The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Member of Parliament for Pontiac, on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, along with Stéphanie Vallée, Parliamentary Assistant to the Premier of Quebec and Member of the National Assembly for Gatineau, on behalf of Laurent Lessard, Minister of Municipal Affairs, Regions and Land Occupancy, officially opened today the two housing projects of the La Pêche Development Corporation, which provide 24 new affordable housing units for semi-independent seniors. This represents an investment of nearly $3.5 million on the part of public and sector partners for the construction of these units.

The Government of Canada, through Canada’s Economic Action Plan, and the Government of Quebec, under the AccèsLogis program of the Société d’habitation du Québec (SHQ), contributed a total amount of nearly $1.5 million, while partners and the Municipality of La Pêche invested nearly $2 million. Of this sum, more than $1.3 million will be provided by the Municipality of La Pêche in the form of a capitalized tax rebate. Canada’s Economic Action Plan was put in place to stimulate the economy and create jobs during the global recession. The federal and provincial governments will invest, on a 50:50 cost-shared basis, $538 million in Quebec under the Affordable Housing Initiative Program Extension Agreement.

“Our government is committed to giving a hand-up to the people of Quebec during these tough economic times,” said Minister Cannon. “Through projects like these, Year 2 of Canada’s Economic Action Plan will continue to create jobs, stimulate communities in all corners of the country and support Canadian workers and families.”

“The opening of these two establishments is excellent news and demonstrates the attention that our government is giving to the seniors of Quebec. Thanks to the combined efforts of the different partners that contributed to this mobilizing project, 24 households can now benefit from safe, quality housing that meets their needs, at an affordable cost,” said MNA Stéphanie Vallée, in the presence of Robert Bussière, Mayor of La Pêche and Chair of the Board of Directors of the La Pêche Development Corporation, and community partners.

Canada’s Economic Action Plan provides $400 million, over two years, to build new rental housing for low-income seniors. Overall, the Economic Action Plan includes $2 billion for new and existing social housing, plus up to $2 billion in loans to municipalities for housing-related infrastructure.

Canada’s Economic Action Plan builds on the Government of Canada’s commitment in 2008 of more than $1.9 billion, over five years, to improve and build new affordable housing and help the homeless.

Twelve tenants of these two housing projects can benefit from the SHQ’s Rent Supplement program, which provides financial assistance to low-income individuals who would otherwise have to spend more than 25 per cent of their income on housing. The rent supplements provided will represent, over a five-year period, a total of nearly $183,350 in financial assistance, including $165,000 from the SHQ and more than $18,350 from the Municipality of La Pêche.

Since 2003, 980 community housing units have been, or are being, developed in the Outaouais region, including 82 in the constituency of Gatineau, representing total investments of nearly $114 million by the Government of Quebec.

A great resource for real estate investors performing their due-diligence, the info is laid out well, and in a glance you can wrap your head around the key information.

The #1 recommended community to locate your business is the Edmonton International Region – being the area around the airport (Leduc & Nisku are the hubs). The rest of the top ten includes Edmonton, Strathcona County, Camrose, Airdrie, Calgary, Lethbridge, Lloydminster, Red Deer and Strathmore.

One item to note, is that the pricing for serviced industrial land is consistently on the low side. For example, serviced industrial land in Strathcona County for $300,000 per acre? $500,000 would be a safer “average”.

Real estate investors take note: this type of information shows trends for yesterday & today, but does not forecast tomorrow. A decision by city council, or the unexpected fall of a commodity price can quickly change the tides for a community. If you are not an informed citizen of the community you are investing in, there is no substitute for an unbiased, on-the-ground local expert to give you an inside scoop, and assist in taking a calculated risk to capture the biggest upside tomorrow.

Well done, Alberta Venture, a useful tool which I think many will utilize.

http://www.albertaventure.com/?p=3293

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.

Maintenance and repairs are defined as any work made to keep a property in good working condition or maintain its appearance, while alterations and improvements are defined as any work made to increase the enjoyment, value or useful life of the property.

Among homeowner households that renovated in 2007, three quarters did some form of alteration and improvement to their home, while 42 per cent did maintenance and repairs. Eighteen per cent of households who renovated in 2007 completed both maintenance and repairs and alterations and improvements to their home.

Across the ten major centres, the incidence of alterations and improvements was highest in Calgary and Edmonton with more than 80 per cent of renovators in 2007. On the other hand, Québec and Montréal had the lowest share of renovating homeowner households that undertook alterations and improvements. As for maintenance and repairs, Québec and Montréal had the highest incidence of this type of renovation (48 and 45 per cent, respectively) while Edmonton had the lowest share.

In the ten major Canadian cities surveyed, 37 per cent of homeowner households renovated their primary residence in 2007. This was down slightly from 39 per cent in 2006. The share of  households who renovated last year was the largest in Winnipeg (44 per cent), Halifax (43 per cent), St. John’s (42 per cent), and Ottawa (40 per cent), while Calgary and Quebec (35 per cent) had the lowest share of households undertaking renovations in 2007.

Thirty-one per cent of homeowner households who undertook renovations 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 followed with 27 and 26 per cent of households last year undertaking this type of  renovation, respectively.

Thirty-seven per cent of households in ten Canadian markets renovated their home in 2007.

According to CMHC’s Renovation and Home Purchase Survey, an estimated 1.5 million households in ten of Canada’s major centres indicated they had completed some form of renovation in 2007. This represents 37 per cent of homeowner households across the ten major centres, down slightly from 39 per cent in 2006.

The share of homeowner households who renovated last year was the highest in Winnipeg (44 per cent), Halifax (43 per cent), and St. John’s (42 per cent), while Calgary and Quebec had the lowest share with 35 per cent.

The share of households that intended to renovate in 2007 (46 per cent) was higher than the share of households who undertook renovations of $1,000 or more in 2007 (31 per cent)2.

In last year’s survey, households in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montréal, and Halifax indicated that they expected to spend, an average of $11,200 on renovations in 2007, where in fact, they spent an average of $13,200.

Conversions and/or alterations within an existing structure are excluded from the surveys as are seasonal dwellings, such as: summer cottages, hunting and ski cabins, trailers and boat houses; and hostel accommodation, such as: hospitals, nursing homes, penal institutions, convents, monasteries, military and industrial camps, and collective types of accommodation such as: hotels, clubs, and lodging homes.

Mobile Homes are included in the surveys. A mobile home is a type of manufactured house that is completely assembled in a factory, then moved to a foundation before it is occupied.

Trailers or any other movable dwelling (the larger often referred to as a mobile home) with no permanent foundation are excluded from the surveys.

A “dwelling unit” is defined as a structurally separate set of living premises with a private entrance either outside the building or from a common hall, lobby, vestibule or stairway inside the building. The entrance must be one that can be used without passing through anyone else’s living quarters.

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