Time for your cheat sheet on this week’s top stories.
Canadian Real Estate
Canadian Real Estate Balancing In A “Meaningful” Way, Pause Unlikely To Boost Market: BMO
The Canadian real estate market is back to cooling after a brief jump in activity post-rate pause. Existing home sales fell, and new listings have been climbing to the point the market is now considered “balanced.” Despite getting another rate pause a few days ago, BMO says it’s unlikely to reignite the market the way the January pause did. The economy is much weaker, record building will supply even more inventory, and most importantly—the mortgage market is much tighter, and won’t provide any relief.
If Canadian Unemployment Is So Low, Why All The Long Job Lines?
Canada’s unemployment is just off the record low, and by all technical measures—means we’re facing a very robust market. Yet social media is filled with videos of hundreds of people lining up for low paid, entry level jobs. The reason for this is the methodology used to calculate the rate, which is vastly overstating market strength. We walk through three factors that reveal the job market is worse than it appears.
Canada’s Immigration Boom May Be Ending, Permanent Resident Applications Plummet
Canada’s nice, but who wants to live there forever? That’s the message from the country’s permanent resident applications in July, which came in much lower than last year. Deceleration of growth has become the general trend, despite the country smashing population growth records—which appear to be largely temporary visas. High population growth but falling permanent residency applications means Canada is better at selling the Canadian experience than delivering it. People are arriving, and leaving—which is why the country is so aggressively pursuing temporary residents.
Canadian Consumer Spending Intentions Lag Global Peers
Canadians are pulling back on consumer spending, much more than their economic peers. TransUnion found just 11% of households plan to make large purchases in the next quarter, the lowest of any major economy surveyed. Canada came in last for most categories when it came to spending intentions. Consumers see themselves spending less as they perceive the economy to slow, ironically amplifying a slowdown.
Nearly 1 In 5 Canadian Part-Time Workers Can’t Find Enough Work
Despite claims of a robust economy, many part-time workers just can’t find full-time hours. These are called involuntary part-time workers, and nearly 1 in 5 people with part-time employment are now in this area. The share of these workers is now at the highest level in almost two years, indicating the labor market has made a big shift recently.
The Federal Government still promotes immigration despite few jobs and limited affordable housing. Construction is NOT high-tech employment, as most workers will limp home after age 40. Anyone can see this situation just by riding the transit – cement-covered work boots and hard hats. If anyone yelled fire on the worksite, most would require a translator. This brings a whole new meaning to “Work Safe”.
Construction isn’t the only occupation where untrained staff are manning the ship. Bodies don’t equate to experience or knowledge. Tim Hortons runs their entire business based on least-cost employees.