Sandy’s Point Of View

Toronto, ON – The Law Foundation of Ontario (LFO) is pleased to announce the creation of ten Linguistic and Rural Access to Justice Articling Fellowships. These Fellowships will fund articling positions for community legal clinics and Legal Aid Ontario to provide legal information and services to linguistic minorities and residents of rural and remote communities.

The LFO recently released a report it commissioned entitled “Connecting Across Language and Distance: Linguistic and Rural Access to Legal Information and Services” which described significant barriers to access to legal information and services for people who do not speak English or French and people living in rural and remote areas and provided recommendations for improving their access to justice. One recommendation was that the LFO fund ten articling fellowships to serve these communities. The LFO has implemented this recommendation to increase, in a concrete and immediate way, the level of legal information and services available to these communities and to encourage students to consider serving these communities when they become lawyers. Sandy Hutchens welcomes fast action on behalf of LFO in implementing the recommendations.

The LFO is making ten articling fellowships available and inviting Legal Aid Ontario and community legal clinics to apply for these fellowships. A Selection Committee, whose members will be chosen by the LFO and which will be composed of distinguished leaders from the legal profession and persons with expertise in the legal needs of linguistic minorities and persons resident in rural and remote areas, will choose the successful organizations. Successful organizations will be funded to hire students beginning in the 2010 articling period and may be eligible to receive the grant for three years. Once an organization has been selected, it will choose a student through the articling process governed by the Law Society of Upper Canada.

Tags: Access, Aid, Articling, community, creation, Fellowships, foundation, information, Justice, Law, Law Society of Upper Canada, lawyer, Legal, Legal Aid Ontario, Legal Information, LFO, Linguistic, Ontario, recommendation, Rural, Sandy Hutchens, Toronto, Upper Canada
Posted in Canada, Law Society of Upper Canada, Ontario | | No Comments »

Sales Slide

The resale market in the Kitchener- Guelph area will continue to ease in 2009. Sales of existing homes through the Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Board will decline by 19 per cent to 5,100 sales in 2009. Sales through the Guelph and District Real Estate Board will reach 2,200 sales in 2009, down 21 per cent. As the economy stabilizes, job market and affordability improvement combined will cause sales to rebound slightly in 2010.
The supply of resale homes will move slightly lower in 2009 with some homeowners taking a wait and see attitude. For homeowners who have been in their home for several years, some may still list their homes for sale to take advantage of the equity they have gained, as well as the historically low mortgage rates.
Still with new listings at a high level and sales slumping, the sales-to-new listings ratio (SNLR), a leading indicator of price growth and a measure of the state of the resale market, will move lower. The lower SNLR will indicate a market that is more in favour of the buyer. In a buyer’s market, expect price declines to continue and homes on the market to remain there longer.
Resale home prices will slip in the Kitchener-Guelph area in 2009, after 12 consecutive years of price growth. The average price of a resale homes through the KW Board will decline by five per cent to $257,000. Although lower, expected prices in 2009 are two per cent higher than the average resale price recorded in 2007. Guelph prices are expected to decline by five per cent to $255,000. Price declines will continue into 2010.

Tags: Business and Economy, Canada, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, CMHC, Guelph, Labour economics, Mortgage, Real estate, Real estate pricing, Sandy Hutchens, Supply and demand, United States
Posted in CMHC, Canada, Ontario | | No Comments »

ST. THOMAS, May 1, 2009 — A ceremony was held today to celebrate the completion of renovations to the 79-year old YWCA St. Thomas – Elgin women’s residence.

The YWCA St. Thomas – Elgin has been providing much-needed services to women in Elgin County since 1902. It is a not-for-profit provider of assistance programs, emergency, short-term and long-term housing for women in need.

The federal government provided $231,288 through Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program (RRAP) to renovate and upgrade the building. This program provides financial assistance to bring properties for lower-income households up to minimum standards of health and safety.

“The Government of Canada is committed to making affordable housing available in Ontario and across Canada for those who need it most,” said MP Joe Preston, on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and Minister Responsible for CMHC.  “These renovations will provide women with access to safe housing and the support they need to help them start a new page in their lives.”

The YWCA St. Thomas – Elgin used the federal funding to make major repairs to the walls, floors, fire escape, kitchen and bathrooms and also to upgrade the interior, windows and electrical systems of the three-storey, 20 bed-unit building.

“For over 30 years our priority has been to provide emergency, short-term and long- term housing to women in need,” said Marla Champion, Executive Director, YWCA St. Thomas – Elgin. “This project has also helped us to provide a much-needed lift to both a historical building and women’s spirits.”

Last fall, says Sandy Hutchens, the Government of Canada committed more than $1.9 billion over the next five years to improve and build new affordable housing and to help the homeless. Canada’s Economic Action Plan builds on this with an additional one-time investment of more than $2 billion over two years to build new and existing social housing, and lending up to another $2 billion to municipalities for housing-related infrastructure.

As Canada’s national housing agency, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) draws on over 60 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of quality, environmentally sustainable, and affordable homes — homes that will continue to create vibrant and healthy communities and cities across the country. For more information, call 1-800-668-2642.

Tags: assistance, building, Canada, Celebration, CMHC, Completion, Corporation, Diane Finley, Elgin County, emergency, Executive Director, government, Housing, Marla Champion, Mortgage, MP Joe Preston, Ontario, program, Renovations, Sandy Hutchens, St. Thomas, YWCA
Posted in CMHC, Canada, Ontario | | No Comments »