pwrshift

Housing Starts Rise In August

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 211,000 units in August 2008, up from 186,500 units in July, says Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts rose 15.2 per cent in August compared to July. Both urban multiples and singles moved higher, with an increase of 25.2 per cent for multiples to 114,700 units, and a two per cent increase for singles to 71,200 units. In Ontario, housing starts jumped 81 per cent to 86,500.


Building Permit Activity Increases

The value of building permits increased 1.8 per cent to $6.4 billion in July 2008, mainly as a result of multi-family dwelling permits in central Canada and industrial construction intentions in Saskatchewan, says Statistics Canada. In the residential sector, the value of building permits rose 2.7 per cent to $3.7 billion, mainly as a result of an increase in the value of multi-family dwelling permits in Ontario, Quebec, and Manitoba. In the non-residential sector, the value of building permits edged up 0.6 per cent to $2.7 billion. An increase in industrial construction intentions more than offset declines in both commercial and institutional permits.

Substantial Salary Increases Expected

Substantial salary increases are still expected in Canada for 2009, says a Morneau Sobeco compensation trends survey. The average salary increase budget of Canadian employers for 2009 is 3.5 per cent – up from 3.3 per cent last year – or 4.1 per cent including provisions for promotional increases and special adjustments, up from 3.7 per cent last year. Again this year, the highest increases are expected in Alberta, with an average salary increase budget of 4.8 per cent or 5.6 per cent including provisions for promotional increases and special adjustments.

TravelGuy

With Canada having all that economic power ... perhaps Canada would be interested in purchasing several slightly used US Investment Banking firms??

pwrshift

A poll reveals that Canadians need an annual salary of $296,000 to feel rich, which is two-thirds the amount Americans say they would need.

The ADP Payday Poll also finds that 36% of Canadians don’t even know their annual take-home pay, perhaps explaining the population’s more laid-back wealth aspirations.