February 28th, 2010
Another week, another article about real estate scam! This one will be concerned with home improvement scam and a concrete example of one of its most common types.
(Real Estate Scam: Home Improvement continued...)February 27th, 2010
The valleys of two more Toronto rivers might soon become protected as part of the Ontario initiative called Greenbelt, the goal of which to protect green space in the province for the future. Don and the Humber Rivers valleys would thus follow Rouge River, which already is on the protected list.
(Toronto’s Protected Rivers continued...)February 26th, 2010
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has released a new report this week called Recession, Recovery and the Future Evolution of the Labor Market. As it title suggests already, it concentrates on the recession and its consequences, and also the labor market.
(Canadian Labor Market Shortages continued...)February 26th, 2010
Another Toronto neighborhood is going to undergo massive revitalization. After Regent Park, Lawrence Heights will be renewed, Toronto Mayor, David Miller, has announced yesterday. “Lawrence Heights is a neighborhood where the people love their neighborhood, but it also is a neighborhood where the buildings have been in decline.” Miller said.
(Toronto Neighborhood Revitalization continued...)February 25th, 2010
No major spending measures, no tax increases, job creation and promoting economic growth. That is what the new Canadian budget, which is going to be released on March 4, will be about, according to the advisor of our Prime Minister, Stephen Harper.
(Canada 2010 Budget continued...)February 25th, 2010
Comic books are surely popular among many people and they are pretty influential too. If you belong to comic books lovers, you have something big to look forward to. Next month, the 2010 Wizard World Comic Con tour is coming to Toronto for the first time ever!!! The event is going to take place at the Direct Energy Centre on the Exhibition Grounds from March 26 to 28.
(Wizard World Comic Con Tour in Toronto continued...)February 24th, 2010
According to the report by Teranet-National Bank Composite House Price Index released on Wednesday, Canadian home resale prices rose for an eighth month in a row in December 2009. The report tracks price changes for repeat sales of single family homes in six metropolitan areas and it claims that overall prices grew by 1.2 percent from November to December.
(Resale Home Prices in Canada continued...)February 24th, 2010
Have you already heard about the recent little disagreements between Toronto Mayor David Miller and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty? The thing is that at the beginning of the week, one of the members of the Provincial Parliament at Queen’s Park, David Caplan, introduced a private member’s bill proposing to make the Toronto Transit Commission an essential service, which might have initiated the following expressions.
(Toronto Mayor vs Ontario Premier continued...)February 23rd, 2010
According to Toronto Real Estate Board, 3,555 home sales through the Multiple Listing Service were reported in GTA during the first two weeks of February 2010. That means a 74 percent rise from the very same period a year ago, when only 2,044 homes were sold.
(GTA February Home Sales continued...)February 23rd, 2010
The G20 summit, a very exciting and probably the biggest security event to take place in Toronto this June, is starting to be a little problematic. The reason is that our city has warned the federal government that it certainly will not pay additional costs for the summit.
(G20 Summit Financing continued...)February 22nd, 2010
Canada’s composite leading economic indicators increased by 0.9 percent from December to January, Statistics Canada announced on Friday. It is just in line with the situation during the previous eight months. However, if compared to December 2009, when the rise was as high as 1.5 percent, the results are not that great.
(Canada Economic Indicators In January continued...)February 21st, 2010
As promised, here is the second article from my real estate fraud series. Home equity fraud and two of its most popular types will be described. Let’s start with saying that the majority of lenders are just alright and honestly want the best for you. Unfortunately, there also are those, who are not quite honest and try to make profit of you. You need to be cautious.
(Real Estate Scam Part 2: Home Equity Fraud continued...)February 20th, 2010
Good news for Ontario!!! As part of the social housing renovation and retrofit investments, 13 housing cooperatives in the province are going to get more than $2 million through Canada’s Economic Action Plan, Patrick Brown, Member of Parliament for Barrie has announced yesterday.
(Action Plan in Ontario continued...)February 20th, 2010
Both of the Toronto marathons are going to stay after all!!! Their organizers and the city of Toronto have reached an agreement and will only change the timing of the events. Starting in 2011, one marathon – the GoodLife Toronto, will take place during spring and the other one- the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in the fall.
(Two Toronto Marathons After All continued...)February 19th, 2010
The consumer price index increased by 1.9 percent this past month after a 1.3 percent rise in December 2009, according to the monthly report of Statistics Canada released yesterday. That is the most significant growth in the index since November 2008.
(Inflation in Canada continued...)February 19th, 2010
Toronto is cool! At least according to the article in US Today from yesterday, written by Christine Sarkis from SmarterTravel.com, Toronto belongs to top 5 top destinations for spring 2010. Other four are Jamaica, Hawaii, Panama City Beach and also Gatlinburg in Tennessee.
(Toronto Among Top 5 Cities continued...)February 18th, 2010
Have you guys ever heard about Women’s Post? I sure hope you have. Especially ladies, as it is a magazine for professional women – as its title suggests. I was lucky to attend the holiday party of the magazine, organized for its partners, friends and supporters back in December 2009.
(Women’s Post continued...)February 18th, 2010
New Capital Points report by the Scotiabank group was just published! It focuses on the Olympic Games in Canada and as always, the economy of our country. During the following two weeks, Canada will be in the in the centre of attention of the whole world due to the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.
(Canada: Economy and the Olympics continued...)February 17th, 2010
The Toronto budget for 2010 was released yesterday! The $9.2 billion budget is actually the biggest ever. Its main highlights are the 4 percent residential property tax rise, 1.3 percent non-residential tax increase and a promise of a permanent transit funding agreement with the provincial government.
(Toronto 2010 Budget continued...)February 17th, 2010
Culture, theater, dance and music fans, here is something interesting for you again! “Billy Elliot the Musical” is coming to Toronto soon!!! The exact date of its opening in our city is not know yet, but it is official that it will be February 2011, David Mirvish from Toronto theater announced yesterday.
(“Billy Elliot: The Musical” in Toronto continued...)February 15th, 2010
Canada has probably entered a period of the relatively slow income growth and that could hurt the housing market, David Dodge, former governor of the Bank of Canada said for The Globe and Mail. He also claims it is possibly to identify housing bubbles only after bursting.
(David Dodge About Housing continued...)February 15th, 2010
Not that I am a huge ice hockey fan, but I guess some of you are indeed, so this might be quite interesting for you. This August, Toronto will host a very attractive hockey event!!! The 2010 Molson Canadian Open Ice Summit will take place right here.
(Open Ice Summit in Toronto continued...)February 14th, 2010
Real estate scam or real estate fraud is not unusual. Lately, it has been gaining popularity. I’m pretty sure the vast majority of you have heard about that already. Still, I want to briefly summarize some of its types for you.
(Real Estate Scam – Part 1 continued...)February 12th, 2010
Canada’s Economic Action Plan is going to concentrate on the valued Woodside National Historic Site, here in Ontario. Big investments there, up to $451,000, should guarantee that the site, open to public from May to December; will be “maintained for future generations while generating important economic benefits for our local community.” Peter Braid, Member of Parliament for Kitchener-Waterloo has declared.
(Canada’s Action Plan in Ontario continued...)February 12th, 2010
With the still very-attractive-for-buyers low interest rates, the new-home prices in Canada increased again in the last month of 2009, according to the announcement of Statistics Canada from yesterday. It was actually the sixth monthly gain in a row in new home prices. However, in comparison with December 2008, the prices were still 0.9 percent lower.
(New-Home Prices in December continued...)February 11th, 2010
A record trade deficit was reported in our country in the last month of 2009, Statistics Canada has announced yesterday. The deficit on December was $246 million and it correspondingly finished the first annual trade deficit of Canada since 1975. The shortfall in November was $201 million. Overall, in 2009, the trade deficit was $4.8 billion. Just for comparison, in 2008 there was a $46.9 billion surplus.
(Canada in Deficit continued...)February 11th, 2010
The June G20 summit is supposedly going to take place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The location could cause a little trouble. Seems like the last week of June will be extremely busy in Toronto and thus we could have a couple of coinciding events in the city, even quite close to each other.
(Toronto G20 Summit Trouble continued...)February 10th, 2010
The resale housing market is predicted to reach 527,300 units in 2010, which would mean a 13.3 percent increase from last year. As Canadian Real Estate Association announced on Monday, that would actually be a new annual record, even 1.2 percent higher than in a very successful year, 2007.
(2010: Housing Records? continued...)February 10th, 2010
See, I told you social networking sites are a powerful tool nowadays. One of those, Facebook, has caused quite a bit of fuss over Toronto Transit Commission recently. After a number of dissatisfied expressions of the public about the quality of of the transit service, the workers have now decided to do something too.
(TTC Workers Fight Back continued...)February 9th, 2010
After all the pessimistic news we have been hearing about the employment situation in Ontario, here’s something positive! Employment in the province has not been doing great lately in comparison with other areas of Canada. However, in January, Ontario formed about two thirds of the job gain in whole Canada, according to official data.
(Ontario Employment in January continued...)February 9th, 2010
Culture lovers, have you heard about the program of the Ballet of Canada in season 2010-2011? It was just announced yesterday by Karen Kain, the artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, inspired by the well known novel of Lewis Carroll, should be the top attention getter of the season.
(National Ballet of Canada Program continued...)February 8th, 2010
As a follow up to my very last article, I am now going to speak about the housing starts solely in Toronto area. According to the CMHC report which I have already mentioned, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of total housing starts decreased by 0.5 percent last month in the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area. The total number of housing starts in December 2009 was 20,800 and in January it was 20,700.
(Toronto Housing Starts continued...)February 8th, 2010
There was a 5.8 percent increase in Canadian housing starts in January 2010. That certainly is more than it was predicted, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation announced today. Growth was reported in both single and multiple family homes.
(Housing Starts in January continued...)February 7th, 2010
A new, “Capital Points” report by the Scotiabank group was just published. As usually it sums up the recent information about various sectors of Canadian economy and showing that in detail on interesting charts. But not only that, it also compares the present situation in Canada to the US and few other countries. So what is the current state and what are some of the expectations according to Scotiabank group? Read on.
(Canadian Market continued...)February 6th, 2010
Some positive news about the unemployment situation in Canada! As the official data from yesterday (Friday) suggest, our economy created approximately 43,000 jobs in January 2010! Thanks to that, the unemployment rate in Canada has declined by 0.1 percent to the level of 8.3 percent.
(Canada Employment in January continued...)February 5th, 2010
A report by Statistics Canada from yesterday claims that the number and value of building permits in Toronto area has increased by 15 percent from November to December. Overall, the permits in December were worth $1.2 billion and the majority of them were for nonresidential and institutional buildings.
(December Building Permits in Toronto continued...)February 5th, 2010
Canadian economy is getting better and might well fully recover in 2010, Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of Canada has declared yesterday (Thursday) in Winnipeg. He also believes that the current housing market strength should not actually be characterized as a housing bubble and that a structural change in the mortgage market is not really necessary.
(Functioning Mortgage Market, Carney Says continued...)February 4th, 2010
The most celebrated version of The Light in the Piazza was produced by Lincoln Centre Theatre Company in 2005. Based on a novel by Elizabeth Spencer the love story is set in Firenze and Roma.
(The Light in the Piazza continued...)February 4th, 2010
Another interesting show full of dance is coming to Toronto! After “Rent” which Torontians had the chance to enjoy in January, "Burn the Floor", currently on its tour around the world will be here in April! You will be able to see it live at the Canon Theatre from April 22 until May 1.
(“Burn the Floor” in Toronto continued...)February 4th, 2010
Do environmental issues interest you? Toronto Green Awards are just right for you then. Actually, you can even submit nominations for the 2010 awards. But you need to hurry up! There is only couple of days left, as the deadline for nominations is February 12. The ceremony itself will take place at the Direct Energy Centre, Exhibition place here in Toronto on April 23, 2010.
(2010 Toronto Green Awards continued...)February 4th, 2010
In January 2010, Greater Toronto Realtors reported 4,986 MLS sales in GTA. Just for comparison, in January 2009 only 2,670 transactions were reported. That means a really significant, 87 percent increase!!! The sales this January were actually a little higher than the average of the first month of 5 years before 2009.
(GTA Home Sales in January 2010 continued...)February 4th, 2010
Corporate Knight released the fourth annual sustainable cities ranking report. Toronto got a quite good ranking and as the report claims, it “reaps the benefits of its density, with more citizens choosing green commuting options and consuming less energy residentially.“
(The Sustainability of Toronto continued...)February 2nd, 2010
There will be a foundation developed for a national housing strategy until the next elections, Michael Ignatieff, the leader of Liberal Party has promised yesterday. Also, he announced his will to pay special attention to child care program.“This is the number one social priority of an incoming Liberal government.” he claims.
(Housing and Childcare Important for Ignatieff continued...)February 1st, 2010
According to the results of an online survey conducted between January 8 and 14 by the Royal Bank of Canada, Canadian consumer confidence decreased in January 2010. The Canadian Consumer Outlook Index declined by two points, from the December level of 108 to 106 in January.
(Decreased Canadian Consumer Confidence continued...)February 1st, 2010
TripAdvisor has recently published a list of dirtiest hotels in few countries, based on TripAdvisor traveler reviews. Canada is among the evaluated states and unfortunately one of the top 10 dirtiest Canadian hotels is apparently located right here, in Toronto.
(Worst Hotel in Toronto continued...)February 1st, 2010
Jading by the credentials this show had every opportunity to blow our socks off or twist your knickers. Based on the hit TV show by the same name and starring Ms. Gilbert whose acting credentials are certainly worth the price of a ticket, one would assume that this show would have charm, style, musicality and more.
(Little House on the Prairie: The Musical continued...)
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