Ontario

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Who Gets Private Access to Mayors, Councillors and Staff? What Ontario’s Lobbyist Registries Reveal.Who Gets Private Access to Mayors, Councillors and Staff? What Ontario’s Lobbyist Registries Reveal.

Toronto recorded 6,905 lobbying communications in 2025. The Blue Mountains publishes details of lobbying by developers, community organizations and ratepayer associations. Yet residents in many Ontario communities cannot readily assemble a comparable record of who is seeking to influence municipal decisions. County First examines what a lobbyist registry can reveal, what it costs, and whether smaller municipalities should consider one. Continue reading.

Three Rental Properties Generated 29% of the Complaints. What Ontario’s By-law Enforcement Numbers Reveal

Prince Edward County lists penalties of up to $20,000 for operating an unlicensed short-term accommodation. Tiny Township found that a handful of properties accounted for a remarkable share of complaints. And in Centre Wellington, a proposed $825,000 enforcement budget tells a very different story once revenues and reserve transfers are considered. County First examines what municipalities spend enforcing their rules — and what taxpayers can actually measure. Continue reading.

Ontario’s Homelessness Emergency: An Entire City Without Homes — and It’s Still Getting Worse

Ontario now has more than 85,000 people experiencing homelessness. That is not a statistic; it is the equivalent of an entire mid-sized city — roughly the population of Peterborough — living without a stable place to call home. What makes this moment especially alarming is how fast it has happened. Read more.

Canada Just Crossed a Demographic Line. Rural Communities May Feel It First.

For most of modern Canadian history, one basic demographic force quietly worked in the country’s favour: more Canadians were born each year than died. That engine has now effectively stalled. Statistics Canada’s latest quarterly estimates show that in the first quarter of 2026, Canada recorded 155 more deaths than births. Natural population growth—births minus deaths—was negative. One year earlier it was still positive, though barely, at 983 people. The number itself is tiny in a country of more than 40 million people. The significance is not. Read more.

Ontario’s House of Cards Economy

Ontario, like British Columbia, is confronting the consequences of an economic model that was never built to last. For years, politicians and business leaders sold us a comforting story about growth — that as long as new subdivisions sprawl outward, condo towers rise in Toronto, and property values climb in the Golden Horseshoe, prosperity will follow. But beneath the surface lies a stark truth: Ontario’s economy is not anchored in value-added manufacturing, world-class innovation, or the full development of its natural resources. It has become disproportionately reliant on real estate, construction, and relentless population growth driven by record levels of immigration. The model is simple: bring in more people, build more homes, sell them at ever-higher prices, and call it economic growth. This isn’t diversification. It’s dependency. And like all dependencies, it comes with a reckoning. Read more.

Blasting Near Water Wells: A Threat to Ontario’s Rural Water Security

Why Blasting Puts Wells at Risk: Blasting operations – whether to construct a well or for nearby quarrying and construction – pose serious environmental and legal concerns for water wells in Ontario. The issue is especially pressing in rural areas like Prince Edward County, where many households and farms rely on private wells. In 2009, Prince Edward County officials even considered banning the practice of “blasting” wells out of fear that it “can contaminate ground water sources.” They relented only after agreeing to allow blasting only with professional oversight, highlighting both the high stakes and the lack of clear regulations at the time. [Read more]

Ontario’s Permitting Bureaucracy: A Slow Grind Against Economic Progress

There’s an old saying in government affairs: if you want something done slowly, regulate it. If you want it stopped entirely, send it through Ontario’s permitting system. For small businesses, tradespeople, and developers alike, navigating the province’s increasingly bloated permitting apparatus has become less about compliance—and more about endurance. From building permits to environmental assessments to licensing reviews, Ontario’s regulatory ecosystem has grown into a Kafkaesque machine: opaque, inconsistent, and increasingly self-reinforcing. [Read more]

Ontario Insurance Premiums Soar Past Inflation — and Far Above Global Norms

While inflation in Canada hovers at just 1.75%, insurance premiums in Ontario are skyrocketing—up 12% for auto insurance and 11% for home insurance in 2025. These sharp increases have prompted concern among residents already grappling with a high cost of living and stagnant wage growth. But the story becomes even more troubling when compared internationally: Ontario’s insurance costs and their rate of increase are among the highest in the developed world. [Read more]

GTA’s New Subdivisions Are Turning into Ghost Towns: “No Buyers. No Renters.”

A recent post on X (formerly Twitter) declared bluntly: “Coming soon to GTA suburbs: brand new subdivisions turned ghost towns. No buyers. No renters. Just rows of empty homes and no one coming.”  This reflects warnings heard in real estate circles—and firsthand reports from Reddit users, who describe recently completed but unsold housing developments in areas like Niagara and Halton Region, noting entire neighbourhoods with empty houses.  [Read more]