Ontario’s more restrictive transparency law nixes request for health minister records

OTTAWA — Canada’s housing stock would be about 30 per cent larger and prices 10 per cent lower if this country’s building industry had been as responsive to demand as its American counterpart over the last couple of decades, says a new report from the federal housing agency. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) pointed the finger in the report released Thursday at excessive regulation largely at the municipal level and two other factors — geography and demographics — that are often difficult to influence. In the U.S., the report said, there are fewer restrictions on...