​A New Standard for Housing Delivery: Nova Scotia's Advantage

Hon. John White | Minister, Housing Department of Growth and Development Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is creating one of the most competitive housing development environments in Canada, with a clear focus on speed, certainty, and scale. Through streamlined approvals, reduced regulatory barriers, coordinated infrastructure planning, and the strategic release of land, the province is enabling projects to move from concept to construction faster.

In this session, the Nova Scotia Minister of Housing will outline how Nova Scotia is partnering with private developers and the community housing sector to accelerate delivery, reduce risk, and support a growing pipeline of housing. Attendees will gain insight into where opportunities exist, how government is reducing delays, and why developers across Canada are increasingly looking to Nova Scotia as a housing leader.

​​​

Build Canada Homes, A New Era for Housing Delivery

Ana Bailão | Build Canada Homes

One year after the establishment of Build Canada Homes, CEO Ana Bailão will reflect on the agency's progress, highlight key achievements, innovative partnerships and look ahead to how Build Canada Homes will continue to leverage public lands and use innovative financial tools to scale up the supply of affordable homes across the country.

​

TRREB Housing Market Update

Jason Mercer | Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB)

The GTA housing market has seen significant shifts in the first ¾ of the year – but what do the latest trends tell us about what comes next?

Join Jason Mercer for a comprehensive housing market update covering the key developments shaping the GTA housing market. Jason will examine what has happened thus far, the underlying drivers behind from the start of 2026 till now, and what the data can tell us about where the market is heading for the rest of the year into 2027.

​ ​

State of the Housing Market: What the Numbers Tell Us

Daniel Foch | Valery Real Estate Inc.

Housing statistics paint a picture of the market-but the real story lies beneath the surface. Join Daniel Foch session as he interprets the state of the housing market and what the numbers are really telling us, with a focus on the pre-construction investor market and what the latest data could mean for builders and developers. Daniel will break down the numbers, trends and market signals to provide insight to where the market is heading, how current conditions are shaping demand for new housing and what builders can expect.​

​​​​

The Housing Crisis is Making Us Sick - and We Can Measure It

Paul Smetanin | Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis (CANCEA)

Social value research across 7 million GTA residents puts a number on what many already feel: housing unaffordability is eroding well-being at a scale comparable to major chronic diseases, costing the region $26.2 billion a year. This session shares the findings and what they mean for how we understand the true cost of the crisis.

​

McBeth: A Winter's Tale in Housing -  A Tale of Tragedy, Drama, Comedy and a Happy Ending (Hopefully)

Marlon Bray | Clark Construction Management

Ontario’s residential housing market has endured its share of twists and turns, from a prolonged freeze to signs of a much-anticipated thaw. In this session, we’ll take a Shakespearean look at the forces that brought the market to a standstill, what is bringing it back to life, and whether the next act will deliver the recovery the industry has been waiting for.  

​

From Development to Operations: The Realities of Delivering Rental Housing Today

Tony Irwin | FRPO with Liza Bauer | Concert Properties, John Hickey | Daniels & Carolyn Blommestyn | CaraCo Property Management

Much of the housing conversation focuses on getting projects approved, financed and under construction. This panel would look at what comes next: what it takes to lease, manage, maintain and reinvest in rental housing over the long term.

Bringing together rental providers with different portfolios, markets and operating models, the discussion would explore how decisions made during development affect building operations, how providers are adapting to changing market conditions, and what supports are helping bring new rental supply forward.

​​

Housing and the Precarity Mindset

David Coletto | Abacus Data​

In spring 2025, one in four Canadians told Abacus Data tariffs were keeping them up at night. A year later, fewer than one in twenty said so. One worry barely moved: affordability, with the cost of a home at its centre. Shocks come and go. Housing stays.

Abacus Data founder and CEO David Coletto explains the Precarity Mindset: the difference between worrying you don't have enough (scarcity) and doubting the structures your life is built on will hold (precarity). Housing is where they collide. Renters and aspiring owners doubt the ladder exists. Recent buyers doubt the floor does: prices in Milton, Whitby and Oshawa sit 25 to 35 per cent below their 2022 peaks. Only about one in four Canadians are what Abacus calls Anchored. Everyone else is somewhere between watchful and excluded.

Drawing on Abacus's national tracking, David shows how that mindset will shape the vote as BC, Ontario and Manitoba hold municipal elections within two weeks this October, and how it shapes household decisions to buy, rent, move or wait. His argument: the winning response, for candidates and builders alike, is not a bigger promise. It is credible reassurance that the foundation will hold.

​

Is Canada's Long Housing Crisis Over?

Ian Lee | University of Carleton Sprott School of Business

What do the numbers really tell us about Canada’s housing market? Using empirical trend graphs from Stats Can, CMHC, and the Big 5 banks economic studies Ian Lee will provide a comparative analysis of the last five years.

The session will explore housing construction activity, supply and demand forecasts, interest rate projections and the latest trade negotiations as of September 2026, providing valuable insights into what these factors could mean for the future of Canada’s housing market.