Rogers Communications Inc. holds one of the world’s ten most valuable sports empires , according to an annual report compiled by the United States business network CNBC .

The Toronto-based telecom giant ranked seventh place with an estimated value of US$14.5 billion.

The media conglomerate has a 75 per cent controlling stake in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE), which owns the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors and Toronto FC, as well as the Scotiabank Arena in downtown Toronto. Rogers also owns the Toronto Blue Jays and the Sportsnet broadcast network .

In 2025, MLSE ranked 11th on CNBC’s list with an estimated value of US$10.2 billion. Rogers officially became MLSE’s majority owner on July 1 last year, after purchasing BCE Inc.’s 37.5 per cent ownership stake for $4.7 billion.

In April, chief executive Tony Staffieri said on a call with analysts that Rogers expects to acquire MLSE’s remaining 25 per cent minority stake later this year.

After that deal closes, Staffieri said Rogers plans to “combine our assets into one of the most significant sports ownership, media and entertainment entities globally” that it estimates will be worth $25 billion. Staffieri said Rogers plans to sell a minority stake in the new group to external investors.

“We plan to use the proceeds from the sale of this minority interest to pay down debt,” Staffieri said on the call.

A spokesperson for Rogers declined to comment on CNBC’s US$14.5 valuation.

CNBC said the total value of the 20 sports empires on its list is US$269 billion, up 20 per cent from last year. The order of the top five was unchanged, with some growing upward of 20 per cent in value.

Denver-based Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, which owns a massive portfolio of real estate, media assets and professional sports teams including the Colorado Avalanche, Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Rams, retained the number one spot as its value spiked 23 per cent to US$26 billion.

The Jones family, whose portfolio includes the Dallas Cowboys, came in second place as their sports portfolio’s value grew 13 per cent to US$17.6 billion. Rounding out the top three was Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment, owner of the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils, which grew 16 per cent to US$16.9 billion.

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Appearing on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Friday morning, CNBC senior sports reporter Michael Ozanian said the minimum value needed to make this year’s list was US$9 billion, up from US$7.65 billion in 2025.

CNBC’s report also noted that NFL and NBA franchises have higher values compared to MLB, NHL and soccer teams, and that “sports portfolios that do not include NFL and NBA teams are less likely to appear among the top 20 empires.”

Ozanian said some team owners, such as the Miami Dolphins’ principal owner Stephen Ross, are selling limited partnership stakes and then “pumping the money back in” to their empires.

Big league franchises aren’t the only ones gaining value. Ozanian said owners are also branching out and investing in women’s hockey and basketball, auto racing and the for-profit commercial PGA Tour Enterprises.

He said owning multiple teams gives owners “great scale” when it comes to things like marketing and cross-selling sponsorships.

“Rogers, I think, is going to be the interesting one,” said Ozanian. “They control the Toronto sports franchises, and they also own Sportsnet, which is the largest Canadian broadcaster .”

• Email: jswitzer@postmedia.com

United States President Donald Trump has vowed to hit countries with a 100 per cent tariff should they impose a digital services tax (DST) on American companies.

In a Truth Social post on Friday, Trump wrote that “numerous” European countries are discussing the implementation of such tax regimes, with some nearing the finish line.

“Please let this statement serve to represent that any country that imposes such a tax will immediately be met with a 100 per cent tariff on any and all goods sent to the United States of America,” he said in post on Truth Social, adding that this tariff will override any trade deals “whether implemented, signed, or not.”

Trump has repeatedly threatened tariffs and other restrictions against countries looking to impose a digital services tax, arguing that such rules unfairly target American tech giants. Last June, the U.S. president cut off trade talks with Ottawa citing Canada’s DST — first announced in 2020 and enacted in 2024 — and other trade irritants. Ottawa then rescinded Canada’s DST in hopes of luring Washington back to the negotiating table.

Around half of all European countries have implemented, announced or proposed DST regimes, with such rules already in effect in France, Poland and the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, Germany, Norway and Belgium have proposed introducing DSTs.

European Union nations signed off on the U.S.-EU trade deal hashed out by Trump and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen last July, which sets a 15 per cent tariff rate on the bulk of EU exports into the U.S. and zero tariffs for American industrial goods flowing into EU countries. The agreement did not address DSTs.

Peter Harrell, a visiting scholar at Georgetown University’s Institute of International Economic Law, wrote on the social media site X on Friday that that “Trump cannot lawfully ‘immediately’ impose a 100 per cent tariff over Europe’s DSTs, though he could update his 2019 DST 301s to impose tariffs at some level” in the upcoming months.

Trump’s latest statement, Harrell said, points to the risk of instability in any U.S.-EU trade deal and highlights the policy gap between Washington and Brussels.

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The Bank of Canada should start publishing an interest rate forecast as part of a suggested revamp of its communications with the public regarding inflation , says the C.D. Howe Institute.

“One thing we suggest, which the bank does not do, and I think they’ve been reluctant to do, is that how they’re getting inflation back to target, how they think they will be able to do that, depends on what they think their own policy rate is going to be doing within this six-to-eight-quarter timeframe,” Steve Ambler, a fellow-in-residence at the Canadian think tank, said.

C.D. Howe made the recommendation on rates in a report by Ambler, chief executive Jeremy Kronick and Thorsten Koeppl, another fellow-in-residence, that mostly focused on their belief that the Bank of Canada’s use of core inflation when communicating with the public can be confusing and doesn’t reflect people’s experience.

“Their analytical complexity brings up concerns that people will find the measures out of touch with their inflation experience,” they said in the report, which was released in mid-June.

Core inflation in May held around the Bank of Canada’s two per cent target, but the overall consumer price index (CPI) rose to 3.2 per cent due to a 33 per cent increase in gas prices from a year ago and a 4.3 per cent increase in prices for food purchased from grocery stores, a real thorn in people’s pocketbooks.

To keep Canadians more in the loop, they said policymakers should focus their communications on headline CPI inflation and its projected path over the next eight quarters along with a forecast for interest rates that will move inflation in the forecasted direction.

However, they said there are a few concerns about publishing an interest rate outlook, including that it could be interpreted as “an unconditional commitment to following the predicted interest rate path,” while also jeopardizing the central bank’s credibility if it deviates from the outlook.

“The solution to all these problems is clearer communication,” the authors said.

“It should be clear that it’s (the rate forecast) a projection, it’s subject to uncertainty,” Ambler said.

Such rate outlooks aren’t foreign to central banks. For example, the Swedish Riksbank and the Norges Bank of Norway publish them.

On Thursday, the Bank of Canada published a report that echoed some of C.D. Howe’s observations that core inflation was hard for people to understand.

The 54-page report covered talks with 30 stakeholders, including academic researchers, think tanks, business groups, unions and private-sector economists.
But the 198 Canadians across 11 cities who were also talked to said they are concerned about the cost of living and many indicated CPI did not align with their experiences.

They said the headline inflation figure was low and questioned what was included in the basket of goods and services that Statistics Canada uses to calculate it.

C.D. Howe isn’t the only one who has ideas for how the Bank of Canada could do things differently. National Bank of Canada , in a report earlier this month, said policymakers should add the unemployment rate to its list of projections in the quarterly Monetary Policy Report.

The Bank of Canada’s priority is price stability, keeping inflation as close to its two per cent target as possible. But its current framework, which is up for renewal this year, also said that “monetary policy should continue to support maximum sustainable employment.”

There is a relationship between inflation and employment, so National Bank economists Warren Lovely, Stefane Marion and Matthieu Arseneau said it would be “helpful” to know what policymakers are thinking on the jobs front.

Many central banks, including the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, European Central Bank and Bank of England, provide unemployment forecasts.

“It’s past time for the Bank of Canada to permanently incorporate the unemployment rate as part of the baseline economic forecast,” the economists said.

— with a file from Paula Tran, Financial Post

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Canadians are so worried about their ability to retire that most would contribute nine per cent of their salary to a defined-benefit pension plan as long as their employer matched those contributions, says a survey by the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP).

“Among Canadians, financial strain and inconsistent saving behaviour continue to reinforce the value of DB pensions,” HOOPP said in the report released on Thursday, adding that 91 per cent would exchange nearly a 10th of their pay “for a secure lifetime income in retirement.”

Defined-benefit pension plans are the gold standard in retirement since they provide a guaranteed income for life, while defined-contribution plans do not have income guarantees and individuals must make their own investment decisions.

So valuable is a defined-benefit pension plan that most younger people said it was worth changing jobs or relocating to a more distant location to get one, and a majority said they would take less pay in exchange for a better or any pension.

HOOPP, which has $132 billion in net assets, said the 2,000 people surveyed in early April for its eighth annual retirement survey also have hurdles to overcome to enjoy their retirement years.

For example, only 58 per cent of people who aren’t retired said they had saved some money for retirement “at any point,” while less than half said they had done any saving in the past year.

Meanwhile, nearly four in 10 said they weren’t keeping pace with their current standard of living, a five percentage point increase from 2025.

Having enough money to retire ranked among people’s top five concerns, HOOPP said, adding that inflation and its effect on the daily cost of living are ongoing concerns.

HOOPP said Canadians are rethinking home ownership as the best means to fund retirement, with almost half saying that building up home equity is no longer the best way to go about preparing for the golden years.

Forced to choose, more people said they would rather have a guaranteed pension for life than own a home.

“Workplace pensions are increasingly viewed as protective,” HOOP said, and “more valuable in uncertain times.”

A separate retirement survey by EQ Bank said a slight majority of respondents think elevated economic uncertainty is having a negative impact on their retirement savings, investments and pension income.

Homeowners aged 45 and up who were already retired said they were cutting back spending in several areas, including dining out, buying treats and putting off vacations and home renovations, because they were worried about money, according to the survey conducted in mid-May.

About six in 10 said they worry about their financial comfort in retirement, with that number rising to nearly eight in 10 for those aged 45 to 54.

But some of that worry dissipates for older homeowners aged 55 to 75-plus who have already permanently clocked off.

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The rising cost of living and a lack of clear communication on inflation have eroded the public’s trust in the Consumer Price Index and the Bank of Canada , according to a new report from the central bank summarizing its consultations with stakeholders and Canadians ahead of its monetary policy framework renewal later this year.

The 54-page What We Heard report, which was published on Thursday afternoon, covered talks with 30 stakeholders, including academic researchers, think tanks, business groups, unions and private sector economists.

Participants expressed strong support for maintaining the headline inflation target at two per cent and the flexible inflation-targeting regime, because they are easy to understand and provide stability to the Canadian public and financial markets.

But talks with 198 Canadians across 11 cities revealed widespread concern with the cost of living, and many indicated that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) did not align with their lived experiences, the report said.

Participants believed that the headline inflation figure was low and questioned what was included in the basket of goods and services Statistics Canada uses to calculate it.

Many also found the concept of core inflation a difficult concept to grasp, despite being provided with several explanations and examples. Participants largely viewed energy and food as essential goods, and they disagreed with excluding them from core inflation measures. This also created confusion about the central bank’s two per cent headline inflation target and what the central bank uses to make monetary policy decisions.

“The disconnect between official inflation data and Canadians’ daily experiences led to diminished trust in the CPI — and, by extension, in the Bank — because the data are used to make interest rate decisions,” the report read.

“Some stakeholders questioned whether the Bank considers affordability concerns when setting monetary policy.”

The Bank of Canada’s report comes after Canadian inflation accelerated to 3.2 per cent in May, the highest headline inflation rate since December 2023. The acceleration was mainly driven by rising gasoline prices due to the war in Iran, as well as higher grocery prices.

The central bank’s report also comes after the C.D. Howe Institute published its own report that said the Bank of Canada’s communication around its monetary policy decisions is too technical for the general public to understand and places too much emphasis on core inflation.

Many stakeholders consulted by the Bank of Canada said it would be useful officials published a dashboard of inflation indicators because it would help Canadians understand complex information more easily. The dashboard should use plain language and an explanation of how each indicator is used, they said.

Think tanks and consumer advocates also called on the central bank to consider using complementary measures of inflation or indexes other than total CPI — such as a basic-needs basket or an affordability index — to track real-life experiences and provide a “more relevant picture of inflation.”

Housing affordability also dominated community conversations across all regions, with many feeling the central bank was acknowledging limitations monetary policy has over housing without offering solutions to a crisis that has been “visibly building for decades.”

Participants in these community consultations perceived interest rates to be the main reason for housing unaffordability. Many accepted that the central bank’s ability to address housing imbalances was limited after officials explained that multiple factors affect housing supply and demand, and that interest rates are just “one piece of the complex puzzle,” according to the report.

However, that acceptance wasn’t equal across the board.

Younger participants said they have given up on the idea of owning a home someday, and that the current system was letting them down. Many also said the central bank was falling short of addressing their concerns after officials tried explaining what it can and cannot do to address the housing crisis, the report said.

Older demographic groups — millennials, Gen X and boomers — generally understood that the central bank has little influence over the housing market but expressed frustration by the lack of action. Boomers, however, saw the explanation from Bank of Canada officials as avoiding accountability, the report noted.

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Housing developer Tom Jarvis has spent more than five years trying to break ground on a 900-home development in Springwater Township, north of Barrie, Ont. The project survived planning hurdles and rezoning battles, but its biggest obstacle wasn’t local opposition or weak demand; it was a lack of municipal sewer capacity.

“You can’t build a house without a foundation,” he said. “That house needs to be connected to water and sewer first.”

Rather than wait 10 years for the municipality to expand its wastewater infrastructure , Jarvis is bypassing public systems entirely by partnering with Global Environmental Liquid Ltd. (GEL), a startup proposing to finance, operate and own the subdivision’s communal wastewater system. If approved, he estimates construction could begin within two years.

Developers, municipalities and policymakers are increasingly noticing that housing growth is colliding with aging water and wastewater infrastructure, forcing difficult questions about how new expensive pieces of infrastructure will be financed, built and, ultimately, owned.

For example, a $1.94-billion project in the York region north of Toronto to transport sewage to treatment facilities near Lake Ontario replaced a long-planned local treatment plant, highlighting the growing cost of traditional centralized systems as municipalities try to accommodate new housing growth.

The scale of the challenge is reflected in York Regional Council’s request earlier this month for $1.74 billion in provincial government funding to help advance the multi-phase project without placing the full burden on local taxpayers.

John Levie, vice-president of engineering at Ottawa-based Clearford Water Systems Inc., which designs and operates communal water and wastewater systems, said interest in decentralized servicing models has increased over the past year.

He estimates inquiries from developers and other groups have jumped by roughly 40 per cent to 50 per cent, with calls increasingly focused on how alternative wastewater systems can help unlock stalled projects.

Levie said he has also been contacted by several companies that had never previously worked in the sector, but are now exploring communal wastewater opportunities.

“It’s usually timing,” he said. “They don’t want to wait. If a municipal plant is at capacity, they don’t want to wait 10 or 15 years; they want to start now.”

Levie said municipalities across Canada face significant infrastructure deficits, particularly in smaller and rural communities, since many of the existing systems were built decades ago with government grants and tax revenues that are no longer readily available. Replacing or expanding them can carry price tags far beyond what smaller municipalities can comfortably absorb.

“Something needs to be done,” he said. “You can’t have people not have water and wastewater.”

Historically, municipalities have typically owned and operated water and wastewater systems. Developers would build the infrastructure to municipal standards, hand it over to local governments and recover their costs through home sales and development charges.

GEL is proposing a different model by taking responsibility for financing, operating and maintaining the wastewater system rather than the municipality.

The company said rates would be designed to remain comparable to existing municipal wastewater charges, although long-term costs would depend on regulatory approvals, financing arrangements and future operating expenses.

“It’s not a different mousetrap,” Jarvis said. “It’s just who owns and pays for that mousetrap.”

Colin Hordyk, GEL’s chief executive and a former construction industry executive, said the company was created after he repeatedly encountered similar servicing constraints on development projects.

“We just kept running into wastewater capacity and drinking water capacity issues,” he said.

The company said it is evaluating projects representing tens of thousands of potential housing units across Ontario, although only a handful have advanced to formal agreements.

Supporters of privately owned underground infrastructure say existing regulatory safeguards already address many of the risks associated with private operation. Communal systems typically require environmental approvals and financial safeguards designed to help ensure service continues even if an operator goes bankrupt.

For developers, the appeal often comes down less to cost than certainty.

Municipal infrastructure expansions can require years of environmental reviews, engineering studies, funding approvals and construction, so developers can spend years carrying land while waiting for servicing decisions.

“My biggest issue on two sites was the municipality had no guarantee there was going to be capacity in two, five or 10 years,” Courtland Livesley-James, GEL’s chief financial officer and vice-president of corporate development, said.

Municipal officials appear increasingly willing to consider alternative approaches, although not necessarily because they favour privatization.

George Cabral, deputy mayor of Springwater Township, said municipalities should retain flexibility to evaluate different servicing models depending on local circumstances.

“Every municipality has unique geography, infrastructure and growth patterns,” he said. “The question shouldn’t be whether a model is public or private. The question should be whether it delivers safe, reliable, environmentally responsible infrastructure that supports housing, protects taxpayers and best serves the community.”

Springwater has a long history of developers financing and constructing infrastructure that is eventually assumed by the municipality, he said, so alternative delivery models are not entirely new to the community.

Communal wastewater systems have also operated for years in parts of the United States and Western Canada, including through utilities such as Epcor Utilities Inc., which provides water and wastewater services in communities across Alberta and the U.S.

In Ontario, Bills 60 and 98 passed over the past year to help open the door to broader consideration of privately financed and operated communal wastewater systems. The legislation made it easier for developers to use privately operated wastewater systems in communities where municipal sewer capacity is limited.

Levie said the changes reflect growing concern about the cost and complexity of expanding traditional municipal infrastructure.

“Part of the reason is logistical and cost-based,” he said. “When you look at the timelines and costs associated with developing or expanding large municipal systems, they’re significant. A small-town wastewater project that might have cost $20 million or $30 million in the past can now cost $130 million or $140 million. For communities with relatively small tax bases, recovering those costs becomes very difficult.”

Still, not everyone is convinced private ownership is the answer.

Mike Moffatt, founding director of the Missing Middle Initiative at the University of Ottawa, said the underlying challenge is less about ownership and more about governance and risk.

Smaller municipalities can struggle to finance large infrastructure projects because they face uncertainty about future growth and may lack the staff and expertise required to manage complex capital investments, but he questions whether private utility companies necessarily solve those problems.

“I don’t see what problem this solves that a municipal service corporation wouldn’t,” he said.

Moffatt also said private systems still require municipal approvals, environmental reviews and regulatory oversight.

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“It doesn’t necessarily get built faster because you still need the municipal approval,” he said.

That tension highlights the broader debate emerging around infrastructure and housing.

Supporters of alternative utility models say municipalities are struggling to keep pace with growth and need additional tools to unlock development. Critics counter that governments should focus on fixing the underlying regulatory and financing systems rather than creating parallel structures.

What both sides largely agree on, however, is that infrastructure is becoming a larger part of the housing challenge.

Federal and provincial governments continue to promise hundreds of thousands of new homes , but those homes require roads, pipes, pumping stations and treatment facilities long before anyone can move in.

Whatever model ultimately prevails, Jarvis said the infrastructure challenge cannot be avoided.

“Somebody has to put the capital in the ground first,” he said.

• Email: arankin@postmedia.com

As U.S. trade frictions continue to be the top risk to Canada’s economy, a new report says the “real opportunity” for growth lies in a combination of government investment and boosting businesses’ confidence to get capital flowing.

Deloitte Canada’s summer economic outlook, released Thursday, forecasts growth of just 0.7 per cent this year before expanding to two per cent in 2027.

It also predicts a “slow recovery” for exports, assuming the effective U.S. tariff rate on Canadian goods stays at today’s “relatively low level.” Deloitte projects exports will grow 0.8 per cent in 2026 and strengthen to 2.4 per cent in 2027.

“There are a lot of moving pieces,” Dawn Desjardins, Deloitte Canada’s chief economist, said in an interview.

With less than a week to go until the July 1 deadline for renewing the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), there is little expection the three sides will reach a deal. If they don’t, the trade agreement will undergo annual reviews until it expires in 2036.

The trade pact currently shields an estimated 95 per cent of Canadian goods from U.S. tariffs.

Deloitte’s report notes that while the economy is stagnating, it’s not contracting. Desjardins said “recessionary conditions” are characterized by “at least a couple periods of negative GDP,” which Canada experienced in the last two quarters.

“But the other thing is the depth of the decline, which is not very deep at this moment, and also the number of industries it’s touching, where we are seeing a contraction in economic activity,” Desjardins said. “There, it’s just not lining up in terms of a recession.”

The report says the “real opportunity” for economic growth comes from two sources. The first is governments pushing forward with spending on infrastructure, defence, critical minerals and resources, which Desjardins said will start a growth cycle that filters through the economy.

After some “really hot spending” where government fixed investment surged 7.3 per cent last year, Deloitte expects a tamer 3.7 per cent gain this year — though Desjardins said it’s still “higher than any other number we’ve ever seen.”

The second piece is restoring business confidence. Desjardins said the government needs to move quickly on policies and tax incentives that give companies the “green light” to invest.

“What we’re looking for is some of the hurdles to business investment being reduced,” she said. “And by that I mean looking at things like the interprovincial trade barriers, zoning — all of the things that really inhibit businesses’ ability to get a return on their investment in a relatively quick manner.”

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On the monetary policy front, Deloitte expects the Bank of Canada to hold its benchmark interest rate at 2.25 per cent for the rest of 2026 as it contends with the “competing pressures” of a stagnating economy pushing down inflation and high energy prices stoking concerns about broad-based price acceleration.

While the report said the central bank could be forced to hike rates earlier if inflation spreads, those fears haven’t materialized. Statistics Canada reported Monday that inflation jumped from 2.8 per cent in April to 3.2 per cent in May, which Desjardins said was mainly concentrated in energy.

“I think it’s clear where the inflation is coming from,” she said. “And as we’ve seen recently, oil prices have really gone down considerably. So, assuming — and this is maybe a grand assumption — that we don’t see another significant spike in energy prices, we’ll see inflation rates start to come down a bit.”

• Email: jswitzer@postmedia.com

There is little doubt Canada needs more housing . Most advocates and experts agree on that point. Where disagreement lies is in how best to go about it and, in particular, whether to build in already-developed areas (infill) or in suburban regions with cheaper land (outfill).

In our view, this is a needless debate.

Analysis of Canadian demographics suggests Canada need not choose one development mode over another. Both infill and outfill are vital to meet the country’s diverse demographic needs, recognizing housing’s heterogeneity and the inappropriateness of a one-size-fits-all approach.

The infill camp is typically led by planning professionals guided by the conviction that increasing housing in developed areas fosters a more compact environment and, more importantly, utilizes surplus capacity in public transit and other infrastructural systems.

Critics of infill are usually long-standing residents of those areas who are apprehensive about multi-unit developments in their mostly single-family neighbourhoods. The disruption during construction, diverging demographics of incoming cohorts and the strain on traffic and parking are the most cited reasons for opposition. In rare instances, multi-family units are converted into rooming houses, which can indeed change the characteristics of a particular street or area.

One specific case of infill development near higher-order transit (such as rail-based or dedicated bus routes) has generally received greater approval within planning and construction circles . Extensive research over the years has supported new residential development in close proximity to transit stations and hubs, a concept widely recognized as transit-oriented development (ToD).

Recently released data and analysis by the Canadian Urban Institute (CUI) highlight the potential to build 4.4 million more dwellings near transit stations. According to their analysis, in cities with rail-based urban transit, only six per cent of the total land area lies within 800 metres of a transit station, yet 25 per cent of the 20.2 million urban residents with access to rail-based transit and 29 per cent of the dwellings were located in transit-proximity areas.

The concentration of employment near urban transit stations is significantly pronounced. Data from the CUI indicates that 47 per cent of the 7.9 million jobs in city’s with rail transit were located within an 800-metre radius of transit stations. Consequently, increasing housing density in the vicinity of transit stations will provide workers with enhanced opportunities to utilize transit or other sustainable modes of transportation.

Although the advantages of increasing infill development near transit stations are evident, these observations conceal the fundamental demographic disparities that may not be conducive to larger households with children.

Decades of research on ToDs and recent data from CUI reveal that housing near transit stations attracts smaller, younger households who prefer to rent. For the selected Canadian cities in the CUI data, those living near transit are 38 per cent more likely to be under 35 years of age, 30 per cent more likely to be university-educated, and 63 per cent more likely to live alone than those living farther away.

These demographics are characterized by the notable concentration of small-sized multi-family housing, which constitutes two-thirds of all residences in proximity to transit stations — as opposed to merely one-third in more distant areas. More than half of the residents near transit are tenants, compared to less than a third in other regions. And due to their comparatively younger demographic profile and a higher incidence of single-income households, their average incomes tend to be lower.

Transit-proximate communities exhibit self-selection bias, with those valuing density and proximity to transit choosing these areas. Increasing housing near transit will suit small households and renters but won’t address the needs of growing families seeking larger, owned homes.

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The flight to the suburbs is driven by housing choices. Suburban housing is cheaper when normalized by occupied space. The neighbourhoods are home to long-term residents with similarly aged children who are likely to grow up together, attend the same schools and play on the same hockey rinks and soccer fields.

The housing and mobility preferences of family-oriented groups are reasonable considering their circumstances. Even their higher spending on transportation reflects their higher incomes and larger household sizes. The disparity in average transportation expenditure between suburban households in the Greater Toronto Area and those residing near transit stations is virtually eliminated when expenditures are adjusted for household size and income.

Public sector planners, economists, academics and most housing advocates agree that Canada must significantly increase the number of housing units beyond the standard projections over the next decade. A portion of the new residences are expected to be situated within infill developments near transit stations. However, this strategy alone not eliminate the need to construct millions of new homes for growing families in regions where land remains relatively inexpensive and plentiful.

Murtaza Haider is a professor and the Radhe Krishna Gupta Executive Chair in Cities and Communities at the Alberta School of Business. Stephen Moranis is an industry veteran and former president of the Toronto Real Estate Board.

Canadians are well aware of many of the areas in which our country excels, but some may not realize that we are one of the world’s pioneering space nations.

Canada was the third country in the world to put a satellite into orbit , and our satellite systems have now connected Canadians for more than 50 years. Canadian robotic technologies have flown on more than 100 space shuttle missions and continue to support critical operations aboard the International Space Station, contributing to scientific discoveries that have benefited people around the world. And we have demonstrated our nation’s enduring commitment to space exploration and discovery by sending 10 Canadian astronauts on a total of 18 space missions over the years.

As the first international partner in NASA’s Artemis program, Canada has secured a seat at the table for the next era of lunar exploration. In April, as part of the Artemis II mission, Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen became the first Canadian — and first non-American — to travel beyond Earth’s orbit into deep space. Jeremy’s flight around the moon marked a historic milestone for our country, but our greatest opportunities still lie ahead of us.

Canada is already globally recognized for our expertise in multiple critical space technologies . We are leaders in Earth observation satellites that gather data about our planet’s surface, atmosphere, climate and oceans as well as in the ground systems and analytics capabilities that support them. These dual-use systems also provide vital intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance for national security.

The country is also at the forefront of satellite communications with globally recognized companies that specialize in broadband satellite networks and direct-to-device communications, supported by a growing Canadian supply chain.

These are not niche technologies. They are foundational systems that will shape the global economy and security environment for decades to come.

Beyond satellite communication and sensing technologies, Canada has an opportunity to become a leader in next generation space infrastructure for low Earth orbit and to sustain a permanent human and industrial presence on the moon and beyond. From commercial space stations, nuclear-power generation, lunar rovers and robotics — there is an untapped world of economic opportunity that Canada can truly lead.

Entirely new industries will emerge and Canada has the technological expertise, engineering talent and entrepreneurial capacity to become a key architect of this future. As our country looks to not only invest in but to attract new capital to drive future economic prosperity, space offers numerous new critical infrastructure investment opportunities that take full advantage of all of these homegrown competitive strengths.

Canada’s leadership in mining, resource development and environmental stewardship could also translate into a leadership role beyond our planet. The moon and near-Earth asteroids contain valuable resources that could support future exploration and industrial activities. Canada’s expertise in mining engineering, remote operations, autonomous systems and resource extraction positions us to become a major contributor to the emerging fields of lunar and asteroid mining.

Similarly, Canada’s world-class medical and life sciences sectors could help solve some of the most important challenges associated with long-duration human spaceflight — know-how that will be directly relevant to expanding communities and military personnel in Canada’s far North as well.

While Canada has historically relied on international launch providers, this reliance is a vulnerability in the current geopolitical climate. Canada needs its own independent access to space —rockets built in Canada and launched from Canadian spaceports — to serve government and space industry needs. Having this capability will strengthen national security, improve economic competitiveness and create new opportunities for Canadian industry.

Our success in space will require more than technology alone. It will require a coordinated national strategy that aligns government, industry, academia and international partners around a common vision. And, importantly, it will require the support of the Canadian public.

The federal government’s new Defence Industrial Strategy is anchored on three principles: build in Canada where we can lead, partner where collaboration creates advantage and buy where it accelerates capability. This simple, clear framework will be effective in guiding defence investments , but needs to be applied equally to space development.

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As Canada builds up its world-leading space capabilities , our country will be a sought-after partner to allies looking to share access to complementary technologies and expertise. This burden-sharing is the backbone of modern collective security, resilience and deterrence.

The coming decades will see space become one of the defining economic and strategic domains of the twenty-first century. Nations that invest today will shape the infrastructure, industries and institutions that govern humanity’s future beyond Earth.

Canada enters this new era from a position of strength. We possess world-class talent, innovative companies, leading academic institutions, trusted international partnerships and a proven track record of achievement in space.

We can build on our remarkable legacy as a pioneering space nation and become the anchor leader in this new frontier.

Mike Greenley is chief executive officer of MDA Space.