Canadian Funding Corp, August, 2009 – The Cornwall and Area Housing Corporation building at Augustus Court will receive $316,300 — part of a notional allocation of more than $4.8 million to the City of Cornwall to repair and retrofit existing local social housing units.

The funding was made available as a result of a $1.2 billion joint investment under the amended Canada – Ontario Affordable Housing Program Agreement, which includes funding through Canada’s Economic Action Plan and by the Government of Ontario. The federal and provincial governments are contributing equally to this overall investment.

Guy Lauzon, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and for the Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario and Member of Parliament for Stormont – Dundas – South Glengarry, on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC); andJim Brownell, Member of Provincial Parliament for Stormont – Dundas – South Glengarry, on behalf of the Honourable Jim Watson, Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, made the announcement today at the housing site.

“Renovation and retrofit projects, like this one, will improve the quality of life for residents by keeping their homes safe and affordable,” said MP Lauzon. “It is also a good way to get the local economy moving because it puts construction workers and trades people to work quickly and most of the materials and supplies are made in Canada.”

“These repairs are another step towards improving social housing in Cornwall,” said MPP Brownell. “This new funding will help ensure that people living in social housing have a safe and reliable place to live. Ontarians deserve nothing less.”

Ontario is moving quickly to invest a total of $704 million to repair eligible social housing across the province. In an effort to get shovels in the ground quickly, projects must be committed by the end of the fiscal years 2010 and 2011.

The funding will help improve the quality of life for residents living in social housing communities. Funding will be used to renovate and make energy-saving upgrades to existing social housing as well as to undertake accessibility modifications for the benefit of seniors and persons with disabilities.  It will also create jobs and strengthen local economies. To find out more about affordable housing in Ontario, visit www.mah.gov.on.ca.

Last fall, the Government of Canada committed more than $1.9 billion over the next five years to improve and build new affordable housing and to help the homeless. Canada’s Economic Action Plan builds on this with an additional one-time investment of more than $2 billion over two years in new and existing social housing and lending of up to another $2 billion to municipalities for housing-related infrastructure.

Last month, the Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario, announced a series of investments of more than $70 million to fund 36 construction-ready projects throughout the province under the amended Canada – Ontario Affordable Housing Program Agreement.

Social and Supportive Housing Video provided by Moishe Alexander

Around the globe there is a tremendous amount of prime real estate simply not being used for any real purpose whatsoever. Many, if not most, property owners do not realize that if they have a large, flat roof there are some really fun and interesting options for what they can do with this space. In fact, these options can even enhance their lives by giving them not just more space, but a different space than what they currently enjoy. The Hut puts a spotlight on this idea quite nicely.

Hut is a rather clever idea developed by architect Scotty Batty and designer Morag Myerscogh. Myerscough wanted a private space for her kitchen in London and decided that she would build a mini-space right on top of the third floor of her 1890’s home. The end result was the hut.

The Hut is reached by climbing up a simple staircase and while it is only a few feet away from Myerscough’s existing home it feels literally like she is at a retreat home every time she uses it. Due to the fact that the Hut has such a different design aesthetic, the Hut has become something of an escape.

Myerscough notes that the Hut gives her different light than in her 1890s home as well as a different feel. Much of this “different light” comes from the fact that the Hut has a large skylight and doors that can be opened to create a very free and flowing space. The design of the Hut is such that it creates a great deal of quite and even privacy as the addition is not visible from street level.

The Hut is constructed entirely out of timber with an eye toward sustainability. Solar panels also provide for much of the Hut’s power in keeping with this sustainable and green theme.

Part of the Hut’s considerable charm is that the design showcases how much existing space is currently not being properly utilized all over the world. No doubt it is rather sad that there is so much great rooftop space not being enjoyed in some fashion or another and the Hut, with its fresh design, truly underscores this fact.

http://www.comingunmoored.com/2009/07/hutonaroof/

interesting review brought by Moishe Alexander, CFC Canadian Funding Corp CEO

Do any of you know of the economist David Rosenberg? Long-time readers of Boom2Bust.com know that Rosenberg, considered one of the best North American economists around, is one of our original “crash prophets” and called the current recession and crisis a long time before most of his colleagues. As a matter of fact, not only was Rosenberg correct about the recession, but his timing on the start of the downturn was only off by a few weeks. I wrote the following way back on November 12, 2007:

A runner-up in the October contest was chief North American economist David Rosenberg of Merrill Lynch. The Wall Street Journal is reporting in their MarketBeat Blog post today that Rosenberg is saying the U.S. economy may already be in a recession.

And here’s a post I dug up from July 17, 2008, which isn’t too far off from what some of his contemporaries are now warning about:

According to the Financial Post (Canada) from July 9, David Rosenberg, the chief North American economist at Merrill Lynch, is warning of the possibility of not one U.S. economic recession, but a series of them. The Post’s Jacqueline Thorpe wrote:

Rosenberg has consistently held one of the more pessimistic views on Wall Street, arguing the housing slump and credit crunch will exact a heavy toll on U.S. consumer spending. He believes the data will eventually show the recession started in January.

But he adds it’s not the peak-to-trough decline in real GDP that’s important but the duration. Trouble is, the duration could be Japanese-like (about a decade).

Just like Japan, he says a series of rolling recessions is possible for the next three to five years, making it extremely difficult to time the market. Japanese equities got trashed through the process. At the 1998 post-bubble lows, Japanese bank, construction, real estate and transport stocks were all down 80%, retail stocks were down 50%. The only place to hide was bonds, notes the bond bull.

Rosenberg told the Canadian publication:

We are nervous that we have ended up following in Japan’s footsteps due to the inept fiscal response to the problem. A temporary tax rebate from Uncle Sam to buy iPods tackles a real estate deflation and credit crunch as effectively as the LDP’s (Liberal Democratic Party) “solution” in the early 1990s to build bridges and pave river beds that nobody needed.

FREE VIDEO for Traders/Investors! Dow Update

So, what is Rosenberg, now chief economist and strategist at Toronto wealth management firm Gluskin Sheff, forecasting these days? From the CNBC website yesterday morning:

The stock market is still in danger of breaking through its March lows as the economy continues to struggle, economist David Rosenberg told CNBC.

An additional round of government stimulus is likely to have little more impact than “cushioning the blow” of unemployment that will “easily” break the post-World War II high of 10.8 percent in 1982, said Rosenberg, chief economist and strategist at Gluskin Sheff.

“Could we see a new low? Who’s to say that we couldn’t?” he said. “A lot’s going to depend on the economic outlook. I don’t think another fiscal package is going to save the day.”

Some of Rosenberg’s other points:

• The market is currently only half-way through a secular bear market that could last another nine years. “You’ve got to trade accordingly, because there’s going to be huge spasms and rallies along the way,” he said.
• Stocks have priced in an earnings level that probably won’t be achieved until 2012, posing more danger of a move lower.
• The gap between the so-called “U6″ unemployment rate, which entails virtually all jobless including part-time workers who want to work full-time, and the number the government releases is at its widest ever. That indicates that even when the outlook improves for companies they are likely to bring part-time workers to full-time status first before hiring new workers, which in itself indicates a protracted period of a high unemployment rate.
• Cutbacks at the state and local government levels as well as a massive reduction in household balance sheets pose further headwinds for the economy.

“There are secular changes taking place in the economy right now, and you really have to be braced for it,” he said.

http://www.boom2bust.com/2009/07/08/stock-bear-cycle-only-half-over-9-more-years-to-go/

posted here by Moishe Alexander, CFC Canadian Funding Corp CEO