Regulations
Scorecard stokes energy efficiency rivalry
Efficiency Canada’s second annual provincial scorecard takes a detailed look at commitment, outcomes and potential related to 42 energy efficiency indicators, and charts progress, or backsliding, against last year’s results.
CERS draft legislation awaits adoption
CERS will deliver direct rent support to qualifying tenants without the need to work though their landlords. As a direct subsidy, unlike CECRA, no loan agreement is required.
Historic property tax disparity dismantled
As announced in the provincial budget, the Ontario government plans to equalize the business education tax (BET) rate at 0.88 per cent for 2021, equating to a $450-million tax cut province-wide.
Property tax ratios epitomize commercial burden
The commercial property tax rate is at least double the residential rate in eight of the 11 surveyed cities, with commercial ratepayers in Montreal, Toronto and Quebec City shouldering the most disproportionate shares.
Ontario unveils more regulatory adjustments
A recycled title adorns the Ontario government's latest initiative to be framed as red tape reduction. Bill 213, the Better for People, Smarter for Business Act, 2020, is an omnibus effort to amend more than two dozen statutes.
Feds to invest $2 billion in energy retrofits
A promised $2 billion investment in large-scale building retrofits will be central to the Canadian government’s job creation ambitions. Energy efficiency champions have plenty of ideas of how and where the funds could be best leveraged.
COVID-19 confounds electricity system models
After scrambling to recalibrate their models in the early days of COVID-19-related shutdowns, analysts with Ontario's Independent Electricity System Operator faced more uncharted territory when the hot weather arrived.
Ontario capital markets set for rule revamp
Proposals address a range of issues that are likely to be of interest to listed real estate entities and their investors, as well as start-up ventures and other publicly traded service providers to the industry.
Stop-gap September CECRA coverage offered
Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance will be offered for a sixth month. The announcement comes eight days after the portal for new applications for the relief program appeared to be closed.
CECRA now closed to new applicants
With the August 31 deadline for first-time applications for Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) now passed, the three-month program that evolved into five months of relief is closed to new recipients.
WTO okay with provinces buying biomass power
The World Trade Organization agreed with Canada that the U.S. conflated wholesale and retail electricity rates to arrive at its supposition that B.C. and Quebec hydro utilities overpaid for biomass power.
Pandemic-related litigation brewing in Quebec
Commercial real estate specialists are noting a recent Quebec superior court decision with interest, suggesting it could become a beacon for other tenants seeking rent relief.
Ontario consults on next conservation framework
Residential consumption is identified as a primary concern and opportunity for the 2021-24 period, along with a continued emphasis on reducing system-wide peak demand
COVID-19 expected to drive transparency metrics
Canada once again places in the top tier of “highly transparent” nations in the newly released 2020 edition of the JLL/LaSalle Global Real Estate Transparency Index.
Ontario Electricity Rebate applied unevenly
Many hydro accounts specifically tied to the common areas of multi-residential buildings will no longer qualify for the 31.8 per cent rebate beginning in November 2020.
Ontario stalls energy management paybacks
A temporary adjustment to Ontario’s electricity pricing scheme eliminates cost-saving opportunities that many operators of large commercial buildings were anticipating this summer.
Public disclosure could foil energy reporting
The City of Winnipeg has invited commercial building owners and institutional facility managers to affix their Energy Star Portfolio Manager results on a publicly accessible map.