
Developer makes his pitch: Renting our way out of the Canadian housing crisis
Article content
Fitzrovia CEO Adrian Rocca, who has 20 years of real estate experience and has led over $20 billion in transactions across Canada, U.S. and the European Union, maintains that governments need to take certain steps to incentivize more building.
Article content
Article content
Article content
Fitzrovia has nearly 9,000 purpose-built rental suites — meaning, not condos — completed or in development in Toronto and Montreal, with 3,000 new homes on track for next year. The company says about a third of Toronto's households have the financial means to rent with them.
Article content
Article content
Housing accounts for almost one-fifth of Canada's GDP, making it a key driver of economic growth. Facilitating investment in domestic housing is a catalyst for broader economic development, says Rocca. Each avoidable fee or delay represents lost opportunities for Canadian workers, subcontractors, and suppliers to benefit from that investment.
Article content
Article content
I saw home ownership rates are actually quite low in Germany. 70 per cent of the households rent, versus own. When I came back, it felt like there is a negative stigma around renting, and I almost felt empowered or passionate around changing that stigma.
Article content
Article content
I think the quality of rental housing could look vastly different if you put some TLC behind the design, the implementation, the programming, the quality of the materials. We could functionally make that product look uniquely different and bring a sense of pride of rentership, versus home ownership. It doesn't mean that you're a failure if you rent.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Globe and Mail
22 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
Terreno Realty Corporation Announces Leases in Santa Clara, CA
Terreno Realty Corporation (NYSE:TRNO), an acquirer, owner and operator of industrial real estate in six major coastal U.S. markets, announced today that it has executed a renewal lease for 35,000 square feet and an expansion lease for 30,000 square feet in Santa Clara, California, with a designer and developer of eVTOL aircraft. The renewal lease will commence upon expiration of the existing lease in September 2025 and the expansion lease will commence in August 2025. Both leases will expire August 2028. Terreno Realty Corporation acquires, owns and operates industrial real estate in six major coastal U.S. markets: New York City/Northern New Jersey; Los Angeles; Miami; San Francisco Bay Area; Seattle; and Washington, D.C. Additional information about Terreno Realty Corporation is available on the company's web site at Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. We caution investors that forward-looking statements are based on management's beliefs and on assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management. When used, the words 'anticipate,' 'believe,' 'estimate,' 'expect,' 'intend,' 'may,' 'might,' 'plan,' 'project,' 'result,' 'should,' 'will,' 'seek,' 'target,' 'see,' 'likely,' 'position,' 'opportunity,' 'outlook,' 'potential,' 'enthusiastic,' 'future' and similar expressions which do not relate solely to historical matters are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions and are not guarantees of future performance, which may be affected by known and unknown risks, trends, uncertainties, and factors that are beyond our control, including risks related to our ability to meet our estimated forecasts related to stabilized cap rates and those risk factors contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 and our other public filings. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those anticipated, estimated, or projected. We expressly disclaim any responsibility to update our forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law. Accordingly, investors should use caution in relying on past forward-looking statements, which are based on results and trends at the time they are made, to anticipate future results or trends.


National Post
30 minutes ago
- National Post
FIRST READING: The remarkably few elbows Carney has thrown at Trump
Article content First Reading is a Canadian politics newsletter curated by the National Post's own Tristin Hopper. To get an early version sent directly to your inbox, sign up here. Article content TOP STORY Article content Prime Minister Mark Carney won the election in April thanks in part due to his promise to take a hard line with the United States. Carney declared during the campaign that Canada's highly integrated 'old relationship' with the U.S. was over. Polls showed at the time that among Liberal voters, their top motivation in voting for Carney was their idea that he would be an effective counterweight against U.S. President Donald Trump. One Ipsos poll from April 13 found that voters saw Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre as likely to 'roll over and accept whatever Trump wants,' while trusting Carney to be 'a tough negotiator who would get the best deal for Canada.' Article content Article content So it's a little weird that Carney's premiership has largely been marked by deference to Washington. Two months in, the Carney government has not materially opposed the U.S. agenda in any meaningful sense. Article content But Carney has overseen the first time in history that a Canadian government has seemingly promised to rescind House of Commons legislation just because the U.S. president complained about it in a social media post. Article content That would be the Digital Services Tax Act, which was made law in Canada last June following a 'yea' House of Commons vote of 175 to 144. But it only took a press release for the Carney government to reverse all of that as a sop to Washington. Article content Article content The spur was a Truth Social post by Trump, in which he said he was immediately suspending all Canadian trade negotiations because of the tax, which he called an 'attack on our Country.' Article content Article content Within two days, the Carney government unilaterally pledged to do what Trump wanted: Collection of the tax would stop immediately, and the Digital Services Tax Act would be repealed as soon as possible. Article content Here's how White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt summed up the move in a recent press conference: 'It's very simple. Prime Minister Carney and Canada caved to President Trump and the United States of America.' Article content Until recently, the most conspicuous example of a prime minister kissing up to the American leader was usually cited as the time in 1985 when Brian Mulroney publicly sang When Irish Eyes Are Smiling to then U.S. president Ronald Reagan. Justin Trudeau and Barack Obama were also known to praise one another, with Trudeau calling his U.S. counterpart 'a man of both tremendous heart and tremendous intellect.' Article content But Carney takes the tactic to a whole new level. In the two times he's personally met with Trump, he's made a point of delivering an extended paean to the U.S. leader in front of news cameras. The most recent example came at the G7 summit in Alberta, where Carney wished Trump a happy birthday before declaring that the Canadian-hosted summit was 'nothing without U.S. leadership, and your personal leadership.' In a May meeting at the White House, Carney called Trump a 'transformational president' who was 'securing the world.' Article content The first major piece of legislation tabled by the re-elected Liberal government was Bill C-2, the Strong Borders Act. The bill codified a package of border security measures pledged to Trump in February as part of an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to stave off a trade war. Article content This includes a promised crackdown on fentanyl trafficking, as well as tighter controls on immigration, particularly in the realm of fraudulent asylum claims. Article content There are good reasons for Canada to pass a border security bill, but the Liberals have been quite open about the fact that their newfound interest in border security has been a direct reaction to Trump. Article content In a House of Commons defence of Bill C-2, Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux said, 'members will recall that the criticism being levelled by the President of the United States toward Canada was about the issue of fentanyl, of our borders not being secure.' Article content Probably the most conspicuous anti-American policy turn taken by the Carney government has been its attempts to substitute Canada's close relationship with the U.S. in favour of a close relationship with the European Union. This has been most notable in the realm of defence, with Carney pledging vast increases to Canadian military spending while striking a new European military alliance that will include Canadian participation in the ReArm Europe program. Article content Federal literature has made clear that they're doing this to 'diversify Canada's defence partnerships beyond the United States,' but the tack is pretty much in line with what the United States has been begging Canada to do. Article content U.S. politicians of both major parties have long bemoaned Canada's lacklustre contributions to the likes of both NATO and NORAD, with senior members of the Trump White House often citing low defence spending as one of their main grievances against Canada. Article content In fact, NATO's recent decision to raise their military spending benchmark to five per cent of GDP (a move that Canada swiftly agreed to), was hailed by Trump as a major victory for U.S. foreign policy. Article content During the federal election, Carney was quite forceful in outlining the need for 'countermeasures' against U.S. tariffs. After Trump hit the Canadian auto sector with a round of tariffs in early April, Carney immediately retaliated with what he described as 'purpose and force.'


National Post
an hour ago
- National Post
How a few rich dairy farmers are sabotaging Canada's big, beautiful trading future: Full Comment podcast
Article content Article content Article content For a moment, it seemed all Canadians understood that, facing U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff war, we had to make our economy as resilient and competitive as possible. As Martha Hall Findlay discusses with Brian Lilley, there was finally talk of ending Ottawa's war on oil and gas, building infrastructure and boosting productivity. The government even yanked the aggravating digital services tax. But, explains Hall Findlay, a former Liberal MP, now director of the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy, politicians just kneecapped nearly every Canadian exporter by exempting our globally detested dairy supply management system from trade talks … forever. Hall Findlay explains how this small cartel of millionaires works, why it's so powerful and why it hurts not just consumers, but every other trade-exposed business. (Recorded July 4, 2025) Article content Article content Article content Article content