Ford emphasizes ‘need to get moving'
Ford told reporters in Huntsville that Trump has done Canada a solid by forcing Canadians to look to each other for solutions to our economic challenges instead of relying upon the U.S. 'We're all standing united right now,' the Ontarian said.
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Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Seniors rarely downsize — here's why that's hurting first-time homebuyers
Realtor Barry Lebow specializes in helping seniors downsize — moving out of the family homes they've lived in for decades to a smaller place that's a better fit for their aging lifestyle. From the outside, that might look like the natural progression: feeding a healthy bit of turnover into the housing supply as move-up buyers seek their own family home. But the reality is a bit different when it comes time to sell, Lebow, who works in the Greater Toronto Area, said in an interview. "Our customers are not always happy customers," he said. "Almost all seniors do not want to move." Experts say it's a myth that seniors who own their homes are keen to downsize to fund their retirements, when the reality is they're largely staying put, in part because they don't like the downsizing options, making it harder for young prospective buyers to break into the housing market. Seniors are in fact the demographic that's least likely to move, according to data from the 2016 census. "It's actually quite rare," said Mike Moffatt, founding director of the Missing Middle Initiative at the University of Ottawa. Lebow said that when seniors do move, it's often because they're facing mobility or money issues — or both. He acknowledged there's a type of older Canadian who's keen to cash out on the family home, move into a smaller condo or apartment and take on a new lifestyle. But these are the unicorns, he said. In his work, it's common to come across seniors with three- or four-bedroom houses and no children at home to fill them anymore. More space than they need, in all likelihood, but no motivation to let it go. "Moving is a traumatic experience," Lebow said, whether it's the financial cost or the emotional toll of changing addresses and purging years of accumulated belongings. Beyond the typical home showings and paperwork, his job has ranged from rehoming a pet dog who couldn't be accommodated in a new abode to acting as de facto mediator when the prospect of mom or dad downsizing becomes a tense family conflict. Some of his clients are also facing cognitive decline, Lebow said, and only see their real estate agent as the guy trying to throw them out of their home. "Believe me, I've been yelled at," Lebow said. A Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. report from November 2023 also found that while there was a bit of a shift toward downsizing as Canadians age, that trend is still limited to a minority of older households. There's also minimal movement to condos or rental properties as Canadians age, the report found. Data from CMHC indicates the "sell rate"— the proportion of Canadians older than 75 who are cashing out of the housing market — fell steadily between 1991 and 2021. Canadians are living longer and might also be in better financial shape as they get older, the agency said, letting them age in place. "In order for them to leave, they would need something that met their needs as much. And often, that doesn't exist," Moffatt said. Among the biggest factors motivating — or hindering — a move are cost and lifestyle, he said. Many seniors still want to be able to garden and host family over the holidays, he said, which makes a one-or-two bedroom condo in the downtown core unappealing. Moffatt said many older Canadians are keen to stay in their existing neighbourhoods, but smaller options are not readily available. Modern infill units set up for street-level access in older, residential neighbourhoods are the kinds of options many seniors need to give moving a second thought. The kind of sixplex-unit zoning recently up for debate at Toronto city council would create the kinds of units that would be right for many would-be downsizers, Moffatt noted. Toronto ultimately decided last month to broaden sixplex zoning to only some wards, leaving the others to opt in if they choose. Moving houses is also expensive when it comes to hiring movers, staging costs and the myriad of taxes and fees for real estate agents and lawyers. Measures to reduce the tax burden seniors face when moving can help to encourage more turnover of family homes, Moffatt said. The Liberal government tabled legislation in May to waive the federal GST on new homes, but it only applies to first-time homebuyers. Moffatt said it would "absolutely" help improve supply in the housing market if that policy were extended to downsizing seniors. Such a move could sweeten the deal for seniors who are open to getting into a smaller condo unit but don't see the financial value in the move. That could spur a positive domino effect in the market: Moffatt explained that when move-up buyers are able to leave behind their starter homes to take on seniors' larger properties, that opens up more supply at the bottom of the housing ladder for first-time buyers. The Canadian Press reached out to Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne to ask if the federal government would consider expanding the GST rebate to seniors. A Finance Canada spokesperson did not mention seniors in their response, only saying in an email that the GST rebate is meant to help first-time buyers enter the housing market by lowering upfront costs to buying a home and spurring the construction of new housing across Canada. "Incentivizing or reducing the barriers to building housing across the board benefits everyone," Moffatt said. "It is kind of an irony, but one of the best things we can do to help first-time homebuyers is to make it easier for seniors to move into new housing." This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 25, 2025. Craig Lord, The Canadian Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Hamilton Spectator
41 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Seniors rarely downsize — here's why that's hurting first-time homebuyers
Realtor Barry Lebow specializes in helping seniors downsize — moving out of the family homes they've lived in for decades to a smaller place that's a better fit for their aging lifestyle. From the outside, that might look like the natural progression: feeding a healthy bit of turnover into the housing supply as move-up buyers seek their own family home. But the reality is a bit different when it comes time to sell, Lebow, who works in the Greater Toronto Area, said in an interview. 'Our customers are not always happy customers,' he said. 'Almost all seniors do not want to move.' Experts say it's a myth that seniors who own their homes are keen to downsize to fund their retirements, when the reality is they're largely staying put, in part because they don't like the downsizing options, making it harder for young prospective buyers to break into the housing market. Seniors are in fact the demographic that's least likely to move, according to data from the 2016 census. 'It's actually quite rare,' said Mike Moffatt, founding director of the Missing Middle Initiative at the University of Ottawa. Lebow said that when seniors do move, it's often because they're facing mobility or money issues — or both. He acknowledged there's a type of older Canadian who's keen to cash out on the family home, move into a smaller condo or apartment and take on a new lifestyle. But these are the unicorns, he said. In his work, it's common to come across seniors with three- or four-bedroom houses and no children at home to fill them anymore. More space than they need, in all likelihood, but no motivation to let it go. 'Moving is a traumatic experience,' Lebow said, whether it's the financial cost or the emotional toll of changing addresses and purging years of accumulated belongings. Beyond the typical home showings and paperwork, his job has ranged from rehoming a pet dog who couldn't be accommodated in a new abode to acting as de facto mediator when the prospect of mom or dad downsizing becomes a tense family conflict. Some of his clients are also facing cognitive decline, Lebow said, and only see their real estate agent as the guy trying to throw them out of their home. 'Believe me, I've been yelled at,' Lebow said. A Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. report from November 2023 also found that while there was a bit of a shift toward downsizing as Canadians age, that trend is still limited to a minority of older households. There's also minimal movement to condos or rental properties as Canadians age, the report found. Data from CMHC indicates the 'sell rate'— the proportion of Canadians older than 75 who are cashing out of the housing market — fell steadily between 1991 and 2021. Canadians are living longer and might also be in better financial shape as they get older, the agency said, letting them age in place. 'In order for them to leave, they would need something that met their needs as much. And often, that doesn't exist,' Moffatt said. Among the biggest factors motivating — or hindering — a move are cost and lifestyle, he said. Many seniors still want to be able to garden and host family over the holidays, he said, which makes a one-or-two bedroom condo in the downtown core unappealing. Moffatt said many older Canadians are keen to stay in their existing neighbourhoods, but smaller options are not readily available. Modern infill units set up for street-level access in older, residential neighbourhoods are the kinds of options many seniors need to give moving a second thought. The kind of sixplex-unit zoning recently up for debate at Toronto city council would create the kinds of units that would be right for many would-be downsizers, Moffatt noted. Toronto ultimately decided last month to broaden sixplex zoning to only some wards, leaving the others to opt in if they choose. Moving houses is also expensive when it comes to hiring movers, staging costs and the myriad of taxes and fees for real estate agents and lawyers. Measures to reduce the tax burden seniors face when moving can help to encourage more turnover of family homes, Moffatt said. The Liberal government tabled legislation in May to waive the federal GST on new homes, but it only applies to first-time homebuyers. Moffatt said it would 'absolutely' help improve supply in the housing market if that policy were extended to downsizing seniors. Such a move could sweeten the deal for seniors who are open to getting into a smaller condo unit but don't see the financial value in the move. That could spur a positive domino effect in the market: Moffatt explained that when move-up buyers are able to leave behind their starter homes to take on seniors' larger properties, that opens up more supply at the bottom of the housing ladder for first-time buyers. The Canadian Press reached out to Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne to ask if the federal government would consider expanding the GST rebate to seniors. A Finance Canada spokesperson did not mention seniors in their response, only saying in an email that the GST rebate is meant to help first-time buyers enter the housing market by lowering upfront costs to buying a home and spurring the construction of new housing across Canada. 'Incentivizing or reducing the barriers to building housing across the board benefits everyone,' Moffatt said. 'It is kind of an irony, but one of the best things we can do to help first-time homebuyers is to make it easier for seniors to move into new housing.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 25, 2025.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
CBC investigation finds some big grocers promoting imported food with Canadian branding
Like many shoppers these days, Stacey Dineen, who lives just outside Kitchener, Ont., is all-in on the buy Canadian movement. "Trump's comments about annexing Canada, wanting to make us part of the United States, boy, that really kind of lit something," she said. Dineen buys Canadian food whenever she can, but when she can't, she looks for imported products from outside the United States. And Canada's major grocery chains have jumped on the trend, running patriotic ads and pledging to help shoppers buy Canadian. But Dineen says she gets frustrated when grocers provide conflicting information about where a product comes from. Last week, for example, she saw organic broccoli at her local Sobeys grocery store. A sign stated it was a "product of Canada," but the fine print on the tag said "produce of USA." "It makes me feel misled," said Dineen. "At this point, I have run out of patience for it. It feels — at the very least, it's careless." New data from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and a CBC News investigation suggests country-of-origin mislabeling by grocers is an ongoing problem. It's also against the rules; in-store food signage must be accurate and not misleading. The CFIA, Canada's food regulator, told CBC News that between November 2024 and mid-July, it received 97 complaints related to country-of-origin claims. WATCH | Buying Canadian? You may want to double check the signage: Of the 91 complaints investigated so far, the CFIA found companies violated the rules in 29 (32 per cent) of the cases. Most involved bulk produce sold in stores, and in each case the problem was fixed, according to the agency. CBC News visited grocery stores operated by Sobeys, Loblaws and Metro in downtown Toronto this month and found similar issues among both bulk and prepackaged produce. At each store, one or more country-of-origin shelf signs in the produce section stated the accompanying product was a "product of Canada" or Mexico, but the product's sticker or packaging said it was a "product of USA." And it's not just produce. CBC News also found questionable Canadian signage for more than a dozen other types of products at the Sobeys store, including imported raw almonds promoted with a red maple leaf symbol and a "Made in Canada," declaration. "We don't grow almonds in this country. Those should not meet the Made in Canada threshold," said Mike von Massow, a professor in the Department of Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Guelph. He added that a high turnover of grocery products can sometimes lead to mistakes. However, food labelling expert Mary L'Abbé says that, six months into the Buy Canadian movement, shoppers' patience for grocer errors is wearing thin. "It's important to Canadians, and I think they have a responsibility to their consumers who expect them to interpret the regulations correctly," said L'Abbé, a nutritional sciences professor emeritus at the University of Toronto. "I think the retailers have to step up to the plate and actually get their act together." Grocers respond Back in the produce section at Sobeys, CBC News found a large sign promoting blueberries as a "product of Canada." But the fine print on the packaging said the berries were a "product of USA." "That's false advertising," said von Massow, suggesting human error as a possible cause. At the Loblaws store, CBC discovered several produce items, such as berries, squash and eggplant where shelf labels indicated they were a "product of Mexico," while product stickers or packaging revealed they were a "product of U.S.A." Packaged raspberries and blackberries at Metro had similar inconsistent labelling. At a Loblaw-owned No Frills in Toronto, CBC found different inconsistent labelling. The store displayed strawberries with signage that included a red maple leaf and the phrase, "Prepared in Canada." But the berries' packaging stated that they were a "product of USA." It's possible that the strawberries were packaged in Canada, but the CFIA told CBC News it would be inappropriate to use a "Made in Canada" or "Prepared in Canada" claim if a product was only packaged here. L'Abbé says the No Frills ad is misleading. She points out that big grocers have launched big marketing campaigns centred around the Buy Canadian movement. Both Loblaw and Sobeys have produced slick, patriotic ads prominently featuring the Canadian flag. "Obviously they're spending money on those marketing campaigns," said L'Abbé. "They can also do the work behind the scenes to make sure that they're advertising things correctly." CBC News sent photos of its findings to Loblaw Companies Limited, Sobeys Inc., and Metro Inc. Loblaw did not directly answer questions about the strawberries, but shortly after CBC's inquiry, the maple leaf and "Prepared in Canada" signage on the strawberries was gone. Loblaw, Sobeys and Metro each told CBC News in separate emails that they strive for accurate country-of-origin signage, but noted that the task is challenging when dealing with mass inventory. "Fresh produce can change week-to-week and unfortunately mistakes can happen from time to time," said Sobey's spokesperson, Emily Truesdale. Loblaw and Metro offered an apology to customers for any mishaps and encouraged them to alert the store if they discover inconsistencies. Both grocers also said they're working with store staff to reinforce signage policies and minimize errors. "As a result of [CBC's] inquiry, stores received reminders about checking produce labels," said Metro spokesperson Stephanie Bonk. Imported but made in Canada? In response to the Buy Canadian movement, big grocers began marking many domestic products in stores with a maple leaf symbol. But sometimes it winds up on products with no apparent Canadian connection. "There are lots of opportunities for things to get confusing," said von Massow. "It's important for these stores to be transparent." At the Sobeys store, CBC News found more than a dozen "imported" house-brand Compliments products, including ice cream cones, salad dressing, raw nuts and graham crackers, displayed with a red maple leaf symbol. Sobeys' website says the maple leaf symbol refers to items that are "Made in Canada" or are a "Product of Canada." According to the CFIA, "Product of Canada" refers to food that is entirely or almost entirely created in the country. To qualify as "Made in Canada," the last significant transformation of a food product must occur in the country. But the packaging for each of the imported house-brand items states that it was "imported for Sobeys" with no qualifying statement about a Canadian connection. "Why would you put a Maple Leaf on a product that very clearly is imported?" asked Dineen, who discovered imported raw almonds and "California natural" walnut pieces marked with a maple leaf at her local Sobeys. "It just erodes the trust. It just makes you think, 'OK, so that's meaningless.'" Sobeys did not directly answer questions about imported Compliments products marked with a maple leaf. Von Massow says if you're unsure about any store or product labels, ask store staff for an explanation, or call the product's customer service line, often printed on the packaging. Shoppers who discover advertising or labels for food that they feel are misleading can file a complaint with the CFIA. WATCH | Grocery stores overcharge for packaged meat: Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
