The governor of the Bank of Canada spoke of the risk to the economy from the high level of household debts and the rising cost of homes when he announced a hold-steady on interest rates Wednesday.

Stephen Poloz said that the bank came close to making a further cut in interest rates but decided that additional stimulus was not required right now with other macroeconomic measures in play.

He referenced the federal government’s newly introduced rules on mortgages which he called a “welcome development” that should “mitigate financial vulnerabilities over time.”

The governor said that housing sales are expected to be reduced in the near term due to the new rules and that it may spur construction of smaller homes.

Although he did not rule out a further cut in interest rates down the line, especially as the bank’s outlook for the economy has been revised down for the coming two years; but he said that the balance of risk is still within the scope of current monetary policy.
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Thanksgiving is here, so our minds have turned
To what time has taught us, to what we've learned:
We often focus all our thought
On shiny things we've shopped and bought.
We take our pleasure in material things,
Forgetting the pleasure that friendship brings.
If a lot of our stuff just vanished today,
We'd see the foundation of each happy day
Is special relationships, constant and true,
And that's when our thoughts go directly to you.
We wish you a Thanksgiving you'll never forget,
Full of love and joy—your best one yet!

Fear was no match for adrenaline Saturday as 20 people rappelled down New Brunswick’s tallest office building in support of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

​The organization’s Rope for Hope Challenge offered fundraisers the chance to rappel down the 20-storey Assumption Place for a good cause.

“In order to go down you have to raise $1,500,” explains Tracy Durkee-Jones of Make-A-Wish.

For some, raising the money was the easy part. Rappelling down the building was another story.“You have to be really brave to go over the edge and our Wish Kids are brave every day, so what we tell people is you can be brave for 15 minutes. Our Wish Kids are brave their entire lives,” says Durkee-Jones.

All the money raised will go toward granting wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions in Atlantic Canada.

“I’ve been involved with Make-A-Wish for several years now and understand what the Wish Kids go through, so to work up the courage to get off the roof, it’s a challenge, but well worth it,” says participant Owen MacNeil.

At the age of 14, Grant McGuire was the youngest participant to make the trek down Assumption Place. He was also a Wish Kid in 2012.

“We went to Lego Land and a whole bunch of other parks,” says McGuire. “Going down is kind of scary because you’re on a frigging 20-storey building, kind of nerve-wracking.”
Ready to face their fears, some donned superhero costumes for the occasion.
“We put a team together. We called it the Wish League and we all chose a superhero,” says participant Danielle Boucher.
But participants say, despite donning a costume and a brave face, taking the first step is no easy feat.
“You’re essentially hung in the air like a basket until you start walking down a wall,” says Boucher.
“You’re looking over the top of the whole city. You can see up and down the Petitcodiac River, the roofs of all the building tops all the way around,” says MacNeil. “The first 100 feet is just making sure you’re mentally still OK once you’re off the edge, and after that your brain settles in a little bit and look around and it’s awesome.”
The Halifax chapter hosted its Rope for Hope event in June but this is the first time it’s been held in New Brunswick.
Organizers say they plan to host the event in Moncton again next year.

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TORONTO — It’s hard to downsize when your adult children are still living at home, a situation proving to be a key factor in the booming renovation market.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said in a report Tuesday that young adults staying home longer have persuaded parents in the 55-64 cohort to pour more money into their aging homes to create more space rather than put the house up for sale.  more details....

Numbers compiled by NDP housing critic David Eby found that a surprisingly large number of multi-million dollar properties on Vancouver’s west side were owned by people who list their occupations as either “homemaker” or “student.”
Eby did a search of 250 land titles and found that 32 of west side properties — worth a total of more than $107 million — were owned by people in professions with relatively low incomes. He pointed to a $2.3-million home owned by a waitress.  More details...

Ottawa has taken a broad brush to curbing risks in the housing market, unveiling new measures to crack down on speculation by foreign investors and make it harder for homeowners to dig themselves deeply into mortgage debt.
Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced a series of changes, including more stringent “stress testing” for borrowers who take out insured mortgages and rules aimed at mortgages with high down payments.

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