On March 19 the federal government will deliver its final budget before the national election in October. This is important for Ottawa residents because the federal government sets the rules for mortgage insurance and financing to purchase a home. Home Builders’ Associations operate at the municipal, provincial and federal level. …
Valentine’s Day means different things to different people. For me, Valentine’s is an opportunity to take a moment to reflect on what others mean to us. Here’s what the residential construction and renovation industry means to the City and people of Ottawa: jobs, economic growth across the city, and, most …
Now that the holiday season is upon us, we usually take the opportunity to reflect on our life, our family, and our home. For many of us, our home – and often our kitchen – will be the basis of our social life for next few weeks. Ottawa’s home builders …
When I first started this job at the beginning of June, I met with the majority of city council to introduce myself. In these meet and greets I said two things – at the beginning of each meeting I said that I didn’t have a set agenda or list of …
First, I’d like to thank the Executive for selecting me, and to Pierre Dufresne for encouraging me when I reached out to him about this opportunity. I also wanted to thank Nicole, Shirley and Heather in the GOHBA office for being so welcoming, for working so hard over the past …
By: Jason Burggraaf, Executive Director of the Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association Homebelievers are people just like you and me. We’re scrimping and saving to buy a home. Or we’d like to downsize but even with the windfall we couldn’t stay in our community. We’re concerned about how far away …
Building Codes and Housing Affordability We are constantly required to perform a range of cost benefit analyses to cope with today’s complicated life. Most of these take the form of simple decisions that are done in our heads. Would route A or B be faster given the weather conditions and …
Intensification and Resident Conflict Certain infill builders were recently called to task by the Councillor for Ward 15 (Kitchissippi), Jeff Leiper, for their inappropriate conduct in his ward. The concerns listed were manifold but basically boiled down to a lack of respect shown by these companies towards local residents and …
Despite many years of having been warned about the perils of suburban living, the message still does not appear to have been heard. Smart Growth proponents and a number of city planners have been consistent in their message: suburban living is not only expensive in terms of infrastructure and creating …
The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) has been in existence in one form or another for over a century. In its most recent incarnation, it has been a quasi-judicial body responsible for enforcing government planning and land use policies. The Board ruled on a wide range of commercial and industrial conflicts …