Canadian businesses seeing sales boost
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
19 minutes ago
- CBC
Toronto needs more housing. Are garden suites a potential solution?
Social Sharing The City of Toronto is hoping new measures to cut design costs and speed up permit approval times for laneway and garden suites may encourage homeowners to build more, but some advocates and experts say they're skeptical the structures could be a viable solution to the city's housing crunch. Mayor Olivia Chow announced on Friday that the city will provide free design plans for laneway and garden suites to cut costs and speed up permit approval times, in its latest bid to boost construction of new housing. The pre-approved plans are compliant with the Ontario Building Code and eliminate the need to hire an architect, she said. "It's simple: Toronto is growing and we must lower the cost of building homes and make it easier, and approve them faster," Chow said at a news conference Friday. But a limited number of properties in the city have backyards large enough to build these suites, said Stephanie Bertolo, board member of More Neighbours Toronto, a housing advocacy organization. "Anything that helps reduce the cost of development and gets things built faster is a win," Bertolo said. "Unfortunately I think that laneway housing and garden suites aren't going to be a big part of the solution to the housing affordability crisis." Bertolo said a better solution would be building more small apartment buildings or sixplexes to increase housing density across the city. The city first passed an as-of-right zoning bylaw for laneway suites in 2018, and for garden suites in 2022. But only 166 laneway suites and 114 garden suites have been completed since these bylaws were passed, Chow said on Friday. Bertolo said these numbers are a "drop in the bucket" compared to the housing needs across Toronto. WATCH | Laneway, garden suite designs among new city housing measures announced Friday: Toronto speeding up building permit approvals 2 days ago Duration 1:33 With zoning changes alone not prompting enough new construction, Toronto is rolling out a series of measures to boost housing. Company seeing demand from multigenerational families The city defines a laneway suite as a self-contained residential unit located on the same lot as a detached house, semi-detached house, townhouse or other low-rise house. It is typically located in the backyard next to a public laneway. A garden suite is similarly a self-contained living accommodation usually built in a backyard, but is not on a public lane. Garden and laneway suites typically range between 500 to 600 square feet, said Sarah Cipkar, founder and CEO of Resimate, a company that helps homeowners build in their backyard in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area and the Niagara region. Cipkar said her company is seeing demand from multigenerational families who want to build suites for aging parents or young adults who are struggling to enter the housing market. "It creates all these unique opportunities for families to be closer together," she said. Projects can cost between $200,000 to $350,000, she said. Cipkar said she would like the city make the free suite designs available to manufacturers, who can then build them off site. "Part of the issue with the pre-approved design catalogue is that they're not field-tested," she said. "Homeowners can't touch and feel them. They can just see them and they're like, 'maybe that's a good unit? I can't really tell." Suites likely to be built in wealthier areas: professor Susannah Bunce, an associate professor in the department of geography at the University of Toronto, said the intention behind the city's free designs are good as they provide a "guidebook" for homeowners and can streamline the approval process. But these suites are likely to be concentrated in wealthier neighbourhoods in Toronto that have wider and larger lots, rather than the downtown core, where more affordable housing is needed, she said. And without city programs in place to help out homeowners with expenses, such as a rebate or a forgivable loan program, she said these suites may not be rented out at affordable rates. "With the hidden costs that come with garden suite construction, then there is an incentive for homeowners to try and recoup the costs that they have put up front by renting out a unit at a higher rate," Bunce said. "It does then cut out a lot of people who are suffering from the affordable housing crisis in Toronto." Cipkar said St. Catherines is an example of a municipality that has successfully encouraged these backyard suites. She said the municipality has financial incentives to homeowners and also provides timelines for stages such as when homeowners can expect to receive a permit using pre-approved designs. The new measures come after city council voted last month to allow sixplexes in nine wards, with an option for the remaining 16 wards to opt-in at a later date. , but some councillors vehemently objected to the proposal. Other measures announced by Chow on Friday include expanded online applications for new housing units, which she said will reduce the time it takes for them to be processed.
CTV News
30 minutes ago
- CTV News
The Beer Store closes two locations in Windsor
The Beer Store seen on Goyeau Street in Windsor, Ont. (Robert Lothian/CTV News Windsor) Two locations in Windsor of The Beer Store are officially closed, effective Sunday. The two stores are at 790 Goyeau Street and 1780 College Avenue. The announcement was made earlier this year that nine total locations would be closing, including the two in Windsor. The other four locations in Windsor will remain open. 'The Beer Store is modernizing operations to meet the needs of marketplace – this means making the difficult decision to close some stores,' said Ozzie Ahmed, vice president of retail, when the announcement was made. 'We know this will be disappointing to many customers and our valued employees. We don't make this decision lightly; it is part of our ongoing commitment to business sustainability and serving the needs of our customers.' The Beer Store The Beer Store seen on College Avenue in Windsor, Ont. (Robert Lothian/CTV News Windsor) - With files from CTV News London's Bailey Shakyaver.
Globe and Mail
an hour ago
- Globe and Mail
2 Dividend Stocks to Buy for Decades of Passive Income
Key Points Healthcare giants AbbVie and Abbott Laboratories are both Dividend Kings. They should maintain their dividend growth habits for a long time to come. That's thanks to their solid businesses and promising product pipelines. In 2013, AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) became a publicly traded corporation after splitting from its former parent company, Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT). Since then, both have produced strong returns and have been great picks for income-seeking investors, thanks to consistent payout hikes. That likely won't change soon. These healthcare leaders should continue to perform well and reward shareholders with dividend increases for a long time. Read on to find out more. 1. AbbVie AbbVie is a pharmaceutical leader with a large portfolio of approved products, none more important than a duo of immunology medicines: Skyrizi and Rinvoq. In the first quarter, the company's revenue increased by 8.4% year over year to $13.3 billion, while its adjusted earnings per share came in at $2.46, 6.5% higher than the year-ago period. These results are all the more impressive considering AbbVie faced a major patent cliff just two years ago; however, it has since recovered, largely thanks to Skyrizi and Rinvoq. The former generated $3.4 billion in sales during the period, representing a 70.5% year-over-year increase. Rinvoq's revenue came in at $1.7 billion, 57.2% higher than the year-ago period. Management predicts their combined annual sales will exceed $31 billion by 2027. Not only is that significantly higher than the $17.7 billion they racked up last year, it's also $4 billion higher than their previous guidance. Skyrizi and Rinvoq are expected to drive top-line growth well into the 2030s. Although they will eventually lose patent protection, they demonstrate AbbVie's ability to navigate even the biggest patent cliffs, a quality that is essential for any pharmaceutical company to thrive over the long term. AbbVie has other products that help drive revenue growth, and, equally important, it has a deep pipeline that it routinely strengthens through acquisitions. In March, the company announced a licensing deal with Denmark-based Gubra A/S for GUB014295, an investigational weight management therapy. AbbVie paid $350 million up front for this candidate, with potential milestones of $1.9 billion, not including royalties. AbbVie entered the fast-growing weight loss market with this move; GUB014295 might not pan out, but AbbVie's large pipeline, with approximately 90 products in development, should allow it to launch brand-new products frequently, navigate patent cliffs, and remain successful over the long run. Now turning to the company's dividend, AbbVie has increased its payouts by 310% since 2013. And counting the time it spent under Abbott Laboratories' name, AbbVie is a Dividend King with 53 consecutive years of payout increases. These facts, from AbbVie's underlying business to the company's dividend track record, point to a company capable of sustaining a passive income program for a long time. 2. Abbott Laboratories Abbott Laboratories is best known for its leadership in the medical device space, where it markets dozens of products across multiple therapeutic areas. The company also operates a diagnostic business and has a presence in the pharmaceutical and nutrition industries. Abbott Laboratories' operations are diversified, which can help it overcome challenges in specific segments. That's one of the company's strengths. Here's another: Abbott Laboratories has been a leader in the highly regulated healthcare sector for decades. The company has built a solid reputation with physicians and consumers, all of whom are more likely to gravitate toward the brands they know and trust. In the medical device field, Abbott is a trusted brand. And thanks to its vast portfolio, it generates consistent revenue and earnings. Abbott's biggest growth driver in recent years has been its diabetes care segment, led by its continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) franchise, the FreeStyle Libre. As the company noted, the FreeStyle Libre has become the most successful medical device in history in terms of dollar sales. That's no small feat. Yet there is still massive whitespace ahead, since only a small portion of the world's diabetics use CGM technology despite its advantages. Abbott's work in this niche should provide a powerful long-term tailwind, but there will be many others. The company boasts other growth drivers, including its structural heart segment, where it markets a range of successful devices, such as its MitraClip device, a leader in its mitral valve repair niche. Beyond any single product, Abbott Laboratories has a proven track record as an innovator and should continue launching newer and better ones. Lastly, Abbott is also a Dividend King, and over the past decade, it has increased its payouts by almost 146%. Abbott Laboratories' business is built to last. Investors who purchase the company's shares today can expect consistent dividend growth over the long term. Should you invest $1,000 in AbbVie right now? Before you buy stock in AbbVie, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and AbbVie wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $699,558!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $976,677!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is1,060% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to180%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 30, 2025
