Four years after the Progressive Conservatives promised to build 1.5 million homes in a decade, Ontario’s battered housing sector is looking at lowering expectations again.

As part of its 2022 re-election campaign, the Ford government promised it would solve Ontario’s housing crisis by ramping up the construction of new homes.

But it’s yet to come close to that target, even after adding in long-term care beds to try and boost the struggling statistics.

Ontario’s 2026 budget presents another round of bleak reading for those hoping the tide will turn. Private sector forecasts have, again, knocked tens of thousands of new units off their projections for the next four years.

Figures included in the fall economic statement released in November 2025 suggested Ontario would see 315,000 new housing starts from 2025 to 2028. That figure has dropped by more than 10 per cent to 276,900 in the latest budget.

“Construction activity softened and is expected to remain subdued in 2026 as private-sector forecasters continue to highlight the negative effects of uncertainty on homebuilding,” the government’s annual blueprint acknowledged.

The reductions have come across the board. Last year, the projections were revised from 71,800 down to 65,000, while 2026 is dropping from 74,800 to 64,800.

The figures essentially make Ontario’s goal of 1.5 million new homes by 2031 impossible.

The government had taken a staggered approach to its annual housing targets, seeking 110,000 new homes initially, a figure it broadly reached.

Those numbers then rose to needing 175,00 new homes from 2026 to 2031 to achieve the goal. The budget shows Ontario will struggle to even get close to that figure. In 2026, the forecasts say the province will manage 64,800 starts, with 70,300 in 2027 and 76,800 in 2028.

If those projections materialize, it would repeat its slump from 2025, when the government approached the end of the year more than 100,000 short of its target.

Increasingly, the government has been working to temper expectations.

Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy referred last year to the goal of 1.5 million homes as a “soft” target. Housing Minister Rob Flack has said he is targeting the spring to see the impacts of recent policy changes.

Bethlenfalvy continued to distance himself from the goal during the 2026 budget.

“No, no, I’m not focused on the target,” he said when asked if it was still achievable. “I’m focused on what we can do today to make it more affordable for people to own homes.”

While new homebuilding has dropped dramatically, the resale market has also dipped substantially.

“Economic uncertainty has weighed on Ontario’s housing market activity despite easing mortgage rates,” the 2026 budget explained.

Last year, resales dropped 5.6 per cent and the average price fell by 4.4 per cent. That, forecasters believe, is temporary and will begin to reverse this year.

“Looking ahead, home resales are projected to rebound, supported by pent-up demand and economic growth,” the budget says. “Home resales are projected to grow 9.1 per cent in 2026, 5.6 per cent in 2027. 4.2 per cent in 2028 and 4 per cent in 2029.”

The government is hoping to take that improving resale picture and try to apply it to new construction through a billion-dollar-plus policy to try and stimulate the sector.

On the eve of the budget, the province announced it was expanding a plan to waive HST for first-time homebuyers on new projects to include anyone buying a new build.

For one year, anyone in Ontario who buys a new home will have the sales tax waived by both the federal and provincial governments. The measure is expected to cost the treasury $1.4 billion.

Announcing the plan, Premier Doug Ford implored people to take advantage and buy a new home.

“Let’s start selling these homes, let’s start building them,” he said in Mississauga on Wednesday. “And people of Ontario, please go out and purchase a new home.”

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A sprawling military training base in southern Alberta can expect to see more activity this summer, says the commander of the Canadian Army.

Lt-General Michael Wright told an audience at a defence trade show Thursday that Canadian Forces Base Suffield, the country’s largest training area, will be used increasingly as a testing hub for new technology and for increased training.

“Suffield is a training base that we have not used very much over the past 10 or 11 years, but in an agreement between Canada and the United Kingdom, we’re going to be starting to use it increasingly this summer,” said Wright at the Defence Aerospace and Security Exhibition of Western Canada, or DEFSEC West.

“It’s fantastic to see, but we’ve also got some investments we need to make into CFB Suffield, like so many of our bases across the country.”

Wright didn’t specify what kind of investments would be made but said it would not be to the point where thousands of troops would be training there, as was seen in the past.

The base, which is located in the southeast corner of Alberta, just north of Medicine Hat, is nearly 2,700-square-kilometres in size — more than three times the size of the city of Calgary — and its use dates back more than half a century.

In the early 1970s, the British Army signed a deal with Canada to send thousands of troops to the base east of Calgary for armour training and exercises, until the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 brought everything to a halt.

When reports in 2021 suggested the British would pull out of Suffield entirely, the U.K.’s then-defence minister Ben Wallace hinted that armoured training would be “flexed” to other locations.

In 2023, the U.K. defence ministry announced it would start to wind down operations and training at Suffield.

The U.K. government has since indicated it will spend £17 million (Cdn$31 million) on maintaining British Army Training Unit Suffield.

In January, the U.K.’s secretary of state for defence Al Carns said Suffield continues to be used for both training and experimentation activity.

Two British training missions were planned at Suffield for 2025-26.

In an interview, Wright said there could be more. “I won’t speak for the British Army, but they’re absolutely planning for increased use as well,” he said.

One more was slated for 2027, the U.K. government says.

The base is also still used by Canadian reserve units for training, with some of those soldiers joining the NATO mission in Latvia.

Each year, the Defence Research Development Canada branch hosts allied biological and chemical agent training.

Wright said the base needs to be used after a long period of inactivity.

“As the Canadian army builds and the Canadian Armed Forces builds, we’re going to need that ability to do larger-scale training across the country,” he said.

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Alberta’s government has tabled legislation — Bill 21, the Interprovincial Trade Mutual Recognition Act — to ease regulations and barriers to more easily enable the sale of some goods from other provinces.

It’s part of a commitment Alberta made with its provincial and federal counterparts in signing an interprovincial free trade pact in November.

That trade accord, which is supposed to take effect this summer, would see provinces recognize each other’s regulations for most consumer and capital products to avoid duplicative inspections and requirements.

The agreement doesn’t apply to the sale of alcohol, cannabis, food, live animals, tobacco or plants, and it lets provinces maintain certain restrictions on items for health and safety reasons.

Alberta is keeping its own rules in place for several products, including pesticides, plumbing equipment and safety helmets.

Another Alberta exemption is for gift cards, which the province requires to have no expiry date. The province retains the right to add or remove items from the list of goods and they must still meet Alberta rules.

Jobs and Economy Minister Joseph Schow said that despite the limitations, he expects the new rules will have a major economic effect for the province.

“This is a great news story for small- and medium-sized businesses,” he said. “These are mom and pop shops, in some cases, where they don’t have a lot of staff, and the last thing they want to be dealing with is cumbersome regulation.”

He added that for years in Canada, it has sometimes been easier for businesses to sell products internationally rather than to other provinces.

Schow said by eliminating red tape, businesses will be able to expand and access new markets without having to bring on more staff, or hire lawyers or consultants to deal with regulations.

Heather Thomson at the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce said at the government news conference that having consistency across the country will open doors for businesses and allow them to scale up.

“This means more time spent on hiring, innovating and selling,” she said. “It gives Alberta businesses the competitive edge that they need to succeed, not just here, but across the entire country.”

Government officials told reporters before the bill was tabled that manufacturers in industries such as oil and gas, lumber and logging and fertilizer producers will likely see the most positive impact once the pact takes effect.

Provinces such as Ontario and British Columbia have already introduced similar pieces of legislation to implement the commitments in November’s agreement.

Alberta officials told reporters that the government purposely waited longer so it could study and learn from what other provinces did.

Thursday’s bill also sets out the process for future mutual recognition agreements between provinces to be implemented.

Schow didn’t provide specifics about what future deals he’d like to ink, noting only that the legislation allows the government to be nimble and make changes without reconvening the legislature as needed.

Opposition NDP jobs critic Rhiannon Hoyle said the legislation is good news for businesses and the economy, but she would have like to have seen it sooner, given long-standing business interest in seeing trade barriers removed.

— More to come…

&copy 2026 The Canadian Press

The Toronto Police Service is investigating a fatal stabbing in the city’s east end that left a 27-year-old man dead.

Police said in a release that officers were called to the area of Gamble Avenue and Donlands Avenue at approximately 9:35 p.m. on Wednesday for reports of unknown trouble.

Investigators said an altercation was heard behind a low-rise residential building on a nearby residential street.

Officers found the victim suffering from stab wounds and without vital signs. Despite life-saving efforts by paramedics, he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The victim has been identified as 27-year-old Ahmed Hassan Asif. He did not live in the immediate area, according to police.

Det. Sgt. Sajeev Nair described the victim as a “hard-working young man,” an auto mechanic who was “very much loved by family and nieces.”

Police said the suspect fled the area before their arrival and has not yet been found.

A white vehicle believed to be involved has been seized by forensic investigators, and officers are canvassing the neighbourhood for witnesses and surveillance footage.

Police also confirmed a vehicle involved in a collision within the taped-off area is part of the broader investigation, though its connection to the altercation has not been confirmed.

“We are coming for you.… Contact a lawyer and turn yourself in. We are going to catch you,” Nair said.

The killing marks Toronto’s fifth homicide of 2026.

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Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada might join efforts to ensure freedom of navigation in the Middle East if there is a ceasefire.

Reporters asked Carney today how Ottawa might get involved in efforts to reopen shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has blockaded in response to the U.S. and Israel launching a war on Iran a month ago.

Carney says Canada is talking to allies about how it could help restore the movement of vessels in the strait, offering the clearest scenario yet of how it might get involved.

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Carney is also defending the limited information his government has released about the war, saying that proactive disclosure could endanger troops.

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The government has been criticized for not telling the public about potential damage to Canadian assets at a Kuwait airbase.

Global Affairs Canada officials testifying at a Senate committee about Iran today said they never expected that strikes against Iran’s senior leadership would prompt a successful popular uprising to oust the regime.

The federal government repeatedly ignored key safeguards meant to ensure that legitimate Indigenous businesses would benefit from a multi-billion-dollar procurement program, a watchdog’s investigation has shown.

In a report made public Thursday, the Office of the Procurement Ombud said Indigenous Services Canada showed a “systemic disregard” for the principles behind the Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business (PSIB), repeatedly failed to verify companies awarded work were Indigenous-owned, and failed to keep track of how the decades-old program actually benefitted Indigenous businesses.

Instead, the department’s “fragmented” guidance, failure to conduct mandatory audits and failure to respond to other government agencies’ questions led the watchdog to conclude the federal government can’t “credibly” say that it is accomplishing a key target for economic reconciliation with First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities.

“I would say this is the worst we have seen in terms of a systemic review. I don’t know that I could recall another situation where the actual rule set didn’t exist in its entirety,” said Procurement Ombud Alexander Jeglic, calling the government’s handling of the program “difficult to understand.”

After years of criticism from Indigenous business leaders, internal government reviews and parliamentary hearings, the federal Liberals said they will continue to dole out contracts under the PSIB until a long-awaited “transformative” solution is revealed.

“The longer this goes unaddressed, the more risk to Indigenous communities,” said Jeglic in an interview with Global News.

“One thing I absolutely need to put on record is whatever the solution is, it cannot be worse for Indigenous suppliers … They are not the failing point of this strategy. The failing point is the (government’s) administration of the strategy.”

Jeglic’s office reviewed 27 separate procurement files from three separate departments from April 2023 to March 2025. It also examined Indigenous Services Canada’s overall administration of the program — which mandates that at least five per cent of all government procurement projects go to businesses that are at least 51 per cent owned and operated by Indigenous peoples.

It also followed years of internal government reports raising concerns about the administration of the program, uncovered by a months-long joint investigation by Global News and the First Nations University of Canada in 2024.

The investigation detailed multiple ways non-Indigenous companies were gaming the system to gain access to billions in federal work intended for First Nations, Inuit and Métis businesses.

Jeglic called his office’s own investigation “sobering,” and expressed surprise that a program that’s been around for three decades could be so poorly managed — to the point of not having a central set of rules to guide government officials in meeting their obligations under the PSIB.

The report suggests the problems flow from an absence of central, clear rules from Indigenous Services Canada to govern how departments’ procurement officers award work to Indigenous companies, in what Jeglic calls a “cascading failure.”

The watchdog’s findings take on a sense of urgency not only because Indigenous companies will continue to lose out on federal work under the current system, but also because Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government is preparing to pump billions into spending on files like defence and infrastructure. 

The PSIB was established in 1996 under Prime Minister Jean Chretien to help Indigenous businesses compete against multinational companies for a slice of federal contract spending.

It was designed both to increase the number of Indigenous suppliers to government and to serve as a tool of economic reconciliation.

But Jeglic’s office found that government departments weren’t tracking whether the work was actually being done by Indigenous companies.

Some major contracts worth more than $2 million proceeded without the mandatory audit to confirm that the company was at least 51 per cent owned by Indigenous peoples, the minimum representation required for eligibility.

Correctional Services Canada (CSC) — a department that was projected to spend at least $818 million on major contracts in 2024-25 alone — claimed they weren’t aware of the requirement to audit suppliers before awarding PSIB contracts.

Jeglic’s probe broadly confirmed the findings of Global News and the First Nations University of Canada joint investigation, which found that billions in federal contracts had been awarded under the PSIB with little scrutiny of whether companies were, in fact, Indigenous-owned and operated.

The investigation also revealed serious problems with the government’s Indigenous Business Directory – a central database run by Indigenous Services Canada that lists companies eligible for PSIB contracts. After the reports, the government removed hundreds of companies and individual suppliers from the database, including some they deemed ineligible.

PSIB regulations require that a company be 51 per cent owned and operated by First Nations, Inuit or Métis people to qualify, and that at least 33 per cent of the resulting work be completed by Indigenous people.

The 33 per cent rule was designed to guard against shell companies being set up by non-Indigenous people to gain access to billions in work earmarked for Indigenous businesses.

Global’s investigation detailed those schemes — known in Indigenous procurement circles as “rent-a-feathers” — where Indigenous people serve as a figurehead for non-Indigenous companies to gain access to the contracts.

Jeglic’s team noted Indigenous Services Canada’s website indicated departments could request a post-award audit to verify the 33 per cent requirement, but ISC believes individual departments are responsible for monitoring and oversight of their contracts.

Jeglic found no evidence that ISC communicated that position to departments, and ISC has no guidance documents on the 33 per cent rule.

“Not only is ISC’s direction on who is responsible for monitoring the 33 per cent criterion inadequately defined, but even more alarming is the complete absence of clear guidance to departments on when and how this monitoring should be applied,” the ombudsman report read.

Jeglic’s report also said that the federal government has been inflating the supposed economic benefits for Indigenous businesses for years, calling into question if departments are truly hitting their mandated target of five per cent.

Departments take the total value of contracts awarded to Indigenous businesses each year and divide that by the department’s total procurement spending to arrive at a percentage of work done by First Nations, Inuit and Métis companies. For instance, if a department spent $100 million total and $5 million went to Indigenous companies, the department hit the five per cent target.

But under the PSIB, Indigenous companies can subcontract as much as 67 per cent of contract work to non-Indigenous companies, making the aggregate numbers misleading.

“Because departments are not required to disaggregate the work performed by non-Indigenous entities, these contributions are still counted toward the five per cent target, overstating the actual economic benefit to Indigenous businesses,” the report read.

“This approach creates a misleading impression that Indigenous businesses are receiving a larger share of federal procurement spending than they truly are.”

Jeglic’s report found that Indigenous Services Canada routinely ignored other government departments when they reached out with information or questions  about the procurement process.

For example, Indigenous Services Canada did not respond to a notification from Shared Services Canada about an Indigenous set-aside contract for two months, but by then the department had already gone ahead with the contract.

Another department contacted Indigenous Services Canada procurement mailbox with a question about Indigenous procurement. Seven weeks later, ISC responded, “they were not trained or specialized in federal procurement” and advised the department to consult the government’s procurement manual.

Employment and Social Development Canada went ahead with a sole-sourced contract to an Indigenous supplier that was not listed on the government’s Indigenous Business Directory — a requirement to access set-aside contracts.

Global News previously reported on the government’s lax verification of businesses on the directory, with one government employee telling an Algonquin tribal council they could upload anything to qualify, even a “picture of a bunny.”

Nevertheless, ESDC justified awarding the non-competitive contract because they felt the IBD was “exclusionary” and applying for certification would be too “burdensome” for some.

Jeglic’s report includes more examples of “gaps” in the administration of the PSIB, and his office’s report examined just 27 contracts from three departments between April 2023 and March 31, 2025. The probe specifically did not examine ISC’s verification process for businesses applying to be listed on the IBD.

Auditor General Karen Hogan’s own investigation into the federal government’s Indigenous procurement program is expected later this year. The probe was taken on at the request of the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation Tribal Council in the wake of Global’s investigation.

Algonquin Anishinabeg Grand Chief Savana McGregor told Global News last year she hoped Hogan’s investigation would demonstrate “the scope of how infiltrated the (IBD) is … with pretensions,” referring to people who falsely claim Indigenous ancestry.

In a February letter sent to the House of Commons’ Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee, Mandy Gull-Masty, the minister responsible for the PSIB, said her department has moved to strengthen its verification process to make sure businesses listed on the IBD are Indigenous-owned.

Gull-Masty noted that the government intends to update its policy guidance on the PSIB later this spring and is working with Indigenous leaders to completely overhaul the troubled program, turning over control of the IBD from public servants to Indigenous peoples.

Indigenous Services Canada told Jeglic’s office that it agrees with the report’s recommendations, including setting up an impartial arbiter for complaints about the Indigenous procurement program, publishing an “updated” policy and pushing the Treasury Board to reform how departments calculate their progress toward the five per cent spending mandate.

But the changes won’t come quickly. The “updated” policy is not expected until 2027, and changes to how the government calculates economic benefits to Indigenous companies will take “2-3 years to implement fully,” the department wrote.

“We welcome the Procurement Ombud’s recommendations and we are taking concrete steps to address the recommendations,” the department wrote in a statement to Global News.

“We are co-developing, along with Indigenous partners, policy changes to improve our practices, including exploring the devolution of responsibility for verifying Indigeneity.”

Salim Touaibi has been found guilty of first-degree murder and four counts of attempted murder in the drive-by shooting of a teenager in Montreal in 2021.

His co-accused, Aymane Bouadi, who was inside the car when Touaibi fired the shots, has been acquitted of all charges.

The Superior Court trial heard that Meriem Boundaoui, 15, was sitting in the passenger seat of a Volkswagen Jetta in Montreal’s St-Léonard borough on Feb. 7, 2021, when a white Mercedes with two men inside pulled up and one of them opened fire, hitting her fatally in the head.

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The death of high school student shook Quebec’s Algerian community and prompted wider calls for stronger measures to stop gun violence. Montreal’s mayor and police chief later announced a new police unit targeting gun traffickers in the wake of her death and that of two other teens the same year.

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Over the course of a trial spanning more than two months, the jury heard that Boundaoui was a bystander in the wrong place at the wrong time, caught in the crossfire of a conflict between two family businesses that did not concern her.

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Touaibi said on the stand that he was the shooter, but testified he didn’t realize Boundaoui or anyone else was in the Jetta when he shot at it. He acknowledged being aware of the conflict between family businesses, but said his involvement was limited to trying to act as a peacemaker.

Bouadi’s lawyer argued during closing arguments that his client was just a “passive” passenger in the Mercedes who had gone to get food with his friend and should be acquitted. He said his client was aware of the conflict between groups but not involved.

The two men were arrested days apart by Montreal police in June 2022.

The Ontario Provincial Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying a suspect in connection with an interprovincial identity fraud investigation.

Officers with the Nottawasaga detachment in Ontario issued a release saying they were first contacted on Nov. 27, 2025, by a victim who reported that their personal information had been used to create a fraudulent piece of identification.

Police allege that fake ID was then used at a banking institution in New Tecumseth, Ont., to open a credit card in the victim’s name.

Investigators say the same identification was later used on Dec. 1, 2025, to purchase a luxury vehicle in Surrey, B.C.

The suspect has not been identified, and police are asking anyone who recognizes the individual or has information to come forward.

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Old Man Winter is doling out a spring wallop to parts of southwestern British Columbia.

Heavy snowfall has triggered a temporary shutdown of the Coquihalla Highway Thursday morning, between Hope and Merritt.

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Environment Canada has issued a snowfall warning, forecasting roughly 15 cm of snow in the region, with reduced visibility possible at times.

The weather agency notes that the situation in the mountains can change suddenly, resulting in hazardous driving conditions.

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As of 10:45  p.m. Wednesday, DriveBC was reporting several traffic incidents due to the weather.

Conditions in the area are not expected to improve until later Thursday morning.

Select milk products sold through the Farmers, Natrel and Québon brands are being recalled due to a “possible presence of pieces of glass.”

The recalls were initially triggered by Agropur, Canada’s largest dairy co-operative, on Wednesday.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is currently conducting a “food safety investigation.”

The CFIA is also “verifying that industry is removing recalled products from the marketplace.”

The affected products include:

• Farmers 1% chocolate partly skimmed milk (2 L), sold in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
• Farmers 1% partly skimmed milk (2 L), sold in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
• Farmers 2% partly skimmed milk (2 L), sold in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
• Farmers 3.25% homogenized milk (2 L), sold in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
• Natrel 1% lactose-free chocolate partly skimmed milk (2 L), sold nationally
• Québon 2% chocolate partly skimmed milk (2 L), sold in Quebec

The recall warns consumers not to “consume, use, sell, serve or distribute recalled products,” and says they should be “thrown out or returned to the location where they were purchased.”