Canadian news is being blocked; what to expect with your mortgage renewal: CBC's Marketplace cheat sheet (2024)

Jenny Cowley - CBC News

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Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has begun to restrict access to news content for up to five per cent of Canadians.

So if you're missing CBC News from your feeds, you may be getting a sneak peak of what we can expect in the future if Meta and Google make good on threats to eliminate Canadian news from their platforms.

The move is in retaliation for Bill C-18, the federal Online News Act, that will force these platforms to strike financial agreements with news media outlets for "fair compensation" — still undefined — when news content appears there. In Google's case, the California-based company says it will eliminate news links for Canadians from its search engine, news and discover products when the law comes into effect, expected in December.

Many of us rely on social media and search engines to get news, so we want to ensure you know where else you can get CBC journalism should you suddenly be cut off:

According to official figures, there are currently six million residential mortgages in Canada, and about 1.2 million of them come up for renewal every year. About one-third of all mortgage holders have already seen their rates increase, and everyone else should expect to start paying more soon.

Mortgage broker Ron Butler says anyone with a mortgage should brace for much higher rates and payments than they were probably ever expecting. "In some cases, double the rate they were experiencing and nothing but bigger payments moving forward," he says.

Lately, Butler says he hears daily from borrowers with a desperation in their voice he's never heard before.

"We take calls from some people who are actually in tears," he says. "They've got a renewal [and] they don't know what they're going to do."

Typically, fixed rate loans are the most popular option for buyers, especially first-time buyers. But the Bank of Canada's decision to slash interest rates to near-zero during the pandemic caused many to flock to variable rate ones.

Personal finance author Preet Banerjee says variable loans typically have lower rates than fixed ones because of the peace of mind that comes from locking in.

"A lot of people will actually put a premium on predictability, and that's normally what you're paying for with a fixed rate," he says. "But that premium between variable versus fixed rates, it's upside down right now," which is why more and more people are choosing the peace of mind of predictable fixed rates, but for a shorter period so they get to try for a better deal once things inevitably settle down.

While there is no magic bullet that's going to bring borrowing rates down to the levels seen from 2020 to 2022, Banerjee's advice to those renewing is to make sure you do your homework, seek the help of a broker and don't just blindly sign the renewal notice your lender sends you.

"The sooner you start looking at your options, the better."Read more

The advice that no more than 30 per cent of your income should be going to rent is drifting further from reality, according to a new study.

While minimum wage rates are on the rise, they aren't rising as fast as rental rates.

According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, paying more than 30 per cent of your income on housing makes it "unaffordable."

The study shows that there is no province in Canada where workers can afford an apartment at minimum wage.

The researchers attributed the gap between minimum wage and what's needed to afford rentals to three main factors: wage suppression policies, such as using temporary foreign workers as a way to fill vacancies instead of raising wages to attract domestic workers; a low supply of rent-controlled housing; and poor regulation of the housing market that prioritizes "profit-making over housing security."

So what's a renter to do? One expert suggests getting as much education and training as possible, and taking advantage of online learning.

But other experts say workers don't often have the time or money to upgrade their skills that might be required for higher paying jobs.

The researchers say governments should focus on financing, building and acquiring purpose-built and non-market housing, regulating the rental market with rent controls and banishing the use of above-guideline rent increases.Read more

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jenny Cowley

Jenny Cowley is an investigative journalist in Toronto. She has previously reported for CBC in Nova Scotia. You can reach her at marketplace@cbc.ca.