Housing starts and sales will fall more into line with “demographic fundamentals” this year and next, according to the latest housing outlook from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation. The crown agency said it expects housing starts will range between 166,600 to 192,200 units in 2011, with a point forecast of 179,500. That’s a slight […]

This week on an abbreviated Big Picture podcast (co-host John Shmuel is off in parts unknown): If you’ve been in the market looking for a home the past few years, you’ve likely griped about how seemingly far out of whack prices have become. This is especially true if you happen to live — or want […]

Some 22 years after writing The Wealthy Barber, which became easily the bestselling personal finance book in Canadian history, David Chilton has a dire warning in The Wealthy Barber Returns, to be released this fall. “The worst thing that’s happening to Canadians in the last 20 years has been lines of credit,” said Chilton, speaking […]

More Canadians are living closer to the edge as consumer debt loads continued to climb in the first three months of the year, a study shows. Already at record levels, Canadians now owe just under $26,000 on average on their lines of credit, credit cards and auto loans, according to credit rating agency, TransUnion. That’s […]

WASHINGTON— From Saturday’s Globe and Mail Whatever momentum the U.S. economy had earlier this year is gone, snuffed out by higher fuel prices and the disruption of global trade caused by the Japanese earthquake. American employers added a mere 54,000 jobs in May, the weakest showing since a string of four consecutive monthly declines in […]

Homeowner’s insurance is one of the most common types of insurance and one of the least understood. Many homeowners believe that their policies will cover them for practically any damage sustained to the house or contents. The reality is that homeowner’s policies contain many exclusions and restrictions on coverage that can leave you with a […]

The risk that the economic slowdown in the United States will turn into another North American recession is not high, Canada’s finance minister said Tuesday as he cautioned that too many people nevertheless remain jobless in this country. “I do not think the risk is great,” Jim Flaherty said in response to a reporter’s question […]

Stephen Harper has kept one economic lynch pin, promoted two others, and brought in an untried new face — but his Conservative government’s message and policies remain the same. The top economic minister, Jim Flaherty at Finance, was brought back to cabinet Wednesday in order to re-introduce the March 22 budget the opposition parties rejected. […]

Canadian home prices continued their upward march in April, driven by strong investor demand in Vancouver, as cracks in the Toronto condominium market may be starting to appear. The Canadian Real Estate Association said yesterday the average price of a home sold in April in Canada was $372,544, up 8% from a year ago. It […]

Canada’s fiscal advantage will only go so far in protecting the country against a debt crisis growing in the world’s advanced nations and Asia’s emerging economic powerhouses, Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney warns. Trying out a theme he will likely take to Washington later this week, Carney told the Canadian Club of Ottawa on […]