Fourth reason is really the only one that matters. If we dealt with that, the other reasons would pretty much go away. Except Toronto would still think it's the center of the universe. There's no fix for that.
We don't build enough houses. And we haven't for a few decades now so the problem gets progressively worse. There are reasons why we haven't built enough houses, but that's the problem. And its a problem all across canada.
Actually the third reason matters most. Globally, investment groups are holding onto trillions of dollars worth of housing with some of it being left intentionally empty. They own so much residential property that it's worth more than the US GDP in a good year. The fact is that housing costs have skyrocketed by design and govts are complicit in it. The IGs buy up homes and then rent them out for rather more than what the mortgage payment would be if an individual had been allowed to buy it.
The govt announcing that it will build thousands of new homes is pointless unless they change the fucking laws to prevent IGs from buying them up.
I say it's by design for good reason. For the middle class home ownership was a way to build equity and wealth. For many it's the only way. But your govt doesn't want that as evidenced by their reticence to do anything about the problem. Did I say reticence? I meant payola. Trudeau bloviating that "housing is a right" is just more of his blowhard bullshit that he doesn't actually mean. It's just sweeet talk for the proles to get their votes.
These IGs have also been instrumental in the removal of rent controls. Nor do they want anyone (but themselves) owning their own homes. You and I and anyone else in the "working class" owning their own homes are in the way of their ability to make even more astronomical profits and they're not going to stand for it.
Building a bunch of housing without changing anything in the laws will simply result in investment groups ultimately getting their hands on it.
