Skip to content

The Monitor Progressive news, views and ideas

Topics

Housing and Homelessness

This is a class struggle, not a housing crisis—and it’s time to pick a side

Ricardo Tranjan's latest book, The Tenant Class, asks you to pick a side. Do you stand in solidarity with the rising tenant class, or will you uphold the exploitative status quo?

Predatory lending and housing insecurity, an obvious link worth stressing

There is so much talk about housing insecurity in this country. Yet governments allow payday lenders to set up shop in neighbourhoods where high rents perpetuate financial insecurity.

Hate the high cost of rent? Blame the 1990s.

Bewildered by the high cost of housing? Wondering how we got to this place in Canada? To understand why we’re here now, we need to look back thirty years to policy decisions being made in the early 1990s.

The financialization of rental housing in Canada

Canada is experiencing a permanent rental housing affordability crisis, which has only intensified since the COVID-19 pandemic began. At the same time, we’re seeing a greater consolidation of rental housing apartments by financial firms, accelerating the “financialization of rental housing,” a trend underway in Canada since the 1990s.

Ontario election: What’s in it for people who rent?

A look at what the provincial party platforms do for renters

Call for pitches: September/October 2022: Uncovering the role of REITs

38% of households in Canada rent their homes. So why isn't more attention paid to the investors who control up to one third of Canada's rental housing stock?

Federal Budget 2022: What we're watching for

This budget could herald the beginning of a Pearsonian period of progressive policy making

Profit squeeze: Excess corporate profits are making inflation tougher for Canadians

Twenty-six per cent of higher inflation for Canadian households is being driven by excess profits

Priorities that should be reflected in the Nova Scotia 2022-23 budget

Nova Scotians deserve a government that learns the lessons of the past to build a better tomorrow

What's driving inflation and how Ottawa can push back

Prepared remarks to the House of Commons finance committee's study on inflation

What can governments do to combat inflation? A lot

Tackling inflation can be part of a public-led recovery—it only requires government to reduce or maintain prices in areas they control.

The post-pandemic future: More supportive housing for semi-independent seniors

As our population ages, let’s rely less on long-term care and more on supportive housing:a cost-effective way for semi-independent seniors to live with dignity and independence.

Next steps for federal housing policy: A look at 2021 election promises

New measures may help somewhat on the margins, but more fundamental changes in tax and regulatory policies will be needed to close the growing gap in housing.