Prefabricated homes could be cheaper to build — and buy. Here's how to make them work in Toronto
Prefabricated homes, or modular housing, aren't anything new — some laneway and garden suites in Toronto are prefabricated and the city has built hundreds of prefabricated units to house the homeless population. But the idea of scaling up this housing product has been revived with Prime Minister Mark Carney's pledge to provide $26 billion to builders of prefabricated homes to help reach his national goal of 500,000 new homes per year.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Star
2 hours ago
- Toronto Star
Canada needs to reset its relationship with China. Here's why
Opponents of Prime Minister Mark Carney's efforts to reset Canada's relationship with China are profoundly misguided. Their arguments — rooted in Cold War thinking and exaggerated threat perceptions — ignore Canada's urgent economic realities and the tangible dangers posed by its southern neighbour. Facing unprecedented pressure from a hostile United States under Donald Trump, clinging to reflexive hawkish rhetoric on China is both irrational and self-destructive. Beyond ignoring this precarious geopolitical landscape, detractors blocking a pragmatic reset dismiss a stark reality: the United States has become Canada's primary threat. Trump's repeated threats to devour Canada — demanding annexation of its resources, water and land — directly endanger Canadian sovereignty. As Carney warned, 'If they succeed, they will destroy our way of life.'
Toronto Sun
7 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
GUNTER: Canada still hasn't seen Carney's promised leadership
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks during a press conference after a Cabinet meeting to discuss both trade negotiations with the US and the situation in the Middle East, at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on July 30, 2025. Photo by DAVE CHAN / AFP via Getty Images The chances of Canada convincing Donald Trump's White House to reverse his tariffs on a wide range of Canadian goods seems remote. There's a possibility cases working their way through the U.S. courts will — maybe within the next six to 12 months — find Trump has overstepped his authority to impose tariffs and reverse them. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Who knows, the U.S. Senate may even find its spine and take back much of its Constitutional authority over tariffs. It's also just possible large sections of his MAGA base will turn on Trump as his tariff policies increase inflation and unemployment. Could happen. In the meantime, Canada has to make whatever deal it can with Trump while also making itself more resilient against U.S. trade sanctions. Keep in mind that the Americans' much-touted deals with the E.U., the U.K. and Japan aren't really deals at all. There are no documents, the details are sketchy and the two sides in each now disagree over just what each deal contains. Trump just likes the show of being Mr. Tough Guy, of having other countries' leaders appear to bow before him and kiss his ring. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. It won't be easy for Canada to get the same kind of 'deal' as those other countries. Trump seems to have a special hate on for Canada. And we are being backburnered by the Trump administration. Our concerns are being handled by mid-level officials, not boss-to-boss, despite Prime Minister Mark 'Elbows Up' Carney insistence that he knows Trump, knows who to deal with him and is uniquely qualified to reach an agreement. If we could even just return to Harper-era export levels with the U.S., Canada would be far less vulnerable. Under Stephen Harper's government, about 75 per cent of our foreign trade was with our southern neighbour. Now, thanks to the Liberals' complete indifference to all things economic, Ottawa has taken the easy path for the last 10 years until we are reliant on the Americans for 90 per cent of our trade. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. They account for around one-quarter of our GDP, while we account for less than three per cent of theirs. That means Canada has a need for a deal, but lacks leverage. So we need to export more to other countries to make us less susceptible to shocks from the U.S. Read More But given all that, where is the leadership from Carney? Remember his expansive promises to bring down internal trade barriers and get major projects going that would help us expand our exports around the globe? Name me one such objective he has checked off to date. We're never going to get over our dependence on the U.S., nor should we want to. Theirs is the largest, richest economy in the world and we have primo access to it. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. But we do need to make the most of our natural resource potential by opening mines, building pipelines and constructing or expanding ports. Yet while Carney talks about all those things, his latest 'action' on constructing a promised economic corridor came Thursday when he promised Indigenous groups that would have a quasi veto over projects they disliked. To understand what's at stake, consider that new figures on the Trans Mountain pipeline, completed just last year, shows it will generate in short order about $13 billion in new income for oil companies and governments. Imagine if we had two or even three more pipelines for oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG), plus some major mines for the rare earth minerals currently in such demand. Yet if Canada has no trade deal with the U.S. (not even a faux one) and years and years more of lengthy negotiations on resource megaprojects, our economy will continue to sputter along. Columnists Toronto & GTA Toronto Blue Jays World Toronto & GTA
Toronto Sun
13 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
LILLEY: Softwood lumber tariffs soar as Mark Carney's plan fails to deliver
The Prime minister claimed to be the man with the plan, but that plan is clearly not working Get the latest from Brian Lilley straight to your inbox Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks during a press conference after a Cabinet meeting to discuss both trade negotiations with the US and the situation in the Middle East, at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on July 30, 2025. Photo by DAVE CHAN / AFP via Getty Images No deal is better than a bad deal – that's the message Prime Minister Mark Carney and his team keep selling to Canadians as their efforts to find a deal with Donald Trump falter. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account That message became harder to sell Friday night as duties on softwood lumber skyrocketed to 35%. It's a major blow to Canada's industry, which a year ago saw duties rise from 8.05% to 14.54% under the Biden administration. The Trump administration had recently bumped those tariffs up further to 20.56% and now, as of Friday night, the total cumulative tariff is 35.19%. B.C.'s Forestry Minister Ravi Parmar called the move 'absurd and reckless,' but in the early hours after the change was made public there was no comment from the Carney government. Since Carney won the election, tariffs on steel and aluminum have gone from 25% to 50%, copper has had a 50% tariff added to it, anything related to automotive deemed not compliant with CUSMA has a 50% tariff, general exports not covered by CUSMA have a 35% tariff and now so too does softwood lumber. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Read More This wasn't what Mark Carney was promising as he campaigned to lead the country. 'I know the President, I've dealt with the President in the past in my previous roles when he was in his first term, and I know how to negotiate,' Carney said during the Liberal leadership race that led to him becoming PM. We've gone from Carney saying he knows Trump and how to negotiate to saying no deal is better than a bad one while the Americans don't return his calls and tariffs continue to rise. Carney has completely changed his tune on the impact of tariffs and Trump's impact on the Canadian economy. During the election campaign he portrayed Trump's tariffs as a existential threat to Canada, that the U.S. President was trying to break us – now, it's no big deal. 'We're in a situation right now where 85% of our trade with the United States is tariff free,' Carney said Friday when asked about the situation. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. That's true to a degree now, but it was also true when Carney was whipping up fear in the population, talking about elbows up and driving a huge anti-American sentiment for political gain. He's only shifted to this latest message when it became clear Canada wasn't getting a deal by the Aug. 1 deadline set by Trump. As I noted in a recent column, we went from the Trump administration – senior officials like Howard Lutnick and Jamieson Greer – calling Canada a top priority for a trade deal in March to where we are today. The Americans have lost interest in talking to Carney's team, and they have described the tactic as not really negotiating, just making demands. Again, that's not what Carney promised. It takes two to tango in any scenario, but when every other G7 country is now covered by a deal and when Mexico has an extension and exemption from further tariffs, maybe it's time to ask if we are the problem and change tactics. Whatever Carney and his team have been doing clearly has not been working. RECOMMENDED VIDEO Carney hasn't spoken to Trump since June 26; that was the day our PM told the Americans we were going ahead with the Digital Services Tax. The next day, Trump broke off all talks with Canada and two days later Carney announced he was cancelling the DST. Since then, we've had several tariff increases and a jobs report showing 51,000 full-time jobs lost last month. One of the slogans Carney liked to use during the election was that a plan beats no plan. I'd love to hear what he says about what to do when a plan clearly isn't working. blilley@ Toronto Blue Jays Sunshine Girls Sunshine Girls Editorials Tennis
