Candice Hoeppner, Member of Parliament for Portage – Lisgar, on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), made the announcement along with members from the Long Plain First Nation.

“Our Government’s Economic Action Plan is creating jobs, stimulating the local economy and improving housing conditions for First Nation communities in Manitoba,” said MP Hoeppner.

Through Canada’s Economic Action Plan, the Government of Canada has committed $400 million over two years to help First Nation communities build needed new housing, repair and remediate existing non-profit housing for their members, and complement housing programs offered by CMHC. This investment will also provide an economic stimulus for many First Nations and surrounding areas by creating jobs.

Through Canada’s Economic Action Plan, some $75 million in federal investments will be made available to First Nations in Manitoba to address immediate housing needs.

CMHC allocated more than $2.6 million to retrofit 233 housing units on-reserve in 13 First Nations communities in Manitoba, as well as more than $8.1 million for subsidy associated with 33 new housing units to be constructed in six First Nations communities.

“The Long Plain First Nation is very grateful for the opportunity we have had in capitalizing on CEAP, which has provided much needed jobs for the people in our community. It has also allowed us to renovate and build additional homes that we would not have normally received under the current CMHC programs,” said Chief David Meeches.

Moishe Alexander – video on Improved housing on reserves.

The report compared census data from Statistics Canada from 2001 and 2006, when the housing boom was near its peak and unemployment was low.

The report indicates that in 2006, 72 per cent of immigrants lived in an owned home. That’s compared with 68 per cent in 2001, an increase of four percentage points.

At the same time, the percentage of Canadian-born people choosing home ownership over renting rose by only two percentage points to 75 per cent, up from 73 per cent.

“Homeownership tends to increase the longer one has lived in Canada, with the majority of new arrivals first settling in rental accommodation,” Adrienne Warren, a senior economist with Scotia Economics, said in a release.

“Over time, immigrant families eventually make the move to homeownership, at rates similar to the Canadian-born population. However, between 2001 and 2006, the homeownership rate rose for all immigrant groups, regardless of how long they had resided in Canada. The biggest increase was among those living in Canada for less than 10 years.”

Warren said the faster transition to home ownership was likely due to two factors.

“I think it’s that we’ve had a very strong job market, and that has allowed people to make the step from being a renter to homeowner perhaps faster than in the past,” she said.

“I think it also has to relate to mortgage [and] market conditions, [and] the fact that we’ve had historically low mortgage rates that has made buying a home cheaper.”

Because the analysis was based on data from 2001 and 2006, it was unclear what effect the current recession might be having on the number of immigrants and others entering the housing market.

It was clear from the report, however, that Scotiabank expects that trend in real estate to continue.

“Given Canada’s aging population and relatively low fertility rates, longer-term household formation and housing needs will be largely determined by immigration,” Warren said.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/07/09/bc-canadian-immigrants-housing-scotiabank.html

reviewed by Moishe Alexander, CFC canadian funding corp CEO

Heather Scoffield – Ottawa

Central bank will ‘choke nascent rebound, Sheryl King predicts in her first Canadian forecast

Central bank will ‘choke’ nascent rebound, Sheryl King predicts in her first Canadian forecast

The new chief economist for Merrill Lynch Canada has finally landed and published a forecast that is significantly more optimistic about the Canadian economy in the short run, but less enthusiastic for next year.

Sheryl King, who was a senior U.S. economist for the firm but moved to Toronto last week, believes the Canadian economy has begun to grow and will pick up strength throughout the rest of the year.

But she also projects that the Bank of Canada will get carried away with the surge in growth, scale back its economy-fuelling measures too fast, and undermine the recovery.

“It will choke off growth,” Ms. King said in an interview. “The upturn in the economy will be very short-lived indeed”.

Ms. King sees a 1.8 per cent contraction of the Canadian economy in the second quarter, at annualized rates, but a 1.3 per cent expansion in the third quarter, and a 3.8 per cent pace in the fourth quarter.

The bounce tapers off quickly, however, and she sees the Canadian economy barely moving by the end of 2010, at a 1.5 per cent annual pace.

Overall, she forecasts a 2 per cent decline in output in 2009, followed by a 2.7 per cent expansion in 2010, with monetary policy being the key driver of how the Canadian recovery takes shape.

The previous Merrill Lynch Canada forecast, authored by David Wolf who has moved to the Bank of Canada, projected a 2.7 per cent contraction in 2009 and a 2.3 per cent rebound next year.

“All of it will depend on how well policy is steered,” Ms. King said, explaining why she made the changes.

The Bank of Canada “overreacted” to the global financial crisis by taking interest rates too low and making credit too easy, she argued. And as the Canadian and global economies begin to recover, the central bank will likely overdo it again, and withdraw its support too fast.

The key mistake by the Bank of Canada was assuming that the credit crunch that has plagued the U.S. economy exists here as well, she said. But in Canada, low interest rates are very effective, fuelling the housing market, real estate, business investment and consumers’ buying intentions.

“We’re seeing a lot of interest-rate response that’s percolating beneath the surface”.

If commercial banks aren’t lending, it’s because they are acting prudently in the face of a “plain, old-fashioned recession” and not because they’re strapped for cash.

Once the central bank sees the pick-up in growth, it will get nervous about its commitment to keep interest rates low for a long time – a nervousness that will likely drive up long-term interest rates, she said.

Lending conditions will probably start to tighten, but the Canadian recovery and global growth will still be too fragile to resume robust growth without the support of the central bank, she argued.

“This is not really a bullish scenario,” she said. Policy makers “are trying to get in front of a huge freight train, and they’re throwing all that they can in front of it. And to some extent, they’re going to be successful. But ultimately, there are still underlying problems, especially in the global economy”.

Ms. King’s U.S. counterparts at Banc of America Securities/Merrill Lynch have recently revised up their forecast for the U.S. economy as well. They now expect a 2.1 per cent contraction followed by a 2.6 per cent expansion next year, instead of a 2.4 per cent contraction followed by a 1.8 per cent expansion.

But much of that growth comes from fiscal and monetary stimulus aimed at the domestic economy, and probably won’t help Canada much, Ms. King said.

Still, it’s not all bad news for Canada. The unemployment rate will probably peak in the next few months at below nine per cent, she projected, and then slowly edge back down to just above eight per cent by next year.

http://luishipolito.wordpress.com/2009/07/06/canadas-economic-bounce-will-be-short-lived-merrill-lynch-says/

reviewed by Moishe Alexander, CFC CEO

Wow, wow, wow is all I can say. We are supposed to be in a down time yet Ford goes and does this………..Ford Motor Car of Canada sold 27,408 vehicles in June which was a 25-per-cent jump on sales in June, 2008, and the first year-over-year sales increase it has posted in 2009!

The engine that could……..choo choo……….Ford never quit. Amazing, yet true! See what happens when one doesn’t give up? Think of all those people that quit advertising, quit working, and just plain gave up because the media told them that the market was bad. Good for Ford.

Today in the USA they talked about a recovery that is, a jobless recovery. Wow, a little bit of a paradox to be sure. I don’t understand it but it becomes a recovery and if it works for us call it what you will?

Here is a story on Toronto’s house markets as of May. (Link for the CTV site is below.)

It states, “May was the strongest month ever for sales of luxury homes in the Greater Toronto Area, according to RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic Canada.

In that month, 273 homes were sold for more than $1 million each, compared to 258 sold in the same month one year earlier — a difference of 6 per cent.

“What we are seeing is confidence is returning to the marketplace, and there are some market dynamics that are in place with consumers returning to this level of the marketplace,” said Christine Martysiewicz, of RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic.

“There is a shortage of inventory and there is pent-up demand, so that is all a sign of the current market conditions out there.”

The previous record for luxury home sales in the GTA was set in May 2007, when 266 homes were sold for over $1 million.

The new record marks the highest number of luxury home sales in the history of the Toronto Real Estate Board.

One of the homes sold last month was located on the city’s prestigious Bridle Path and was priced at over $13 million. It was the first sale of a home for over $10 million in more than a year, in the GTA.”

http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090612/toronto_home_sales_090612/20090612?hub=TorontoHome

Holy hot Tamale indeed! Call Howard for his thoughts on investing in Canada at 403 630 4544 or at howardmanley@shaw.ca, or Darwin at darwin@redevproperties.com.

http://investmentsincanada.blogspot.com/2009/07/holy-hot-tamale-by-richard-crenian.html

reviewed by Moishe Alexander, CFC CEO

As Canada’s housing market showed more signs of a rebound in May, Canadian Funding Corp. noted that the national average residential price reached its highest monthly level on record. This development was released by Canada Real Estate Association on Monday.

Driven by price gains in some of the most expensive markets in the country, the national average resale price rose to $319,757, up 0.4 per cent from the previous record set in May 2008.

CREA said that over the past four months, the national residential average price has recovered 16.4 per cent from the low in January.

New record high prices were also seen in Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.

“Fueled by a string of monthly increases in activity, the number of transactions in May reached the highest point since July 2008,” said CREA chief economist Gregory Klump.

“Inventory levels are still high in many markets, but fewer new listings and rising sales activity suggests that the selection of homes available for sale may shrink as the year progresses,” Klump said.

The supply of homes up for sale needs to be drawn down further before average price increases become more widespread among local markets.”

On a seasonally adjusted basis, home sales rose eight per cent to 37,649 units in May from April.

“This marks the fourth consecutive monthly increase in seasonally adjusted activity,” CREA said. “Seasonally adjusted activity in May was 43 per cent above where it stood in January 2009.”

BMO Capital Markets economist Douglas Porter said low borrowing costs, more affordable prices in many markets and some pent-up demand after the slow fall and winter period have given support to the market.

“However, even with these positives, further gains will be much tougher to come by, especially with employment continuing to sag,” Porter said. “The housing market is not about to go off to the races, even if it has been pulled back from the brink.”

Source: www.cbc.ca

“In fact, over the past two months, the situation in the housing market has improved.” Said TREB President Maureen O’Neill.

One Toronto Realtor who believes in the value of the real estate investment was recently quoted in the Vancouver Sun: If your job prospects are good, he said, “Relax, take a breath, be smart. If you don’t need that big flat screen TV, don’t buy it. But if you need a place to live, prices are down a bit, mortgage rates are stupidly low. It’s not a bad time [to buy].”

Bill Bobyk, general manager of the Sterling Group of Companies, says there are two basic reasons people should be buying: “Very good” prices and attractive mortgage rates.

Royal LePage Real Estate Services President Phil Soper appeared on Canada A.M. this morning and said the current data shows the hottest housing market to be in St. John’s, where prices for standard two-storey homes rose 15 per cent year over year.

In Ontario and Quebec, Royal LePage said the markets “held steady” with some small gains and declines. But overall, Ontario typically saw “mid to low single digit declines” in its housing prices, their recent survey said.

The survey said that Western provinces saw “significant changes” in real estate prices, with double-digit declines in many areas. Manitoba was the lone major exception to this trend.

The same survey predicted that B.C. and Alberta may be among the first areas in Canada to see pricing gains because those provinces experienced market corrections prior to the brunt of the economic crisis.

“There is a remarkable uptick in March in buying activity…” said Soper.

Still hearing doom and gloom? The most recent gloomy predictions may be based on factual information- but may be being confused by the commercial sector rumblings.

David Henry, president of U.S.-based Kimco Realty Corp., said Tuesday that it’s big commercial real estate that is in for “a very bad year”. “We have a massive wave of debt maturities coming, at least in the U.S.,” Henry said during a panel discussion at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce’s on North American real estate equities annual conference. However, panel members said there is some reason for optimism, in Canada.

Tom Farley, president and chief executive of Brookfield Properties Corp. (TSX:BPO), said deleveraging is a “brutal” problem in the U.S. but isn’t a serious issue in Canada. Farley said that Canada’s real estate fundamentals are stronger than in the U.S., and Brookfield has a 99 per cent occupancy rate in its Canadian properties, which include First Canadian Place in downtown Toronto.

Both Kimco and Cadillac Fairview agreed that their Canadian portfolios are holding up better than any of their other properties.

Everyone involved in real property transactions is being more careful today- this includes Buyers, Sellers, Lenders and Insurers, too.

Chris Gleason, the Managing Director of a California-based real estate opportunity fund has offered this Golden Rule for ’09 :

“There are far too many opportunities out there this year. Don’t even think about taking on unnecessary risk. Even if you only go after the best deals, you’ll have plenty to feast on and you won’t suffer any losses that could have easily been avoided. Make sure that you’re in love with an investment before you make any commitments, and leave the so-so deals for novice investors to pick up. You’ll be much better off for it in the long run.”

And I would add: Even in a Buyer’s Market, nobody buys for the sake of buying. Smart investors look for a property that fits their lifestyle as well as future needs.
reviewed by Moishe Alexander, CFC CEO

http://blog.getrealinontario.com/index.php/2009/04/08/keep_things_simple_and_conservative_in_2009

For the sixth consecutive month, new listings for detached, attached and apartment properties declined in Greater Vancouver, down 33.7 per cent to 4,649 in April 2009 compared to April 2008, when 7,010 new units were listed. The total number of property listings on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®), while slightly down compared to last month, remains unchanged compared to the same period in 2008.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver totalled 2,963 in April 2009, a decline of eight per cent from the 3,218 sales recorded in April 2008, and an increase of 31 per cent compared to last month.

“We’re seeing greater balance in the housing market, as evidenced by a strong sales to active listings ratio of over 19 per cent,” Scott Russell, REBGV president said. “The result is a relatively stable market in which homes are being realistically priced.

“The bridge between buyer demand and housing supply is continuing to narrow, which, as we see, helps bring stability to home prices,” he said. “The trends in our housing market over the last couple of months offer a much more comfortable, historically normal set of conditions.”

Sales of detached properties declined eight per cent to 1,190 from the 1,293 detached sales recorded during the same period in 2008. The benchmark price, as calculated by the MLSLink Housing Price Index®, for detached properties declined 12.2 per cent from April 2008 to $675,268.

Sales of apartment properties in April 2009 declined 10.5 per cent to 1,179, compared to 1,317 sales in April 2008. The benchmark price of an apartment property declined 12.6 per cent from April 2008 to $340,203.

Attached property sales in April 2009 are down 2.3 per cent to 594, compared with the 608 sales in April 2008. The benchmark price of an attached unit decreased 9.7 per cent between April 2008 and 2009 to $431,759.

Bright spots in Greater Vancouver in April 2009 compared to April 2008:

Detached:

Vancouver West up 59.5 per cent (193 units sold from 121)

Attached:

Port Coquitlam up 69.6 per cent (39 units sold from 23)

Richmond up 17.9 per cent (132 units sold from 112)

Vancouver West up 46.3 per cent (98 units sold from 67)

Apartments:

North Vancouver up 29.2 per cent (84 units sold from 65)

http://www.garygao.ca/buyer-activity-brings-greater-stability-to-the-housing-market-vancouver-bc-%E2%80%93-may-4-2009-%E2%80%93-with-more-buyers-and-fewer-homes-for-sale-in-recent-months-the-greater-vancouver/

Today’s criminals are getting smarter and smarter knowing that they don’t have to hold someone up in the back alley anymore to make a buck because the big money is in mortgage fraud. The way it works is that when you own a home your bank gives you the money to buy it and registers their mortgage against it. In the life of that loan you may choose to refinance it as it’s value increases and take that money for a home improvement loan or a holiday in Hawaii if you want. If someone forges your signature at the bank they could refinance your home and take off with the money leaving you to pay the costs of defending your claim to the home.

Similarly, someone could transfer title out of your name (as if you sold it to them) and take out another mortgage on your home. You would still have to repay the mortgage, reclaim your ownership and pay all of the costs involved or lose your home. Although it sounds incredulous to us honest folks that this is going on, it is happening with alarming increase. After four years of investigating, the Law Society of British Columbia approved payments to victims of a multi-million dollar fraud case that involved a Vancouver lawyer. Payments of $32.5 million dollars had to be made to hundreds of victims. There was an Alberta man that went to pay his property taxes only to be told by the bank that he no longer owned the property. Title had been transferred out of his name and the property re-mortgaged for $110,000.

In Ontario the bank advised a woman that she was three months in arrears on the mortgage for a property she didn’t own. She later found out that two other properties had been fraudulently mortgaged in her name, which meant she was responsible for payments on $400,000 in mortgages! When there is a discrepancy on your credit card you have the option of challenging it and having it investigated. This is not the case in mortgage fraud as the onus is on you as the owner to prove deceit.

These people had to work hard to repair their credit rating, reclaim their identities and incur tens of thousands of costs to do so. Aside from the financial pressure to make things right, the mental anguish would be almost unbearable.

Don’t subscribe to the Ostrich Syndrome and think it will never happen to you. First Canadian Title and the Real Estate Council of Alberta estimate that there were about $275 million in fraudulent mortgage loans in Alberta in the 2001-2002 fiscal year based on investigated transactions. These were average people in average cities who had no idea that their identities and properties were been violated. Be smart and protect yourself and your financial future by taking out title insurance that is now available on already owned properties. When you consider the peace of mind you will have it is money well spent.

Published At: Isnare Free Articles Directory http://www.isnare.com
Reviewe : Moishe Alexander, CFC CEO

EDMONTON – Don Campbell couldn’t believe a recent scene among wannabe

real estate investors at the corner of Yonge and Bloor streets in Toronto, site

of a planned condominium complex.

“People slept there overnight for four nights,” said Campbell, president of

the Calgary-based Real Estate Investment Network and author of 51 Success

Stories from Canadian Real Estate Investors. “A sign up above read

‘$500,000 to $1.3 million,’ although you could go across the street and buy

something very similar for $425,000. Then the developer had the gall to

paste a six over the five to make it ‘$600,000 to $1.3 million,’ and the crowd

cheered, saying ‘Look, it’s going up.’ There was even a fight in the line.

“When you line up around a block with 200 people to buy the condo in the

sky that doesn’t exist yet, put $20,000 down and plan to sell it as soon as

it’s built, look in the lineup and tell me how many people have the exact

same mentality. Then all you need is for one guy to panic and drop his price

to get out, and the average price in the whole building goes down, and

you’re completely at the whim of somebody else. You should only line up for

U2 tickets.”

Campbell is concerned about novice investors not researching what they’re

buying and what the market potential is. The most common mistakes are

investing for the short term, getting emotionally too high or too low as

markets move up and down, and buying the wrong property.

“If you don’t have a long-term outlook, don’t invest in real estate, go buy

gold or stocks and roll your dice. You have to make real estate boring,

because that means you’re doing it right. Go jump out of an airplane with a

parachute if you want excitement. Right now I am telling everybody to buy

resale, to buy something built in 1997 or 1998, when there wasn’t a frenzy

and people had the time to finish the properties.”

Campbell is thankful the days of 38-and 42-per-cent annual price increases

in Alberta real estate are over.

“If I can find a market that gives me an eight-per-cent increase every year

and I’m putting 25 per cent down, that means I’m getting 33-per-cent

return on my money on a capital gains basis, and it’s not a frenzy.”

http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=d905a8a1-8ec9-4f83-a109-90258db991e1&k=12425 (1 of 3)2/22/2008 9:37:04 AM

Print Story – canada.com network

He said Edmonton’s housing prices, which fell 11.7 per cent during the last

half of 2007, will dip again this spring, then rebound during the second half

and be up 11 per cent on average during 2008. Calgary prices will be up 12

per cent, Red Deer 10 per cent and Grande Prairie 11 or 12 per cent.

“But in 2009, Grande Prairie and Peace River are going to go through the

roof. There’s going to be a natural gas renaissance. If we’re not drilling the

wells today, we’re not going to have supply, and gas is going to go up to

$8.50 or $9, and therefore make the drilling go again.”

Alberta’s wealth will affect its neighbouring provinces.

“A lot of Albertans have made a lot of money in Alberta and they’re throwing

it at places; there’s no way economic fundamentals are driving Saskatoon

prices up 38 or 40 per cent year after year. Average weekly earnings are

down in Saskatchewan compared to Alberta. Can you do well in

Saskatchewan — I think so, but I don’t know so; in Alberta I know so.

“In B.C., it takes 73 per cent of your average income to buy an average

house in Vancouver. I love Fort St. John and Dawson Creek as an

investment in B.C. I’d be careful about most other regions. We’re picking

Abbotsford, Chilliwack and Maple Ridge as the big winners in the Lower

Mainland. Vancouver Island I wouldn’t touch with a 10-foot pole unless I’m

in Courtenay-Comox, which is serviced by WestJet and easy to get to by

wealthy Albertans. And right now I wouldn’t touch a town that’s only

forestry, because this pine beetle thing is massive — the Williams Lake,

Quesnel, Prince George corridor is going to be devastated.”

Campbell sees another hot spot in Canada.

“The Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge area in Ontario, which we call the

economic Alberta of Ontario, is driven not by automotives but by

universities, and it’s going to do incredibly well.”

Campbell says he wouldn’t buy real estate in the U. S. until next February.

“We haven’t seen anywhere near the full drop — especially in the Phoenix,

Vegas, Florida areas. The foreclosures will start peaking around October,

which is about three months after the peak of the (mortgage interest rate)

resets. Then the foreclosures have to get on the market and drive the prices

down. If you’re just going to go buy and live there, go do it. But if you’re

going to do a quick flip or have renters in it, I think you’re way too early,

especially if you’re going to finance it. The dollar’s going to be around 90 to

$1.10 for quite a while.”

Ray Turchansky, a freelance writer and income tax preparer, writes

Wednesdays and Saturdays in The Journal. He may be contacted at

turchan@telusplanet.net

© The Edmonton Journal 2008

http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=d905a8a1-8ec9-4f83-a109-90258db991e1&k=12425 (2 of 3)2/22/2008 9:37:04 AM

Print Story – canada.com network

Copyright © 2008 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.

CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.

http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=d905a8a1-8ec9-4f83-a109-90258db991e1&k=12425 (3 of 3)2/22/2008 9:37:04 AM

Moishe Alexander, CFC CEO brings this report:

And Surrey could lead the trend, with at least one developer considering building a so-called vertical farm in Whalley, which is slated to become the region’s second downtown.

Vertical farms could potentially be as high as 30 storeys, with glass walls, solar panels and an irrigation system to grow beds of produce inside.

“We’re trying to look at the future and the future is going to be some form of urban agriculture,” Surrey Coun. Marvin Hunt said. “I’d like to see it right in the city centre.”

Urban gardens – including community allotments – are being considered by Metro as it aims to boost its actively farmed land to feed an urban population  expected to reach 3.4 million in the next 30 years.

The heightened push for locally grown food comes in the wake of the melamine scandal involving Chinese products and the tainted Maple Leaf Foods scare, coupled with climate change.

“We should not be encouraging people to bring food in from Asia or Mexico or California because of the energy aspect, the pollution from the ships and trucks,” said Richmond Coun. Harold Steves, who sits on Metro’s agricultural committee.

Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts said Monday “a couple of developers were quite excited” about the prospect of a vertical farm, which could potentially grow vegetables, fruit, chickens and fish under one roof all year long.

One of the options being looked at in Whalley, she said, is to have an organic garden incorporated into a restaurant, which would use the local food in its dishes.

Watts wouldn’t name the potential developer, saying the city is in the midst of analysing the project. But if everything continues to move forward, she said, a vertical farm could be built in the next few years.

Vertical farms are the brainchild of Columbia University professor Dickson Despommier, who recently pushed the idea to Surrey.

“I can almost guarantee that within two years you’ll be able to see one,” he said.  “We’re in an exciting time … the third green revolution.”

Under the concept, greenhouses could take up all the space in a building or a portion of a commercial or residential building, school, hospital, restaurant or residential care home. Despommier said  small livestock could also live in a vertical farm and there would no pollution and shipping costs.

In Richmond, two projects have been approved to incorporate urban gardens on rooftops and parking garages, Steves said. The city is also working with Kwantlen Polytechnic to build a community allotment gardens south of the Steveston Highway.

But Steves insists that urban gardens should not be seen as a substitute to saving the constantly threatened farmland that’s left in the Agricultural Land Reserve.

“To use vertical or rooftop gardens to take more land out of agriculture is dead wrong,” he said.

Delta Mayor Lois Jackson said vertical farms would be a “good experiment,” but she’d prefer to see municipalities buy farmland and lease it to farmers instead. “If we believe we’re going to try and feed ourselves we have to look at doing that.”

Kent Mullinix, of the Institute for Sustainable Agriculture at Kwantlen Polytechnic, agreed there should be more urban gardens, but said he doesn’t believe vertical farms are ecologically or environmentally sustainable.

There are no known estimates of the cost of a vertical farm, but Steves said it would likely be twice the price of keeping farmland intact.

Hunt agreed “you certainly have to have a few dollars and a few sites to do [vertical farming],” but said Surrey is a growing community that could incorporate green walls or roofs into its buildings. “Why not have these green plants being broccoli or cabbage and everything else under the sun?” he said.

Although Surrey has about a third of its land in the ALR, Hunt said other communities have no farmland left. “Many communities going into ‘food security’ have no agricultural land at all … there isn’t a lot of land within 100 miles,” Hunt said.

Steves said it’s a never-ending battle to preserve agricultural land as municipalities struggle with the need for land to grow food versus the pressures of using land for industry or housing.

“Every decade, every council that comes along has taken 100 or 130 acres out [of the ALR]. When you keep doing that, pretty soon you won’t have anything left,” he said.

In 1973, when the ALR came into effect, about 86 per cent of the vegetables needed to feed Metro Vancouver residents were grown locally, Steves said. Today, that has dwindled to 43 per cent.

Steves estimates that to feed the region, Metro will need  another 90,000 hectares of farmland- the equivalent of every golf course, horse farm and nursery in the region.

Metro Vancouver, which has spent more than two years looking at food security,  plans to establish a food council next year. “The changes that need to be made are so dramatic, we just don’t know all the answers or how we’re going to do that,” Steves said.

He said Metro is losing farmland to municipalities that are taking it out of the ALR for growth.

Pitt Meadows has asked that land be exempt from Metro’s designated green zone to be used for industrial uses it expects to arise from development around the Golden Ears and Pitt River bridges, while Maple Ridge has appealed to get the Jackson Farm – cited as just grasslands – out of the ALR.

“All of these communities are no longer looking at protecting the ALR; effectively what they’re doing is banding together to remove more farmland when it’s essential to keep it,” Steves said. “We need a hard line on the ALR.”

Compounding the problem is the number of absentee owners of farmland, who are seeking to get their property rezoned so they can sell it. Both Steves and  Jackson say the province should increase taxes on those properties to encourage people to farm the land or sell it for farming uses.

Mullinix said Metro Vancouver should never have abandoned its previous regional food system, with its canneries and bottling plants.

“I don’t think at this stage of the game we shouldn’t have black pepper or coffee … but we have to infuse some reality. Having strawberries from Chile isn’t responsible.”

Kelly Sinoski, Vancouver Sun