Canadian Funding Corp

Dear Canadian Funding Corp,

Thank you so much for your donation to help the kids at Covenant House. Your support is our lifeline and for as long as you are able, you will be needed.

Thank you for helping us to open doors of opportunity and hope to homeless kids who rely on us for help. I am honoured to call you my friend and partner in this mission. I’m deeply grateful for your continued commitment to helping these lost and hurting children.

May God bless,

Ruth da Costa
Executive Director

The Government of Canada’s announced today an investment of more than $2.1 million as part of the year one funding through Canada’s Economic Action Plan to improve housing conditions for the First Nation communities on Vancouver Island.

James Lunney, Member of Parliament for Nanaimo – Alberni, on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), made the announcement along with members of the Tseshaht First Nation community.

“Our Government’s Economic Action Plan is creating jobs, stimulating the local economy and improving housing conditions for First Nation communities in British Columbia,” said MP Lunney.

Through Canada’s Economic Action Plan, the Government of Canada has committed $400 million over two years to help First Nation communities build needed new housing, repair and remediate existing non-profit housing for their members, and complement housing programs offered by CMHC. This investment will also provide an economic stimulus for many First Nations and surrounding areas by creating jobs.

Through Canada’s Economic Action Plan, some $50 million in federal investments will be made available to First Nations in British Columbia to address immediate housing needs.

Specifically, CMHC will allocate more than $11.1 million to retrofit housing units on reserve in British Columbia. Of this funding, 17 First Nation communities on Vancouver Island will receive more than $2.1 million to improve the quality of 207 housing units.

Kelowna area housing starts and sales of existing homes will move higher in 2010. Expect demand for both new and existing homes to pick up as the BC and Canadian economies record stronger growth.

Housing starts, led by the detached home sector, will increase in next year. Strong price competition from a well-supplied existing home market and rising inventories of new, completed and unoccupied apartment condominium units will constrain multi-family construction during the first half of 2010.

This year’s upswing in existing home sales will carry over into 2010. Competitive pricing, a good selection of listings and favourable interest rates will help sustain growth in demand for existing homes next year. Expect existing home prices to edge back up as demand improves and the supply of listings is drawn down.
Starts of detached homes are forecast

Starts of detached homes are forecast to increase next year, surpassing multi-family construction for the first time since 2004. The inventory of new, completed and unoccupied detached homes has begun to edge back down after climbing to record levels earlier this year. Lower lot prices and construction costs have allowed builders to more effectively compete with existing homes. Lot prices have declined in response to moderating demand and increased supply. New home buyers can look forward to an ample supply of building lots next yeara big change from the shortages seen prior to 2008. Competition from the existing home market will continue to exert downward pressure on new home prices in 2010.

Moderately price homes will remain the focus of new singles demand in 2010. Builders are targeting buyers seeking new detached homes in the $450,000 -$550,000 price range. Fewer buyers of resort-oriented homes and second residences have contributed to less demand for higher priced new homes this year. This segment of the new singles market continues to face especially strong price competition from a well-supplied existing home market.

Apartment rental construction will account for the lion’s share of multi- family starts in 2009 and first half of 2010. With rents up sharply and construction costs coming down, rental construction has become a more viable development opportunity than in recent years. Reduced demand for condominiums may free up some building sites for rental construction. Starts of apartment rental housing will total 140 units this year and another 150-200 units in 2010, the highest annual levels since the early 2000s.

New rentals will face competition from the condominium market in the short term as some developers rent out unsold units and more investor- owned rentals become available. The apartment vacancy rate is forecast to increase this year and next.

Expect condominium construction to pick up later next year as the nventory of new, completed and unoccupied condominium units and supply of existing condominiums is slowly drawn down. Condominium absorption has improved during recent months, but remains sluggish. Apartment condominium starts will total 150-200 units in 2010. The townhouse condominium sector will ollow suit, with more starts next year.

Housing starts in the Kitchener and Guelph Census Metropolitan Areas in 2010 will increase from the relatively low level recorded in 2009. In the Kitchener CMA, housing starts will reach 2,170 in 2010, up 12 per cent from the expected 1,930 starts in 2009. Housing starts in the Guelph CMA will increase by 16 per cent to 535 in 2010 from the forecast 460 starts in 2009. Slowly improving employment, more spill-over from the resale home market, low inventories and low mortgage rates will combine to push housing starts above the levels recorded in 2009. Starts of both single-detached and denser forms of housing will be up in 2010. Starts will move higher over the next few years, more in line with population growth and household formation.

Single-detached housing starts in the Kitchener CMA will increase by ten per cent to 1,100 homes, while Guelph CMA detached starts will grow by 10 per cent to 275 units. Although these increases in detached starts seem significant, starts will still be well below levels recorded in the first half of the decade. While the new construction market has been slow to react to the tighter resale market conditions after the first quarter of 2009, the expected spill-over demand from the resale home market will result in stronger 2010 starts. Mortgage rates will remain near historically low levels in 2010, although rising slowly throughout the year, and combined with little price growth for new detached homes, affordability will play a part in increased demand for detached homes. Inventories of new single-detached homes have not increased significantly, as was seen in the early 1990s. As a result, any demand for new detached homes must be met through new construction.

Today, Mike Allen, Member of Parliament for Tobique Mactacquac, on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, and Kelly Lamrock, New Brunswick Social Development and Housing Minister, officially opened the new addition of Centre Jeunesse Oasis Youth Center. The shelter received funding for improvements as part of the Canada – New Brunswick Shelter Enhancement Program.

“The Government of Canada is committed to making affordable housing available in New Brunswick and across Canada for those who need it most,” said MP Allen. “These projects are helping young people in our community access safe and suitable housing, and build a stronger future for themselves.”

“We are pleased to join our partners in this project to see more shelter units being created for the benefit of young people from Madawaska and Victoria counties,” said Minister Lamrock, who is also the minister responsible for housing. “A safe, secure place for a young person is crucial to their development and is part of our government’s efforts to better support youth at risk in the province.”

The project received $157,654 from the federal and provincial governments to assist with repairs of the existing facility and the addition of two apartments and three extra rooms, as part of the Shelter Enhancement Program.

Centre Jeunesse Oasis Youth Center is a group home for at-risk youth aged 12 to 18 from the Madawaska and Victoria area, as well as elsewhere in the province. The center provides shelter, support and an educational program for up to six young men, or young women at any given time.

A new program consisting of two supervised apartment settings has been added to prepare older youth for independent living as they move through the program.

“Since 1992, Centre Jeunesse Oasis Youth Center has been providing a safe, secure home for young people. We are very pleased to have an opportunity to expand our facility and make necessary improvements,” said Hubert Morin, President of the centre’s Board of Directors. “This funding has enabled us to better prepare young people to develop the life skills and confidence to live independently.”

The Canada – New Brunswick Shelter Enhancement Program provides financial assistance to repair and or rehabilitate emergency shelters and second stage housing for victims of family violence to an acceptable standard of health, safety and security for occupants and accessibility for persons with disabilities. It also aims to increase the number of emergency shelters and second stage housing units available to women and children or youth who are at risk.

COBALT, ON, August 14, 2009 — The Government of Canada, the Province of Ontario and the Town of Cobalt today announced $1.5 million to fund a construction-ready project.

The funding was made available as a result of a $1.2 billion joint investment under the amended Canada – Ontario Affordable Housing Program Agreement, which includes funding through Canada’s Economic Action Plan and by the Government of Ontario. The federal and provincial governments are contributing equally to this overall investment.

Today’s announcement recognized the successful application by Co-Tem Pro Native Non-Profit Housing Inc to build 15 units of affordable housing for low-income families.

The Honourable Gordon O’Connor, Minister of State, Chief Government Whip and Member of Parliament for Carleton – Mississippi, on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC); and David Ramsay, Parliamentary Assistant to the Premier and Member of Provincial Parliament for Timiskaming – Cochrane on behalf of the Honourable Jim Watson, Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing; along with Norman Menard, Chair of the District of Timiskaming Social Services Administration Board, made the announcement today at the housing site.

“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Harper, our Government is working hard to support Canadians during these challenging economic times and we are moving aggressively to ensure Canada’s Economic Action Plan is implemented rapidly,” said Minister O’Connor. “With these investments in Ontario, we are stimulating our economy and making an important difference in the lives of some of our community’s most vulnerable citizens. Low-income families, seniors, and persons with disabilities will soon have better access to suitable, affordable housing.”

“New housing initiatives add significant support to the McGuinty government’s Poverty Reduction Strategy,” said MPP Ramsay. “This first wave of funding will lead to construction by September and we will continue to work with our municipal partners to ensure more units are built during the life of this program.”

“We have a considerable demand for Social Housing, especially in the south end of our District and this project will assist us in fulfilling some of this demand,” said Chair Menard. “Programs such as the Canada – Ontario Affordable Housing Program Agreement are essential for our district if we are going to have the means to increase our affordable housing units.”

Ontario is moving quickly to implement this new funding, which increases the number of quick start projects to 39 totalling more than $76.5 million and which will improve access to affordable housing for low-income families, seniors and persons with disabilities. It will also create jobs and strengthen local economies. To find out more about affordable housing in Ontario, visit www.mah.gov.on.ca.

Last fall, 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 in new and existing social housing and lending of up to another $2 billion to municipalities for housing-related infrastructure.

My problem is as follows: I am an immigrant who has been in Canada for 6-7yrs and have no RRSP room to speak of, and can only count on a small CPP. All my savings and investments are in a non-registered account.

My allocation if I include property is about 60/40 FI/Equities.

Inflation is certainly a hot topic for many investors since every pundit in the media has an opinion of where inflation will appear and to what degree of severity with hyperinflation being a term that’s been thrown around far too loosely as governments attempt to stimulate economies.

Any conservative investor, regardless of risk or investment style, needs to concern themselves with inflation in all market conditions because inflation affects the real value of your investments. If your investment portfolio returned 4% after costs last year and the inflation rate was 2% your real return for the portfolio was only 2%. What an investor wants to do is achieve returns in their portfolio that outpace inflation over the long-term and provide them with equal or greater purchasing power in the future.

Investing for inflation is really not much different than wanting a raise each year that matches your increases in the cost of living. Essentially your portfolio should be giving you a raise each year in your income to offset the increasing prices of goods and services you use.

To answer Vince’s answer directly it’s not whether he should invest in only short-term bonds, real return bonds or common shares but how much of each to hold over the long-term.

Short-term bonds provide decent inflation protection at the expense of a much lower yield than a longer yielding bonds because you’re not taking on the same interest rate risk. Real return bonds maintain your investment from inflation and you only need to buy a weighting large enough for your desired allocation. Common shares, specifically ones that pay dividends, offer an investor a few advantages in terms of protecting against inflation. Companies that own/operate inflation sensitive assets such as real estate, commodities and infrastructure tend to fare better in valuation terms than other companies. Some dividends stocks pay a dividend and increase that dividend on a yearly basis above the annual rate of inflation then have already achieved your desired goal if the dividend continues to be paid regardless of the effect on share prices. Because dividends, for Canadians, are eligible for the Dividend Tax Credit in a non-registered portfolio the taxation of dividends is less than that of gains from interest (bonds & GIC’s) or from capital gains.

http://www.nurseb911.com/2009/07/protecting-investments-from-inflation.html

reviewed by Moishe Alexander, CFC canadian funding corp CEO

Both the detached home and multi-family sectors recorded fewer housing starts during this period, in Penticton there were 26 single-detached homes built in the first half of 2009, versus 39 in 2008. On the multi-family resident side there were eight projects versus 65 in the previous year. Overall, that made for a decline of 67 per cent.

“Builders continue to face strong price competition from a well supplied existing home market,” explained CMHC Market Analyst Paul Fabri. “Rising inventories of new, completed and unoccupied homes have also contributed to fewer housing starts this year.”

While comparisons for the first half of the year are less than stellar, starts for the month of June alone aren’t dismal and Penticton maintained the status quo of five starts year over year.

All in all, the situation is much the same across the province.

“Slower employment growth translates to less demand for housing,” explained Fabri, noting that markets are cyclical.

“We have seen downturns in the past. In the Okanagan, there was one in the early ‘80s, one in the mid ‘90s, so I do anticipate that we will see some improvements.”

There’s already been a bit of improvement in the area of existing home stock, and that improvement will eventually play out in the new home construction market. Read More