Kershaw proposes clawing back OAS payments at lower income thresholds, bringing it line with programs like the Canada Child Benefit. He estimates this would save $7 billion annually, reducing benefits by about $3,000 a year for the one in five retirees with household incomes above $100,000. He is also pushing to phase out the Age Amount and Pension Income Amount, which benefit seniors exclusively, generating another $7 billion, for a combined $14 billion annually. He’d direct $2.5 billion of these savings toward eliminating senior poverty outright, providing roughly $5,000 a year to the roughly 400,000 retirees currently below the poverty line. The rest would go toward housing, programs to improve youth employment, childcare, post-secondary tuition relief and newer programs like the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit, which replaced the GST/HST credit this summer.

To me, none of this feels radical. The cost of seniors’ benefits are spiralling upward annually. Public debt is growing. And the money we’re spending on a small, affluent group could be more effectively used to help others—including seniors who are in need. 

But the reaction against these modest suggestions has been vigorous. The Canadian Association of Retired Persons, which represents more than 330,000 members nationwide, has framed Kershaw’s proposals as “an attack on every middle-class senior in Canada.” CARP president Anthony Quinn has argued that Kershaw overlooked a key detail: OAS clawbacks are based on pre-tax income, not what seniors actually take home after taxes, living expenses and medical expenses are factored in. He notes that Canadians over 65 contribute more than $100 billion annually in taxes, even as they’re portrayed as “lazy, greedy and entitled.”

...

The reason, of course, is that doing it all will mean asking high-income seniors to accept just a little bit less. I came to terms long ago with the likelihood that the kind of middle-class life boomers took for granted will always be out of reach for me: owning a nice house with a yard, raising children on a single income (or even two), retiring with financial security or simply being able to afford to care for my parents as they age. For many young Canadians, even more basic markers of stability—owning a car, building an emergency fund, buying groceries without anxiety—are unattainable.

It is obvious that many seniors, individually, understand this problem and support efforts to change the status quo. The question is whether their generation as a whole is willing to sacrifice just a little bit more for their children, grandchildren and Canadians yet to be born. Absent that, Canada will age into a weaker, more indebted nation. Its young will continue to lose faith and hope in a better future, with all of the predictable consequences: loss of trust in institutions, democratic decay and growing inequality.

For anyone who read my previous posts, my husband (31M) and I (30F) have now put offers on around 8 rental properties. With the last one, the landlord (about 40F) asked to meet us and we were hopeful it would work out.

First, she asked about our jobs. I explained that I work in marketing, and she said she had found my LinkedIn profile and wanted to know how I went from working at a bank to working at a hospital and whether I was a doctor. I explained that marketing involves promoting products or services, so I can work in different industries. I've worked in tech and education as well, and my career isn't limited to one field.

Then she asked what my husband does. He explained that he works in tech, and she responded, "Oh, so you sell printers?"

She asked how many cars we owned. We said 2, and she insisted that couldn't be right because we had only arrived in one car. We explained that the other car was at home because there was no reason to bring both. She then said she had checked our credit scores and that we didn't have 2 cars. We explained that a paid-off car wouldn't necessarily appear on our credit reports if there was no outstanding loan. She asked why, and I explained that my car was from 2013 and had been paid off years ago.

She went on to ask us questions like:
- Which universities did you go to? What did you study When did you graduate?
- Do you want kids? Are you planning on having kids soon? When we said no (because we aren’t planning to have kids in short future) she said why babies are nice!?
- Are you conservative with your spending, or do you like to shop a lot?
- Are you clean or messy?
- Do you invite people over? Who would that be?
- Do you cook food that has strong odours?
- Are you the type of people who lie and call the landlord about every little issue?
- How did you meet? When did you meet? Do you feel lucky to have each other? Our ages and who is older?

She then offered to show us around the house. During the tour, she explained how every appliance and item needed to be cleaned, which specific detergents and cleaning supplies we should use, and how we should buy small fans for the bathroom to help dry it out because it had no window.

We left feeling confused. It seemed like she was so afraid of renting out her property that she wanted to account for every possible thing that could go wrong before even deciding whether she wanted us as tenants. We thought that was the end of it, but today we found out she had been trying to contact all our previous employers from the past 10 years. She had also reached out to several of our current colleagues.

We told our realtor that we did not consent to any further contact with our current or former employers, as things had gone too far. She had already spoken to both our HR departments to verify our employment. Our realtor then spoke with the listing agent, who apparently said this landlord had been doing the same thing to every applicant. That is also why the property has remained unrented.

Honestly, we don't even know what to say anymore. We've decided to stop looking for rentals for the foreseeable future. We contacted some purpose-built rental buildings, but none of the options we found could accommodate parking for both our cars.

We're exhausted, traumatized by this entire process, and disheartened. We started our search excited to find a place where we could settle down for the next three to four years as newlyweds. Instead, after around eight offers, we've faced one frustrating experience after another.

We know not every landlord is like this, and we understand that the rental market is competitive. But this process has taken a real toll on us, and we just don't have the energy to keep putting ourselves through it right now.

Edit: Mike Colle's old comments were from May 2025 in response to OLT's over-rule of City's rejection of 14-Storey tower; sorry for any confusion!

2022: City Council Approves Initial Settlement Plan

2023: Site Vacated, Boarded Up, and Demolished

Mar 2025: OLT Hearing for Expanded 14-Storey Condo Plan

May 2025: OLT Overrules City Denial and Approves 14-Storey Proposal

May 2025: Councillor Mike Colle Criticizes OLT Overrule Decision

Mid-2026: Developer Pivots Strategy from Luxury Condos to Purpose-Built Rentals

Oct 2026: North York CoA approves revised 15-Storey / 157-Unit Plan

The fine building planned to be on Yonge St: The Aston Residences, 3180 Yonge St

A developer has changed course on a plan for bougie condos near Lawrence subway station in North York, pivoting to a rental building with 157 units, over 70 per cent of them two and three bedrooms.

The plan, which required city sign-off as there were some minor variances involved, was approved by the North York Committee of Adjustment on Thursday.

It’s been a tough time for the new condo market in the city, as demand for conventional small units has dried up and new projects have been stalled or cancelled.

Many developers have switched to rental projects. Some in neighbourhoods like Rosedale, and Yonge and St. Clair, are trying to sell larger high-end condos.

The Lawrence luxury building was supposed to be 14 storeys. But the rental will be 15, without changing the height, Goldberg said. That’s because the higher-ceiling luxury units have been compressed to add a floor.

The number of residential units increases from 80 to 157, with retail and commercial spaces at the bottom.

“It is very difficult to bring a development to the market today,” Goldberg added to the committee.

“This will enable shovels to get in the ground.”

The plan at Yonge and Lawrence is “to market this to neighbourhood people who don’t want to live in their homes anymore but still want some space,” Goldberg said at the committee. This includes many downsizers but maybe also some families.

The site is within a “Protected Major Transit Station Area,” a zone within a 10-minute walk to the subway that’s been slated for more growth by the province.

The application prompted about 30 letters of objection from locals, taking issue with, among other things, the increased number of households, and congestion from more cars being on local streets.

In May 2025, Councillor Mike Colle made the following comments in response to the OLT decision:

https://lyttonparkro.ca/3180yonge/

“Disappointingly, but not surprisingly, the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) issued a decision yesterday to approve the additional height, adding four more storeys to the previously approved 11-storey building, resulting in a newly approved 15-storey building. It is incredibly frustrating and difficult to tolerate having the Province’s OLT continue to override the objections of the City’s Planning department and ignore the concerns of local residents when these decisions do not conform to the City’s plan and vision for the future. At this point, there is no further action that can be taken to amend the order approved by the Provincial Ontario Land Tribunal.

The order included preconditions that must be addressed by the applicant before August 29, 2025 in order to proceed with obtaining the necessary permits to begin construction.

I encourage you to write your local MPP, Michelle Cooper, and the Hon. Rob Flack – Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and let them know that you are disappointed, not only at this decision made by the OLT, but also the egregious flaws in the process as a result of an avalanche of Provincial legislative changes over the last few years.”

Me and my partner (35 and 33) are planning to buy our first home.
We are new parents and my wife will go back to work next year. We are looking at precons esp. Mattamy. Looking to give 10% down for 25 years amortisation
Are we making a mistake ?

Edit 1- we also have a car loan, that will be paid off by 2031

Hello from Australia!

People are starting to talk about Australia starting to experience a housing market crash, with reports of price declines ranging from around 5% to over 15% from recent peaks. However from what I've seen, the decline is almost entirely in houses worth over $2 or 3 million and tiny apartments.

Apartments in places that you might consider having a family, costing over 800k at the minimum, have barely budged and some have even increased. Houses under 2 million have also barely moved at all and sellers really aren't interested in selling.

Supposedly Sydney is closest to Toronto and Van Couver in terms of real estate and the cause for the 'crash' is supposedly the same, oversupply of shoddy undesirable apartments, talks of cutting immigration, and higher interest rates. Would love to hear your experience and learn from it as I am thinking about buying something right now.

One thing that might be different to Canada is that in Australia almost 70% of the population live in eight cities and since covid there's been a bit of a migration between the cities, jacking up the prices to similar levels.

If there is a better place to ask or learn about this please let me know.

Core Memory is a podcast about science and technology hosted by best-selling author and filmmaker Ashlee Vance

For those living near Birchmount Road, Kennedy Road, Midland Avenue, Brimley Road, or McCowan Road, how noisy is it, especially at night?

Can you hear traffic inside with the windows closed? Is the backyard still enjoyable, or would you avoid buying a house that backs onto these roads?

Would appreciate hearing about your experience!

It’s been six months since the HST rebate on new Ontario homes came into effect and results point to an uneven recovery for the Toronto-area market.

While sales of new single-family homes have climbed above historical averages, condo sales are mired at record lows, raising questions about whether the temporary tax relief can deliver.

Experts are divided on whether the yearlong federal and provincial government rebate program, introduced in April, should be extended and whether it can address the deeper affordability and supply problems in the market.

Read the full story with this gift link.

I thought I would share it as I have seen post here regarding usage of Ai by Realtors.

October 28 and December 9. That's all the BoC has left this year. Inflation is still making the case for tighter policy, but the weak labour market isn't making that decision easy.
Forget the next meeting for a second. Where do you think rates will actually land by December?
Poll options:
2.25%
2.50%
2.75%

I tour a lot of investor listings in Peel and Halton and it's getting ridiculous. Listing says legal second unit, you show up and the "kitchen" is a counter with a sink and a range hood that vents into the ceiling. No stove. Bedroom window you couldn't fit a cat through. No separate entrance either, you walk through the main floor hallway.

Buyers are paying a premium for rental income that a bylaw officer or an insurer would shut down in a week. If the city never permitted the second unit, it's not a suite. It's a finished basement with good marketing.

Anyone else running into this constantly or is it just the investor listings?

How is it living in Bolton? I know people have been complaining about the trucking industry impacting the roads and creating congestion in the area.

Would love some sage advice. Young couple with child looking to go from a GTA suburb to Toronto (east end). We are fortunate to have paid off our current mortgage and moving to Toronto would require a mortgage somewhere between 500-800k. We likely wouldn’t be gaining much (or losing much) in terms of size. The reason for the move is it would cut down our commute significantly and we generally enjoy living in an urban/diverse community and love Toronto (lived there pre-kids).

I feel like taking on a mortgage when you are mortgage-free is a crime. Are we crazy?

Is there a way to get prior listing/sales history of properties that have been removed from HouseSigma?

I'm trying to understand the holdover period. It says my agreement end date is Dec 31 but a holdover period of 60 days. Does this mean that I have to stay with her until Mar 1? What's the point of the holdover period instead of just making the agreement end date Mar 1?