Morning Rush: Talks continue at Canada Post
Ottawa Watch
Bill Carroll from The Morning Rush talks about the crown corporation still operating today as negotiations continue.
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Globe and Mail
6 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
Why an increase in mortgage-free young people is a worrisome sign
'Generation Z is unprecedentedly rich.' That was the bold headline of a recent Economist article, drawing on international data showing many young adults today financially outpace boomers when they were the same age. Since I often report the opposite for younger Canadians, the claim gave me pause. So, I revisited national data on income, unemployment and home ownership for those aged 20 to 34. Canada tells a different story from the Economist headline, except for one notable trend: home ownership among young adults surged during the pandemic. This raises a deeper concern. Canada may be drifting from a meritocracy (albeit an imperfect, and often tilted toward white men, meritocracy) toward a landed aristocracy, where access to secure housing increasingly depends on being born into the right family. The concern doesn't show up in income data. In 1976, when most boomers were young adults, the median full-time, full-year earnings for 20- to 24-year-olds was $43,800 in today's dollars, according to Statistics Canada. The contemporary figure is slightly lower at $41,400. For 25- to 34-year-olds, median earnings dipped from $64,400 in 1976 to $62,500 today. But things shift when we turn to housing. I combined data from Statistics Canada's surveys of consumer finance and financial security, along with five-year mortgage interest rates with average price data from the Canadian Real Estate Association. The result is telling. In 1977, 41 per cent of Canadians under 35 owned a home. The average house cost $253,000 (in today's dollars), it took five years of full-time work to save a 20-per-cent down payment and mortgage rates averaged 10.75 per cent. By 2019, home ownership for young Canadians had dropped to 36 per cent. The average home (now more often a condo) cost $598,000, and it took 13 years to save the down payment. Lower interest rates around 4.6 per cent made carrying a larger mortgage more manageable. Then came the pandemic. As emergency-level interest rates fell to around 3 per cent for 5-year fixed mortgages, home prices soared to $789,000 in 2021 before easing to $700,000 in 2023. Despite the sharp rise in costs – and the 14 years now needed to save a 20-per-cent down payment – home ownership among Canadians under age 35 jumped to 44 per cent, the highest level in five decades. That surge is striking when compared to older peers, whose home-ownership rates remain below historical norms. Among 35- to 44-year-olds today, just 63 per cent own a home – 10 points lower than the same age group in 1977. One clue behind the surge in home ownership among Canadians under 35 stands out: in 2023, 18 per cent of young homeowners reported having no mortgage. The only time this figure was higher was in 1984 – when home values were a third of today's, and interest rates were three times as high. Since 1977, the net value of Canadian principal residences – the total worth of homes minus outstanding mortgages – has grown by $1.5-trillion, after adjusting for population, economic growth and inflation. Canadians over 55, who represent just 30 per cent of the population, captured 60 per cent of that windfall. During the pandemic, record-low interest rates allowed many older homeowners to liquify their housing wealth through refinancing. The data – particularly the number of mortgage-free young people - suggest some may have used that wealth to help younger family members enter the market. At the family level, it's a beautiful act of intergenerational love. At the societal level, it's deeply troubling. Because entering the housing market increasingly depends on how much housing wealth your family has accumulated – not how hard you work. That's the textbook definition of a landed aristocracy. This trend is already driving a sharp divide among younger Canadians. The median net worth of homeowners under 35 is $457,000. For their peers who rent, it's just $44,000. In my last column, I called for a national task force to confront a question too many politicians dodge: should home prices rise, stall or fall? That same task force should also take up a related challenge – how to address the growing housing wealth divide between generations, and now increasingly within them. If we believe Canada should reward effort over inheritance, then we must face a hard truth: our housing system is failing the meritocracy test.
CTV News
8 minutes ago
- CTV News
Trump and Musk divided after scrappy online fallout. Follow live updates here.
Left: Billionaire Elon Musk. Right: U.S. President Donald Trump. (The Associated Press) U.S. President Donald Trump and his ex-ally, billionaire business mogul Elon Musk, had a fiery falling out yesterday as the two men lobbed insults, accusations and threats at each other from their respective social media platforms. Their relationship fractured as Trump pushed to pass his 'One Big Beautiful Bill' – the 1,116-page act of proposed tax cuts, Medicaid restrictions, border wall funding and money for the Golden Dome that would spike national deficits by US$2.4 trillion over the next decade, according to one estimate that the White House contests . Musk, one of Trump's chief advocates for cost cutting, had criticized the legislation, arguing that a bill could not be big and beautiful at once. Their disagreement exploded on Thursday, descending into an open-air brawl waged online. Here are the latest updates: Trump not interested in talking to Musk Trump is not interested in talking with his former ally Musk amid a bitter feud over the president's sweeping tax-cut bill, a White House official said on Friday, adding that no phone call between the two men is planned for the day. A separate White House official had said earlier that Trump and Musk planned to talk to each other on Friday. 'I'm not even thinking about Elon. He's got a problem, the poor guy's got a problem,' Trump told CNN on Friday morning. Shares in Musk's Tesla rose 4.5 per cent when markets opened on Friday. In Thursday's session, the stock dived 14 per cent and lost about US$150 billion in value, the largest single-day decline in the electric vehicle maker's history. Musk bankrolled a large part of Trump's presidential campaign and was then brought to the White House to head up a controversial effort to downsize the federal workforce and slash spending. Reuters. Read the full story here . Donald Trump Elon Musk news President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference with Elon Musk in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, May 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Musk pulls back on threat to withdraw Dragon spacecraft As Trump and Musk argued on social media, the world's richest man threatened to decommission a space capsule used to take astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station. A few hours later, Musk said he wouldn't follow through on the threat. After Trump threatened to cut government contracts given to Musk's SpaceX rocket company and his Starlink internet satellite services, Musk responded via X that SpaceX 'will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately.' It was unclear how serious Musk's threat was, but several hours later – in a reply to another X user – he said he wouldn't do it. The capsule, developed with the help of government contracts, is an important part of keeping the space station running. NASA also relies heavily on SpaceX for other programs including launching science missions and, later this decade, returning astronauts to the surface of the moon. SpaceX is the only U.S. company capable right now of transporting crews to and from the space station, using its four-person Dragon capsules. The Associated Press. Read the full story here . SpaceX A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with a crew of four aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft, lifts off on a mission to the International Space Station lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Terry Renna) Tesla shares claw back Tesla shares clawed back from steep losses as a war of words between CEO Musk and U.S. President Trump appeared to cool, easing investor worries about the likely political fallout on the electric automaker. Shares rose about five per cent in early trading. Politico had reported Musk and Trump were expected to speak on Friday, but a White House official told Reuters there were no plans for a call. Musk signalled on his X social media platform he was open to easing tensions with Trump, agreeing with comments from hedge fund manager Bill Ackman calling for a detente. The spat between the world's most powerful man and its richest erased more than US$150 billion from Tesla's market value on Thursday, the company's biggest drop in one session.
CTV News
27 minutes ago
- CTV News
Activist investor Engine Capital plans to vote against US$9.1B Parkland-Sunoco deal
A Pioneer gas station is shown in Carleton Place, Ont., on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2008. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick CALGARY — A major shareholder in fuel refiner and retailer Parkland Corp. says it plans to vote against its planned takeover by U.S. heavyweight Sunoco LP. Engine Capital owns 2.5 per cent of Parkland's shares, making it one of the Calgary-based company's biggest investors. In a letter to Parkland's board of directors, Engine's leadership argues the Sunoco deal was rushed, the price is too low and that there are likely better options available. A month ago, Parkland and Sunoco announced a friendly cash-and-stock takeover deal valued at US$9.1 billion including debt Shareholders are to vote on the transaction at a meeting set for June 24 in Calgary. Engine says it has nothing against Sunoco and would happy to become a long-term investor in that company — but only if its offer is rejigged to better reflect Parkland's value. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 6, 2025. Lauren Krugel, The Canadian Press
