Ottawa City Hall (File photo)
Construction started on a record number of new homes in Ottawa last year, as real estate agents warn a lack of supply is a major issue in the housing market.
The 2020 city of Ottawa annual development report shows there were 9,239 new housing starts in 2020, the most in a year since amalgamation in 2001.
The 9,239 housing starts in 2020 is up 30.7 per cent from 2019.
When it comes to the type of housing being built, 3,816 apartment units were built, 2,733 were townhomes, 2,439 were single-detached homes and 251 were semi-detached homes.
A total of 11,339 residential unit permits were issued in 2020, up 20.3 per cent from 2019 and the most permits issued since amalgamation.
The percentage of housing permits issued inside the Greenbelt increased to 50.4 per cent of all permits in 2020 from 36.5 per cent in 2019.
"This increase was due to a large number of apartment units that received building permits inside the Greenbelt in 2020," said staff in a report for Monday's Planning Committee meeting.
Staff say 43.56 per cent of new units issued permits were near existing Ottawa LRT stations, maintstreets and the Central Area of Ottawa.
A new report this week raised concerns about supply levels in the Ottawa housing market.
"Supply is likely to increase slightly in 2022, but low levels are expected to remain a concern," said Remax in its housing market outlook, adding housing prices will increase five per cent in 2022.
The Ottawa Real Estate Board said last month that the only way to find "balance" in Ottawa's real estate market is to increase the housing supply "exponentially."
Ottawa's population increased 1.6 per cent in 2020 to 1,022,604.
At the end of 2020, there were 435,747 households in Ottawa, up 1.6 per cent from the year before.
A wave of buyer's remorse is taking shape in several heated real estate markets, after housing prices started dropping and the number of sales slowed over the last two months.
There is a cost to war — to the countries that wage it, to the soldiers who fight it, to the civilians who endure it. For nations, territory is gained and lost, and sometimes regained and lost again. But some losses are permanent. Lives lost can never be regained. Nor can limbs. And so it is in Ukraine.
Etiquette expert Julie Blais Comeau answers your questions about how to address the royal couple, how to dress if you're meeting them, and whether or not you can ask for a selfie.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that the military alliance stands ready to seize a historic moment and move quickly on allowing Finland and Sweden to join its ranks, after the two countries submitted their membership requests.
Saddle Lake Cree Nation in eastern Alberta is 'actively researching and investigating' the deaths of at least 200 residential school children who never came home, as remains are being found in unmarked grave sites.
The Green Party of Canada is calling on the federal government to develop a targeted anti-transgender hate strategy, citing a 'rising tide of hate' both in Canada and abroad. Amita Kuttner, who is Canada's first transgender federal party leader, made the call during a press conference on Parliament Hill on Tuesday.
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A new report says digital technology has become so widespread at such a rapid pace that Canadians have little idea what information is being collected about them or how it is used.
The police officer who fatally shot a 26-year-old Indigenous woman during a wellness check in Edmundston, N.B., two years ago says he doesn't know why things escalated so quickly.
When a man disguised as a Mountie started killing people in northern Nova Scotia two years ago, there was considerable confusion over who was in charge of the RCMP operation, newly released documents show.
A woman who was stabbed overnight in the Halifax area has died from her injuries.
Political analysts call Doug Ford's approach the “front-runner” strategy and say it started long before the writ was drawn.
A day after Maple Leafs star Mitch Marner was robbed of his Range Rover at gunpoint outside an Etobicoke movie theatre, Toronto police said they have already seen more carjackings so far this year than they did in all of 2021.
An Ontario man who has nearly 1 million-kilometres on his car is sharing his secret of how he did it.
Peppered with questions on Bill 96, Legault said there's been "disinformation" spreading, in his opinion -- and that on one important question, health care, many critics of the bill are wrong. In fact, the bill is confusing on that point and the details still haven't been fully explained.
Montreal public health officials are considering whether to bring back a special hotline for families with sick children to get them speedy appointments with a doctor. Hospitals are seeing an increase in visits to pediatric emergency rooms.
Montreal drivers have a lot of words to describe the city's roads in summer, when the orange pylons pop up: an obstacle course, a maze, a mess. The city's auditor general agrees and offers analysis of why in a new report.
There have been more than 107 fatalities on Ontario Provincial Police patrolled roads so far this year.
B'Nai Brith Canada presented North Bay Mayor Al McDonald with a certificate of merit Tuesday morning, honouring him for standing up to racism.
As the provincial election nears, Sault Ste. Marie incumbent Ross Romano is squaring off again against Michelle McCleave-Kennedy, who gave him a tough fight in 2018.
The number of hate occurrences reported to London police has grown by more than 50 per cent for a second year in a row.
Cameron Doig of Seaforth, Ont. is facing more sexual offence charges. The 63-year-old golf pro has been charged with one count of indecent assault on a female and police say this charge is “historical” in nature.
One person is in custody for allegedly breaking and entering after a Sarnia business owner saw they were being robbed in real-time thanks to a video surveillance system.
Federal regulators are demanding answers and solutions from the bell MTS after several Manitobans have spoken out about their landline phone service which they call unacceptable.
Two Winnipeg men are facing firearm-related charges after Winnipeg police officers seized 19 guns from a home in the city’s Southwood neighbourhood.
A Manitoba mother says the use of cannabis oil has had a profound impact on the health of her child.
The search continued Tuesday for a man police say may have information about the death of an 8-year-old boy in Cambridge. Neighbours also shared their concerns about the police response.
Provincial police have launched an investigation after human remains were found in the water in Dunnville, just northwest of Port Maitland.
A contentious topic is back under review in Cambridge. City council is hearing from a number of delegates sharing their thoughts about a paintball company's land and whether it should be re-zoned.
Alberta schools boards can choose to pilot three more subjects in the new K-6 draft curriculum this fall, which is drawing criticism from some parents and student advocates.
The last time the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers faced each other in the playoffs was way back in 1991.
The ballots are in and tension is building within the United Conservative Party ahead of Wednesday's revelation of the result of Jason Kenney's leadership review.
A former employee of Epic Alliance says the firm sometimes "pushed" for higher appraisals on homes sold to landlords and would rent to tenants who would "destroy" properties
With the University of Saskatchewan research team monitoring the city's wastewater for signs of COVID-19 noting an 85 per cent drop in its latest update, experts in the city say the trend is cause for cautious optimism.
Saskatoon Police Service officers are not permitted to wear Thin Blue Line patches, according to a report to the Board of Police Commissioners.
The ballots are in and tension is building within the United Conservative Party ahead of Wednesday's revelation of the result of Jason Kenney's leadership review.
Saddle Lake Cree Nation in eastern Alberta is 'actively researching and investigating' the deaths of at least 200 residential school children who never came home, as remains are being found in unmarked grave sites.
A hunter's wife has testified she texted her husband not to drink and drive or get in a fight the night he and his uncle were shot to death on a rural Alberta road.
The soaring cost of gas is hitting charities in Metro Vancouver hard and organizations are worried they will soon have to make tough decisions and cuts to services if they don’t get some relief.
Nearly three weeks after Moderna became the first pharmaceutical company to apply for Health Canada approval of its COVID-19 vaccine for young children, the regulatory agency is tight-lipped about progress.
Volunteers with the CFB Chilliwack Historical Society are reeling after thieves broke into a military museum and stole irreplaceable items donated by war veterans and their families.
A former doctor on trial for sexual assault is expected to receive a verdict from a Regina jury on Wednesday.
A number of social media users captured Saskatchewan's first apparent first tornado of 2022 on Tuesday evening.
Some food vendors at Mosaic Stadium are pausing preparations for the preseason as the CFL strike has potential to postpone the first exhibition game of the year.
