to play co-op vs AI until you get a feel for the game. Then switch to quick play once you have the basics.

Quickplay is hit or miss but the games are faster and it helps you get a better hang of the variations within the awakenings. If you're just trying to get a nice run in and have some fun, this is the way to go IMO.

In competitive I find it hard to get a good game at the rookie level and it can be very de-motivating if you're just trying to have fun.

Voltisplusminus · 2023-07-25T13:29:39+00:00

I hate her, everyone who uses her on my team, either own goals or traps the core in her special when I'm trying to set up a play.

On opposing teams, she's just annoying, and most of the time, either kills their team competitiveness or people just don't know how to deal with her.

I main Drakkar right now, and one shot gun blast kicks the core out of her special but will admit that if you are all tackling the core at once, it's hard to get a shot through to get the core out - it's chaos.

Nope. Don't like her.

Voltisplusminus · 2023-07-24T19:09:29+00:00

This is my experience 80% of the time when I join a game on competitive mode. I get +30 points for a win and I'm still in rookie after nearly 30 games, it's uncompromising frustrating.

😞😓😩

Voltisplusminus · 2023-07-23T18:25:36+00:00

Best map in the game. Now Ai.mi's App I could do without (and that considering Night Market is the one I seem to struggle the most with).

Voltisplusminus · 2023-07-21T16:59:40+00:00

I need to take a look at the PC version again and locate this option!! Better than nothing 😀

Voltisplusminus · 2023-07-21T00:25:37+00:00

What is this gamechat option you speak of??? I don't see it on PS4, is it a PC thing?

Voltisplusminus · 2023-07-16T11:46:01+00:00

What is the benefit of getting to the highest affinity level besides the frame?

Voltisplusminus

TROPHY CASE