🏠 April asking rent prices up 9.3% across Canada

The average asking rent for a home in Canada in April was up 9.3 per cent compared with a year ago, while a slight month-over-month increase was also recorded for the first time since January, a new report says.

Based on the report, the average asking rent for a one-bedroom unit in Canada was $1,915 in April, up 11.6 per cent from a year ago, while the average asking price for a two-bedroom unit was $2,295, up 11 per cent from April 2023.

#housing
🍁 Maple Chronicles

Decrease number of temporary residents by making them permanent, federal immigration minister suggests

One way Canada plans to shrink the number of temporary residents is to offer them the opportunity to remain permanently, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said Friday, but that doesn’t mean everyone who wants to stay will be able to.

#immigration
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💸 Canada fines Binance $4.38 mln for money laundering violations

Canada's anti-money laundering agency on Thursday said it had imposed a nearly C$6 million ($4.38 million) fine on cryptocurrency exchange Binance for violating the money laundering and terrorist financing laws.

The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) said Binance had failed to register as a foreign money services business with the intelligence body despite several deadlines.

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💸 Trudeau government spends $8 million searching for bodies at Kamloops residential school after viral ‘mass graves’ story, finds nothing

Canada has spent about $8 million to try to discover the "heartbreaking truth" about mass graves, or unmarked graves at the Indian Residential School in Kamloops, British Columbia, only to find that there were no bodies recovered at all.

Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations Carolane Gratton said that the substantial funding was used for fieldwork, records searches, and securing the grounds of the school, Western Standard reports, but no remains have yet been uncovered.

#BritishColumbia
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4th man arrested and charged in killing of B.C. Sikh leader

A fourth Indian national living in Canada has been charged in last year's killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside of a temple in British Columbia.

The province's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said in a release Saturday that 22-year-old Amandeep Singh was already in the custody of Peel Regional Police in Ontario for unrelated firearms charges.

#BritishColumbia #Ontario
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B.C. man detained in child-luring case after being arrested four times in a month

A B.C. man facing child-luring charges, arrested four times in less than a month, has now been ordered to remain in custody.

Is there a standard for how many times you have to commit a crime to actually get arrested?

#BritishColumbia
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Wildfire evacuation notice issued for Fort McMurray

An evacuation alert has been issued for Fort McMurray, Alberta, as an out-of-control fire rages southwest of the major oil town.

The Alberta government said the wildfire danger is "extreme" in the Fort McMurray Forest Area and out of control at 1,000 hectares (2,471 acres) in size.

#Alberta #wildfires
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Trudeau backs away from tax threat on apartment owners

The government of Justin Trudeau pulled back on a threat to hit some real estate investment trusts in Canada with a new tax regime after opposition from the industry.

The finance department posted a statement, saying that “no changes to the tax treatment of REITs are being considered at this time.” That removes a risk that’s hung over Canadian apartment REITs in particular for more than two years.

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Some indicators of financial stress have risen. At the same time, the valuations of some financial assets appear to have become stretched. This could increase the risk of a sharp correction that could generate system-wide stress. The recent rise in the use of leverage in non-bank financial institutions could amplify the effects of such a correction.

Tiff Macklem.

Is this a sophisticated way of saying we're completely f*ucked?

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🚙 Steal a car, lose your driver's licence under new Ontario proposal

Repeat car thieves may face lengthy license bans under proposed changes to Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act.

The Ford government wants to attach a 10-year driver’s licence suspension to a first conviction of auto theft that involved violence, use of weapon, force, or where the theft was motivated by financial gain.

Yes, 'cause the fear of driving without a license is the only chance to stop law-abiding car thieves from stealing cars.

#Ontario
🍁 Maple Chronicles

💸Ottawa budgets about $224 per day to feed and house some foreigners who claim asylum after illegally entering the country.

The average accommodation cost is “$140 per night per room,” and the average cost for meals is “$84 per day per claimant” — for a total of $224 per claimant, per day.

In essence, migrants get a free vacation in Canada.

#immigration
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💉BC Supreme Court rules in favour of PHO’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate for health-care workers

Health-care workers who pushed back against being forced to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or face losing their jobs have lost in the BC Supreme Court.

#BritishColumbia
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Former Liberal ministers urge Trudeau to drop plans to house migrants in federal prisons

Two former Liberal cabinet ministers are urging the Trudeau government to cancel its plans to start using federal prisons to hold immigration detainees, citing a recent inquest recommendation to end the practice of detaining migrants in jails.

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🇨🇦🇮🇱Olivia Chow skips Toronto's Israeli flag raising event as 'it's a bit divisive'

An Israeli flag raising ceremony to mark the country’s independence on Tuesday was not attended by Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, who called the event “divisive” in a statement.

#Israel #Palestine
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💉Canada Post was wrong to suspend unvaccinated remote workers during COVID, arbitrator rules

A labour arbitrator has struck down part of Canada Post’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy for employees, ruling it was unreasonable to suspend staff without pay who worked remotely simply because they did not confirm they were vaccinated.

🍁 Maple Chronicles

CRTC won’t implement online streaming act until late 2025

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) will delay implementing the online streaming act until late 2025. However, the commission plans to continue consultations into 2026.

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📈 Immigration to Canada surges in April, worsening outlook for housing affordability

The working-age population (aged 15 and over) rose by over 100,000 in April, bringing the total to over 410,000 after 4 months in 2024. This represents a sharp acceleration (+47%) on the 278,000 increase recorded in the first four months of 2023.

In Greater Toronto, where population growth reached a record 107,000 at the start of the year, the acceleration is 66% compared to the growth seen in 2023. Greater Montreal and Greater Vancouver have not been left behind since the start of 2024, with growth more than double that seen in 2023.

#immigration
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