MARY HARRISON

Seasonally adjusted home sales rose 0.9% in September to a monthly record of 56,422 units. Sales in Ontario missed Augusts record by a hair due to a 5.3% monthly decline in Toronto. Records were nonetheless registered in Ottawa and Hamilton. In the Province of Quebec, sales were at a record level in the Quebec CMA and in Gatineau, and close to August records in Montreal. In B.C., transactions reached a record outside the three main markets of Vancouver, Fraser Valley and Victoria. There were also sales records in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The active-listings-to-sales ratio indicates that the Canadian home resale market was favorable to sellers in Ontario Quebec, the Maritimes Provinces and marginally so in B.C. The market was balanced in the four other provinces.

Canadas Parliament re-convened today with a ceremonial Speech from the Throne delivered by the Governor General. Canadas continued response to the COVID-19 pandemic took centre-stage, while providing a lens for a plethora of broader promises: an extension of the wage subsidy, expanded employment insurance, investments in childcare, reaffirmed commitments to universal pharmacare, and green infrastructure investments among many others. Given the exhaustive list of priorities, this Speech is unlikely to bring the minority government down as it provides plenty of hooks for negotiations in the lead-up to a Fall update where details will be laid out. It clearly signals more fiscal spending ahead for Canada leaving the question not if but how much. But this was largely channeled ahead, so the market reaction has been mutedor more likely, it is eclipsed by broader US and global developments. There is little beyond lip service by way of fiscal restraint. This will be left to the Finance Minister to make inevitable trade-offs in her first budget this Fall, particularly as she may need to reserve some firepower for second waves. Source: Scotiabank https://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/about/economics/economics-publications/post.other-publications.fiscal-policy.fiscal-pulse.federal.federal-budget-analysis.federal-throne-speech--september-23--2020-.html