Last week, the federal government has officially merged Build Canada Homes with Canada Lands Company. And, for once, I don't have a joke about the policy itself. It actually makes a lot of sense. One organization is responsible for financing housing. The other manages one of the largest portfolios of public land in the country.

Did anyone catch this? This month, they unveiled "a 12-piece collection of portable, affordable home goods specifically designed for renters, students, and people who move frequently. The company says it was created after studying young adults in central London, aiming to bridge the gap between "temporary spaces" and a feeling of permanence."

Do you remember me? Back when things were simple. Back when a small non-profit with a dream, a borrowed feasibility study, and an alarming number of volunteer board members could still whisper, “Maybe we can build housing.” And then you arrived. You weren’t flashy. You weren’t a ribbon-cutting. You weren’t the glossy rendering with impossible trees and suspiciously happy cyclists.

Trying to understand land ownership in Ontario feels less like research and more like starring in a low-budget CBC crime drama (only on CBC Gem). I moved from Montréal expecting land data and instead got paywalls, outdated systems, and enough opacity to make Bay Street proud.

I’m a non-market housing developer, and I have a confession to make: I have never paid full municipal development charges.

After watching what’s played out this year to renters, I’ve decided that if Canada can fast-track pipelines like they’re emotional support infrastructure for the federal government, then renters deserve free lawyers funded with the exact same urgency, panic, and blank-cheque energy.

We keep talking about Housing Supply vs. Demand like land is an infinite resource. But here’s the thing: land is fixed, especially in our big metros. Toronto isn’t getting an expansion pack. Vancouver can’t download more map tiles. And Montréal stopped growing landmass after the glaciers left.

So I’ve just finished yelling at the sky after listening to Mike Moffatt, PhD Missing Middle podcast episode on rent control. It managed to frame the debate as renters staying vs. renters looking, while completely ignoring the real issue: the legalized chaos that happens every time a renter moves out.

So far in my 4 years of fatherhood, I've learned that my sons need routines. If bedtime shifts by even 10mins, chaos reigns. The next morning is a blur of missing socks, oatmeal spills, and an hostage negotiation before 8 a.m.

Every time we talk about the housing sector, an expert invokes the mythical creature known as the “mom and pop” landlord.

The word “units” in the housing sector is perhaps the most tragically overworked term in our collective vocabulary.