The Government of Canada announced today that the Rural Municipality of Hanover, has been approved for an infrastructure loan as part of Canada’s Economic Action Plan.

The announcement was made by the Honourable Vic Toews, President of the Treasury Board, on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), and Reeve Stan Toews, elected head of the Rural Municipality of Hanover.

The Rural Municipality of Hanover has been approved for a $3,000,000 low-cost loan from CMHC’s Municipal Infrastructure Lending Program (MILP), for the construction of a new wastewater treatment facility for the community of Mitchell. The new facility has been designed to allow the community’s population to grow to 4,000 persons.

“Our Government understands the importance of infrastructure in maintaining strong and prosperous communities,” said Minister Toews. “This program is opening the door for municipalities of all sizes to meet their housing-related infrastructure needs and create jobs. It’s good news not only for Hanover, but also for Manitoba.”

Canada’s Economic Action Plan provides up to $2 billion in direct low-cost loans to municipalities, over two years, for housing-related infrastructure projects through the MILP. These low cost loans can also be used by municipalities to fund their contribution for cost-shared federal infrastructure programming.

“The Rural Municipality of Hanover is pleased to secure low interest long-term funding from the Federal Government through Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to assist the community of Mitchell in the construction of their new lagoon”, Reeve Stan Toews said. “This facility will allow the community to see substantial growth over the next two decades and provides an interest rate that will result in the community saving approximately $500,000 over the next 15 years in interest costs.”

Eligible projects include infrastructure related to housing services such as water, power generation and waste services, as well as local transportation infrastructure within and into residential areas, such as roads, sidewalks, lighting and green space.

As Canada’s national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 60 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of quality, environmentally sustainable, and affordable homes — homes that will continue to create vibrant and healthy communities and cities across the country.

The Canadian Funding Corporation Reports:

OTTAWA, April 8, 2009 — The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts increased to 154,700 units in March from 136,100 units in February, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

“Higher multiple starts in Ontario and Quebec were the main contributors to the rise in new construction activity in March,” said Bob Dugan, Chief Economist at CMHC’s Market Analysis Centre. “While the multiples segment experienced the largest increase, the overall boost in starts was broad based, encompassing the singles segment as well.”

Moishe Alexander, of the Canadian Funding Corp noted that the seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased 17 per cent to 127,900 units in March. Urban multiple starts increased 28.3 per cent to 81,500 units, while urban single starts moved up by 1.3 per cent to 46,400 units in March.

March’s seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased by 35 per cent in Ontario and by 23.3 per cent in Quebec. Urban starts declined by 17.3 per cent in British Columbia, by 7.9 per cent in Atlantic Canada, and by 7.5 per cent in the Prairies.

Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 26,800 units in March.

New home construction is now at a more sustainable level after having been exceptionally strong over the past 7 years, exceeding 200,000 units per year.

As Canada’s national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 60 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of quality, environmentally sustainable, and affordable homes — homes that will continue to create vibrant and healthy communities and cities across the country.

For more information, please see:

http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/corp/nero/nere/2009/2009-04-08-0815.cfm

Likewise, the majority of renter households that intend to buy are between 25 and 44 years of age (46 per cent).

A large share of intenders will be repeat buyers

More than half (57 per cent) of purchase intenders will be repeat buyers. Indeed, buying intenders’ main motivation for purchasing a residence was the need for a larger/better residence (33 per cent). The second most popular response was to change from renting/build equity or to have a residence of their own (26 per cent).

The majority of purchase intenders that are first time buyers are between the ages of 25 and 34, with a household income between $40,000 to just under $60,000. As for repeat buyers who intend to purchase a home in 2008, the majority are between the ages of 35 and 44, with a household income over $100,000.

Close to half of intenders will plan to make a down payment of more than 20 per cent Close to half of households that intend to buy a home are planning to make a down payment of more than 20 per cent of the expected value of their purchase. The main source of down payment funds are household savings for 40 per cent of potential home buyers, while equity from the present/previous residence is also a popular option with 30 per cent.

Renovation intentions are highest among owners of older homes. Fifty-one per cent of households living in homes built before 1920 intend to renovate in 2008.

In fact, households living in homes built prior to 1945 had the highest incidence of actual renovations in 2007, with 48 per cent of households renovating. Of those who intend to renovate in 2008, the older the home the higher the proportion of households performing maintenance and repairs. On the other hand, the younger the home the higher the proportion of households performing alterations and improvements.

A large portion of households intend to renovate so as to update, add value, or prepare to sell their home, according to CFC CEO, Moishe Alexander.

Across the five major centres, 67 per cent of households who intend to renovate this year, will do so to update, add value, or prepare to sell their home.

Twenty-one per cent of households intend to renovate this year because their dwelling needs repairs, while 19 per cent say that it needs maintenance.

Renovation intenders in Toronto plan to spend the most on renovations

When asked what the household expected to spend on their renovations, the average estimate across the five centres was $12,880. Households in Toronto expected to pay the most on average ($14,920), while households in Halifax expected to pay the least on average ($8,200).

Spending intentions on renovations were, on average, underestimated, in 2007 by $1,000. Households surveyed in 2007 expected to spend an average of $11,270, while in actuality spent an average of over $12,800 on renovations for 2007.

Toronto homeowners underestimated their renovations, on average, by over $4,000, while those in Vancouver were off by only $800.

Across the ten markets surveyed, close to half of all homeowners reported having an intention to undertake home renovations valued at $1,000 or more in 2008. The share of households that intend to renovate in 2008 is greater than the share of households that undertook renovations of $1,000 or more in 2007 (31 per cent1).

The share of households that intend to renovate in 2008 is highest in Winnipeg and St. John’s at 50 and 48 per cent, respectively. Québec had the lowest share of households that intend to renovate in 2008 at 35 per cent.

In five of the ten markets surveyed, households were asked more detailed questions about their intended renovations. Thus, the analysis of the survey results for renovation intentions focus on these five centres: Halifax, Montréal, Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver.

Moishe Alexander says: A renovation intender is defined as a household that either commenced a renovation in 2008 or that intends to begin a renovation in 2008 and plans on spending more than $1,000 on the renovation.

The majority of homeowner households hired a contractor

Among households that renovated in 2007, 41 per cent contracted out all the work, while 31 per cent did the work themselves or with the help of friends or family. Over a quarter of households who renovated did a mix of both hiring a contractor and doing a portion of the work themselves.

In 2007, compared to 2006, the share of households that decided to do the work themselves decreased, while a larger share of households contracted out all the work or contracted out part of the work and did some themselves.

The majority of renovator households in Edmonton (44 per cent), Québec (43 per cent), and Halifax (39 per cent), did the work themselves rather than hire a contractor. On the other hand, the majority of renovator households in Toronto (47 per cent), Ottawa (45 per cent), and Montréal (44 per cent) hired a contractor to complete the work.

Of those households that contacted a contractor, 77 per cent of households in 2007 had a written agreement before the renovation work was started, down from 80 per cent in 2006.

The majority of homeowner households renovated to update/add value or prepare to sell.  The main reason given by households across all ten centres for renovating in 2007 was that they wanted to update, add value, or to prepare to sell their home. The second most popular reason for renovating was that the dwelling needed repairs.

Renovations to increase the energy efficiency of homes remained popular in Halifax (10 per cent) and Winnipeg (8 per cent) in 2007 despite a decrease in the incidence compared to 2006. Close to a third of households in Ottawa stated that their home needed major repairs, the largest share across the ten centres.

Close to a third of homeowner households remodelled a room

Thirty-one per cent of renovator households remodelled a room, making this the most popular type of renovation completed in 2007. Painting/wallpapering and installing hard surface flooring/wall-to-wall carpeting were undertaken by 27 and 26 per cent of renovator households last year, respectively.

There are some differences by centre in the proportion of renovations undertaken last year:

• Fences, driveways, patios, swimming pools or other major landscaping renovations were more popular in Ottawa (20 per cent) and Edmonton (20 per cent), than in Montréal (14 per cent).
• Hard surface flooring and wall-to-wall carpeting were more popular in Edmonton (36 per cent) and St. John’s (35 per cent) than in Québec (16 per cent).
• Door and window renovations were more popular in St. John’s (30 per cent) than in Vancouver (14 per cent).

The Market Absorption Survey is carried out in conjunction with the Starts and Completions Survey in urban areas with populations in excess of 50,000. When a structure is recorded as completed, a report is also made as to whether or not a unit has been sold or rented. The dwellings are then enumerated each month until such time as absorption occurs.

Housing Start Volume

• Volume A: Starts, Completions, and Under Construction (Canada, Provincial, CMA and Large CA levels)
• Volume B: Seasonally-Adjusted Starts (Canada and Provincial)
• Volume C: Quarterly Starts, Completions, and Under Construction (Canada and Provincial) (Available at end of Quarter)
• Volume D: Apartment Starts and Completions (Canada, Provincial, CMA and Large CA)
• Volume E: Starts and Completions by Intended Market (Canada and Provincial)
• Volume F: Starts and Completions by Intended Market (CMA and Large CA)
• Volume H: Starts, Completions, and Under Construction (Census Subdivision)
• Volume I: Market Absorption Statistics (Canada, Provincial, CMA and Large CA)
• Volume J: Market Absorption Statistics (Census Subdivision)

Symbols / Signes conventionnels

**     Not available / Non disponible
***    Infinity / Indéfini
+      Less than 1,000 units / Moins de 1 000 unités
-      Nil or Zero / Néant ou zéro
–     Amount too small to be expressed / Chiffre trop petit pour être indiqué
(r)    Revised / Chiffres révisés

Geographical Abbreviations

AR  Agglomération de recensement
C   City / Cité
CY  City
CÉ  Cité
CA  Census Agglomeration
Com Community
CM  County (municipality)
CN  Crown Colony/Colonie de la couronne
CMA Census Metropolitan Area
CT  Canton (municipalité de)
CU  Cantons unis (municipalité de)
DM  District municipality
HAM Hamlet
IM  Island Municipality
LGD Local Government District
LOT Township and Royalty
M   Municipality/Municipalité
MÉ  Municipalité
MD  Municipal district