Greater Toronto's new high-rise sales hit a record low

Builders sold 129 new high-rise units in the Greater Toronto Area in September, the lowest September on record, Storeys reported, citing the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) and Altus Group. That is down 40% from September 2025 and 90% below the 10-year average.

Low-rise did better: builders sold 820 new homes, 17% above the 10-year average.

Storeys reported that BILD and Altus point to the rules of the Ontario enhanced rebate as the main obstacle keeping high-rise from taking part as low-rise has. The rebate cuts the provincial part of the harmonized sales tax (HST) on builder-bought homes, but only if construction starts by December 31, 2028 and is substantially complete by December 31, 2031. BILD’s Justin Sherwood said the figures should be a wake-up call and urged rule changes so high-rise can better take part.

Builders presell units, meaning they sell them before building, and the Bank of Canada says banks have typically required about 70% presold before lending, so weak presales stall projects. Unsold high-rise inventory of 12,909 units equals roughly 49 months of supply: four years to sell at the past year’s average pace.

The rebate generally covers agreements signed between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027; whether the rules will change is not yet known.

Toronto’s inflation rate was 2.1% in September, up from 1.8% a year earlier. Ontario’s rose to 2.5% from 2.0%, and Canada’s to 3.1% from 2.4%. All are all-items rates, not seasonally adjusted; only Toronto’s covers the census metropolitan area.

Sources: Storeys · Canada Revenue Agency · Bank of Canada · Statistics Canada

1Password passes US$500 million in annual recurring revenue

Toronto’s 1Password, which makes software that secures sign-in credentials, said it has passed US$500 million in annual recurring revenue, up from US$400 million a year earlier. That measure, ARR, is the yearly value of subscriptions a company expects to keep collecting. Businesses supply more than 75% of it; the firm added about 20,000 business customers, for more than 200,000.

BetaKit reported that it has about 1,400 employees. Chief executive David Faugno told BetaKit that accelerating at this size reflects the influence of artificial intelligence (AI).

BetaKit reported that Mr Faugno said sales must become more predictable before an initial public offering, the first sale of shares to the public. He gave no detailed timeline.

Toronto’s unemployment rate, covering the city and its suburbs, was 6.9% in September, down from 8.8% a year earlier, according to Statistics Canada. Ontario’s was 6.9%, down from 7.8%; Canada’s was 6.5%, down from 7.0%.

Sources: BetaKit · 1Password · Statistics Canada

Museum of Toronto gets a permanent home on Queen Street

The Museum of Toronto, a charity devoted to the city’s history, will move into a former Bank of Montreal branch at 2 Queen Street East, UrbanToronto reported. A $35 million gift from philanthropists Diane Blake and Stephen Smith supports the project, with opening planned for spring 2027.

The conversion covers 7,000 square feet for galleries, staff workspaces and back-of-house functions. Pat Tobin, general manager of the City’s Economic Development and Culture Division, described it as a free space for residents and visitors.

The museum initially operated without a permanent venue. After its 2015 launch it reached audiences through pop-up exhibitions (short-run displays), talks and tours across the city. Ms Blake and Mr Smith have given more than $50 million since the museum’s founding in 2014.

The museum is seeking more partnerships with individuals, foundations, businesses and all levels of government.

Sources: UrbanToronto

Plazaworks proposes two 50-storey rental towers near Thorncliffe Park station

Plazaworks, the trade name of WolfeCorp, has submitted plans to the City of Toronto for two 50-storey rental towers with 1,261 homes, UrbanToronto reported.

The site, at 60 Overlea Boulevard, is a five- to eight-minute walk from the under-construction Thorncliffe Park station. It lies in a Major Transit Station Area, a planning label for land around a transit stop.

WND Associates, for the developer, asked the city to amend its Official Plan, its land-use plan, so the site can hold homes and shops together (Mixed Use Areas), and to set zoning for this site alone to allow the towers.

Nearby proposals are shorter: 46 storeys at 6 Thorncliffe Park Drive and 13 at 36 Overlea Boulevard. Whether the city will approve the towers is not yet known.

In Toronto, meaning the census metropolitan area, inflation was 2.1% in September, up from 1.8% a year earlier, Statistics Canada said. Ontario’s rate was 2.5%, up from 2.0%; Canada’s was 3.1%, up from 2.4%.

Sources: UrbanToronto · Statistics Canada

Ottawa and Ontario announce $8.7 billion for tariff-hit industries

Ottawa and Ontario announced $8.7 billion in investments on October 21 for industries and workers hit by U.S. tariffs, which are taxes on imported goods.

The auto share is $2.5 billion over two years for capital projects, such as modern machinery and upgraded production lines. A new Joint Steel Action Fund has five-year commitments of $3.55 billion from Ottawa and $1.67 billion from Ontario.

Ottawa also commits up to $1 billion over three years for roads in the Ring of Fire, a critical-minerals region in Northern Ontario.

Ontario’s Financial Accountability Office, the province’s budget watchdog, estimated that US tariffs would cost the province 119,200 jobs in 2026, compared with no tariffs.

A joint federal-provincial task force will oversee the auto measures.

Toronto’s unemployment rate, a three-month average for the city and its suburbs, was 6.9 per cent in September, down from 8.8 per cent a year earlier. Ontario’s was 6.9 per cent; Canada’s was 6.5 per cent.

Sources: Prime Minister of Canada · Innovation, Science and Economic Development · Financial Accountability Office of Ontario · Statistics Canada

129 new high-rise units sold in the GTA in September, the lowest September on record. That is down 40% from September 2025 and 90% below the 10-year average, according to BILD and Altus Group.

Data week: inflation

Toronto’s inflation is running a full point below the national rate

Consumer prices, Toronto and Canada, % change on a year earlier

Source: Statistics Canada, table 18-10-0004-01

Presale: Buying a condo unit before the building is built. Banks have typically required builders to presell about 70% of units before financing construction, so weak presales stall new projects.

• Weather: Mainly sunny. Wind northeast 20 km/h becoming light late in the morning. High 13°C. Overnight low 3°C.
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All the long day the vapours played
At blindfold in the city streets,
Their elfin fingers caught and stayed
The sunbeams, as they wound their sheets

E. Pauline Johnson (Tekahionwake), The Lifting of the Mist, in Flint and Feather (1912). Mohawk poet and performer (1861-1913), whose career on stage began at a recital in Toronto in 1892.

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