What’s driving Toronto house prices through the roof? Experts weigh in + MORE Apr 5th

The burden of Canadian debt has hit a record high, with no foreseeable deceleration in sight. Canadians now owe 1.68$ worth of debt for every 1$ of income, with a 2% rise in debt outpacing only a 0.5% rise in income. This imbalance makes Canadians particularly vulnerable to unpredictable financial shock, like a sudden loss of income or a mortgage crisis.
Years of accessible low interest rates and booming housing markets have increased the country’s mortgage debt to 1.29 trillion. Consumer credit is in an even worse state at 1.97 trillion owed. For the first time ever, Canadian debt has surpassed the national GDP.
With the strain of personal debt affecting everyday life, what can the average Canadian do to reduce their debt? Check out the infographic below to learn more about the state of the household debt in Canada and discover a few helpful tips to change your spending habits.
Sourced from https://loanandgo.ca/resources-center/householddebt/
 
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Investment bank Goldman Sachs & Co. signalled it expects the torrid pace of cross-border takeover activity to continue

A marijuana-themed exchange traded fund touted as the world’s first launched on the Toronto Stock Exchange Wednesday morning, giving investors a new way to bet on legal marijuana stocks.

Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau, centre, is flanked by his provincial and territorial counterparts as he speaks during a news conference after reaching a deal to expand the Canada Pension Plan, in Vancouver, B.C., on Monday June 20, 2016. (Darryl Dyck/CP)
A new report from the C.D. Howe Institute warns the new, expanded version of the Canada Pension Plan is designed on investment return assumptions that could jeopardize future payments. With that, some Canadians are back to worrying if the plan will be there when they retire.
MoneySense suggests you relax. The report is called “Bigger CPP, Bigger Risks: What “Fully Funded Expansion Means and Doesn’t Mean” by William B.P. Robson and Alexandre Laurin. Here’s what you should know.
The concern
A key selling point of the CPP expansion announced by the federal and provincial finance ministers last September is that the additional CPP benefits will be “fully funded.” But, the report cautions, the CPP payment promises rely on assumed returns on investment much higher than actual yields on fixed-income assets suitable for backing that kind of sovereign-grade pension obligation…

The average selling prices of homes in the Greater Toronto Area skyrocketed last month, climbing 33.2 per cent from a year ago to $916,567. The latest data from the Toronto Real Estate Board comes as policy-makers mull potential measures to slow the rapid pace of price growth. Here are some of the factors believed to be playing a role in the upwards trajectory of house prices in Canada’s largest city.
Immigration: The arrival of newcomers to the city is a frequently cited reason for rising prices. Roughly 120,000 people immigrated from outside of Canada into Ontario from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016, according to Statistics Canada, with a sizable portion of them landing in the Toronto area. “Toronto is a magnet for both other Canadians and for people from other countries, and it’s the economic engine of the entire country,” says Dianne Usher, senior vice-president at Johnston and Daniel, a division of Royal LePage.
Lack of supply: One of the culprits often fingered for soaring prices in the Greater Toronto Area is the lack of developable land…