SUMMER 2024
Dear Power to Move You Summer Readers,
Welcome to the sun-soaked, ice-cream-smeared, and thoroughly delightful summer issue of The Power to Move You! As the temperatures rise, so does our excitement to bring you this fun-packed edition, filled with tips, tricks, and a few surprises to keep your spirits high and your homes looking fabulous.
Summer is the perfect time to shake things up a bit, whether it’s rearranging your furniture, adding a splash of colour, or simply finding new ways to keep cool without turning your living room into a wind tunnel. Our feature article, “Unlocking the Potential: The Transformative Power of Staging a Detached Family Home,” is your ultimate guide when working with a stager or Realtors like us. We’ll show you how to make the most of the season’s natural light, pick out the happiest colours, and add those finishing touches that make a house feel like a summer haven.
Feeling the urge to pack up and escape? We’ve got just the thing. Check out our special piece on 1/8th ownership opportunities in Utah. It’s like owning a slice of a very large pie – and who doesn’t love pie? This could be your chance to have a luxurious getaway spot without the full-time commitment. It’s the perfect blend of adventure and practicality.
And speaking of luxury, don’t miss our showcase of a stunning executive condo right on Lake Ontario. This beauty features floor-to-ceiling windows, a sprawling terrace, and views that might just make you forget to exhale. Whether you’re in the market or just dreaming, this property is sure to inspire some serious summer envy.
Our experts are also here to give you the lowdown on the latest market trends, hot investment tips, and practical advice to navigate the real estate world. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just dipping your toes, we’ve got the insights to help you make the best decisions.
So grab a cold drink, find a sunny spot, and dive into our summer issue. We’re here to make sure your summer is filled with laughter, inspiration, and maybe a few new cushions to brighten your day.
Thank you for being part of The Power to Move You family. Here’s to a summer of fun, transformation, and plenty of sunshine!
Cheers,
Theresa Baird Broker
WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
EXPRERIENCE AND MARKET EXPERTISE
We’ve had the pleasure of working with Theresa Baird and Lindsay Meadwell for our real estate needs for over five years. During this time, they have assisted us with selling as well as leasing our properties a number of times. Our most recent lease transaction was particularly challenging due to the unique nature of our current property. With their signature style and professionalism, Theresa and Lindsay brought their broad base of experience and market expertise to meet the challenge. Within only one week of listing our property in a very specific market, not only was there strong response from interested tenants and agents alike, an ideal match was secured and the lease firmed up. While dealing with real estate can be a stressful experience for many, from marketing the property, through showings, to negotiating the final agreement, Theresa and Lindsay made the journey a very smooth one indeed. Whatever your real estate needs, we highly recommend Theresa and Lindsay!
- Michael & Randall
PROFESSIONAL AND EXCEPTIONAL
I had a very positive experience dealing with Theresa and Lindsay for the sale of my condo and appreciated their professionalism and enthusiasm. They provided a through and detailed explanation of the extensive paperwork involved. Their staging was exceptional and definitely contributed to the interest in my unit. As well, they kept me updated on their various promotional efforts and the feedback from the showings. Thank you!
- Janet
About our team
At the TB Realty Group, we take great pride in being a dedicated group of professional realtors who strive to deliver the best possible service to our clients. Our team is passionate about inspiring and sharing the lifestyle that comes along with buying or selling a property, regardless of price point. With decades of combined real estate experience, we have the knowledge and expertise to provide exceptional representation and expert negotiation, all while building the long-lasting relationships and trusted partnerships that set us apart.
As members of the Keller Williams Luxury Brand, we have access to a global network allowing us to reach buyers not only locally but also internationally through our affiliation with Who’s Who in Luxury Marketing. This gives our clients a distinct advantage in the competitive world of real estate.
Our team is there through every step of the real estate process, holding ourselves accountable to the highest standard of integrity and always placing our client’s interests above all else. We ensure that the experience of buying, selling, or investing in real estate is as easy as possible. By prioritizing our client’s needs we work hard to exceed expectations and are committed to going above and beyond to provide an unmatched level of customer service. We are developing relationships that last a lifetime and invite you to take this journey with us!
Introducing storied charm to this southern California cottage Star Power
In Hollywood, California, it takes a lot to “wow.” A bit of star power and pixie dust is all but required. So when designer Breeze Giannasio’s client enlisted her to add personality to his Los Angeles bungalow, she was ready with some good old-fashioned movie magic. “The bones [of the house] were great, but we just added layers and brought his own personality to the space,” she recalls. “It’s so funny because I’m a wallpaper queen when left to my own devices, but the wallpaper in the dining room was actually there already! It seemed quite feminine, but by bringing in
black and the handsome, more rugged industrial and rustic elements and subdued color palette, I think we found ways to have a feminine-masculine tension.”
Just as in any Old Hollywood film, that color palette Giannasio mentioned—with caramel browns, blacks, and warm woods—helped set the tone. “It’s a favorite palette of mine, with very warm neutrals that allow the metals to shine like jewelry.” And while it may not look like it, the home has an open plan. “It makes me think of an old New York brownstone done in a mini
Written by Katherine O’Shea-Evans. Photography by Megan Beierle-O’Brien
Source: https://article.homebydesign.com/pages/article/HBD_APR_24_07/275454/index.html#
set version,” she says. “If they had to do a Friends reboot, this would be a great house to do it in because you can breeze through each set, if you will. The way it’s photographed, it presents as if they’re all different rooms, but they’re actually connected.”
Creating a different sense of scene throughout was part of the design challenge for Giannasio. “Trying to infuse each of these discrete spaces with their own personality and sense of place was one of the objectives,” says Giannasio. One key to achieving that came in the form of a storied touch. “It was very important that we added things that had a patina and an age to them.”
Case in point: the vintage doors over the storage shelves in the marble-tiled primary bathroom, which she hung with barn-door hardware so they could slide back and forth with ease. “When you want to see the storage, you can, and when you want it to be closed, you can just have the nice backdrop of the doors.” But it’s the worn effect of their surface that really transforms the room. “I get the sense that they are hundreds of years old and have had many lives,” says Giannasio. “The worn gray paint used to be a pristine sort of French blue gray.”
Throughout, those antique touches supply an aura of history. “There’s artwork from his grandparents and some of his mother’s black-and-white photo -graphy. I think the industrial table is made from salvaged wood. The leather sling chairs in the open office area are also vintage, as well as the bentwood leather chairs in the living room area.”
Adding maximum impact to the palette is the inky black paint used on the trim and primary bedroom walls (the latter of which is Farrow & Ball’s Railings that makes it feel wonderfully cave-like...a sleepy Southern California retreat). “I very rarely use a pitch black,” the designer notes of the bedroom hue. “There’s always a bit of hue or pigment in it that brings a nice warmth. So, in the bedroom there [are] blue inky undertones that just envelop you and make it seem very rich. Anything that’s brown really pops, so if you tend to have vintage wood pieces with a nice luster, they will just shine at their most optimal against the backdrop.” Call it black to the future - or the past.
Spectacular Executive Condo with Stunning Lake Ontario Views - Offered as a fully furnished lease or available to purchase.
Welcome to this exquisite 3 bedroom, 4 bathroom executive condo, located on the 10th floor with direct views of Lake Ontario and the marina. This luxurious property has undergone a complete renovation with top-of-the-line finishes throughout. The dining room features a beverage centre and wine bar, perfect for entertaining.
Additional features include 2 parking spaces and close proximity to the island airport perfect if you are a traveller, but extra special as you can watch planes take off and land everyday.
The new kitchen has stainless steel appliances, including a Wolf cooktop, Miele oven and microwave, and a Fisher-Paykel French door refrigerator. Enjoy beautiful natural light through floor-to-ceiling windows with electronic blinds installed throughout. The expansive 1000 square foot terrace is ideal for family gatherings or summer parties, and an additional balcony off the dining room and third bedroom provides stunning views in any direction. Elegantly finished with rich medium colour wood floors, every area of this condo exudes elegance. The primary bedroom is a retreat on its own, featuring an ensuite bath, built-ins, and a walk-in closet. With a total of 2044 square feet of living space and an additional 1000 square feet outdoor terrace, this condo offers ample space for comfortable living. Don’t miss this opportunity to experience luxury living at its finest!
60 years on, Tim Horton’s is synonymous with Canada, but still chasing growth
When Tim Hortons rang in the new year, it marked the occasion with a nod to its humble roots, bringing back a quartet of doughnuts, including some from its earliest days
The short-lived reappearance of the Dutchie and blueberry fritter was meant to prime the country for the company’s 60th anniversary, but its return was also a reminder of how much the chain has changed since its hockey star namesake opened the first location in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1964.
Tims now counts thousands of locations — some as far as China and India — and has a menu in Canada that stretches far beyond coffee and doughnuts to include rice-based bowls, sparkling fruit drinks and most recently, flatbread pizzas.
Such expansion has made Tim Hortons so ubiquitous that many consider it part of the fabric of Canada, which leaves the chain facing a big question as it marks 60 years: where can it still find growth?
Ask the president of Tim Hortons’ Canadian and U.S. operations, and he mentions his mission to get more people to visit the chain beyond breakfast, where it’s cornered half the market. “To get to similar market share numbers that we have in the morning will take some time, but that’s totally OK,” said Axel Schwan in an interview.
The later-day customers he covets can be lucrative because they tend to spend more. However, they don’t typically dine at the same place day after day like morning customers do.
Written by Tara Deschamps of the Canadian Press
Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/tim-hortons-60th-anniversary-hamilton-1.7207374
The short-lived reappearance of the Dutchie and blueberry fritter was meant to prime the country for the company’s 60th anniversary, but its return was also a reminder of how much the chain has changed since its hockey star namesake opened the first location in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1964.
Tims now counts thousands of locations — some as far as China and India — and has a menu in Canada that stretches far beyond coffee and doughnuts to include rice-based bowls, sparkling fruit drinks and most recently, flatbread pizzas.
Such expansion has made Tim Hortons so ubiquitous that many consider it part of the fabric of Canada, which leaves the chain facing a big question as it marks 60 years: where can it still find growth?
Ask the president of Tim Hortons’ Canadian and U.S. operations, and he mentions his mission to get more people to visit the chain beyond breakfast, where it’s cornered half the market. “To get to similar market share numbers that we have in the morning will take some time, but that’s totally OK,” said Axel Schwan in an interview.
The later-day customers he covets can be lucrative because they tend to spend more. However, they don’t typically dine at the same place day after day like morning customers do.
“Outside of that morning brewed coffee routine, it can be fairly easy to lose customers,” said Sara Senatore, a senior research analyst covering restaurants at Bank of America. Some slip away because Canada’s fast-food market is brimming with options. It only stands to get more crowded as U.S. burger joint Shake Shack and sandwich chain Jimmy John’s join the rivalry this year.
“To some extent, everybody competes with everybody for share of stomach,” said Senatore.
Tims has usually managed to gobble up a sizable slice of the competition by leaning on the affordability of its dishes, but rivals have been increasingly mimicking that strategy, said Senatore.
“In a slowing consumer environment, (Tims) might be feeling some pressures, but I think those who mention that are probably failing to see the forest for the trees,”
said Danilo Gargiulo, a senior research analyst at Bernstein.
“The reality is the company is as strong as it has ever been.” He feels the company “has the potential to become the McDonald’s of Canada,” but that title hinges on it maintaining the right balance between coffers and coffee.
“You cannot swap out quality for profitability,” Gargiulo said. Schwan, who joined Tims’ parent company Restaurant Brands International under its Burger King banner in 2011 and took the helm of Tims’ North American business in 2019, knows this well.
In recent years, the company pursued a “back to basics” strategy that boosted the quality of the coffee Schwan glugs up to three times a day and added more Venetian cream to his favourite Boston cream doughnuts. Fresh eggs were launched and apple fritters were stuffed with more fruit. The changes have resonated well, but “you can always improve your quality,” said David Pullara, a York University marketing instructor who has worked for Starbucks and Pizza Hut.
Customers routinely complain about doughnut frosting sticking to the top of the paper sleeves they’re served in and lacklustre spreads of cream cheese on bagels abound on social media. A Conservative MP even went viral last week with a rant about the plastic-free, fibre lids Tims has been trialling that she claimed “dissolve in your mouth.”
Asked about these instances, Schwan said, “Everybody — rightly so — has his or her opinion and if people take the time to share that with us, then we are thankful for that and try to do better next time.”
Tim’s customers span 19 countries and 5,800 stores, selling everything from pancakes to paneer wraps, but no market is like home, where it has 4,000 restaurants. “It has done remarkably well in Canada,” said Senatore, “but it has done less well when it tried to expand to other markets.” She chalks some of that struggle up to the amount of brand awareness any chain has to build when it enters a new market, and the wealth of competitors, including homegrown restaurants that have been there far longer or that are competing on price.
In China alone, Gargiulo said the coffee market “has become much more competitive this year than last
year, even more than two years ago and so forth.” Boutique café Manner Coffee is expanding quickly and Luckin Coffee is selling drinks for as little as RMB9.9 ($1.87 CAD)
Gargiulo doesn’t expect Tims to be deterred. RBI has long found success with its other brands — Burger King, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and Firehouse Subs — abroad, and with Tims blanketing much of Canada already, other regions are logical places to grow.
Though he doesn’t oversee the foreign portions of Tims, Schwan said, “We believe that we have tremendous growth opportunity with teams internationally and in the U.S.”
However, if the company is looking for growth at home, it should tinker with technology and cold beverages, experts say. Tims has experimented with digital screens that advertise menu items to customers based on the time of day or weather and tested automated drive-thru windows, but Gargiulo said it could mirror a McDonald’s pilot that lets artificial intelligence take orders. It could also go further in growing the cold beverage category, where Pullara sees Tims having “a lot of licence to play.”
“They can expand and go into breakfast smoothies,” he said. “And why not do a protein shake?” Gargiulo, meanwhile, suggests courting younger customers and those looking for a treat.
“Not all the way to Starbucks customization because that’s going to be a disaster,” he said, referencing the rival chain with 170,000 drink combinations. “But (Tims) could make some more indulgence plays.”
Building on Tims’ fruit-flavoured quenchers and recent Oreo and Caramilk iced capps are “a big part of our multi-year growth road map,” Schwan said.
He hinted more could be coming on the cold beverage front soon but said the guiding force behind any menu addition is the customers.
“It’s always about listening to Canadians,” he said. “What would they love to see from us?”
Introducing Suite 307 at 80 Port Street in the heart of Port Credit, a vibrant lakeside community offering a blend of urban convenience and natural beauty. Living at 80 Port Street offers more than just a beautiful home; it’s a lifestyle. The building boasts a rooftop terrace with stunning views, perfect for enjoying a morning coffee or evening gatherings. The party/meeting room is ideal for hosting events, while the exercise studio caters to your fitness needs without having to leave the comfort of your building. Located just steps from the waterfront, parks, and an array of dining and shopping options, Suite 307 provides the perfect balance of tranquility and accessibility.
This exquisite 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom unit features a newer white kitchen with ample cupboard space, ideal for culinary enthusiasts and those who love to entertain. The rich dark wood floors add a touch of elegance and warmth, creating a cozy and inviting atmosphere throughout the home. The spacious laundry room and generously sized closets provide plenty of storage, making everyday living effortlessly convenient.
Imagine coming home to this serene retreat after a busy day, enjoying the lush surroundings of Port Credit, and taking advantage of all the amenities this exceptional building has to offer. With its prime location, thoughtful design, and welcoming community, Suite 307 at 80 Port Street is more than just a place to live—it’s a place to call home. Don’t miss the opportunity to make this delightful condo your own and experience the best of lakeside living.
How we got to 41 million
For decades, Canada has been a model of inclusive immigration. But over the last few years, the Liberals have admitted too many people, too fast. Why did no one see it coming?
When Canada’s population hit 40 million people last June, the federal government could not contain its excitement. “It’s a strong signal that Canada remains a dynamic and welcoming country, full of potential,” said Anil Arora, Canada’s chief statistician. Canada had grown more quickly than expected—by 1.1 million people over the previous 12 months, mostly due to a huge wave of international students and temporary foreign workers. And yet, despite the fanfare, this population boom wasn’t a good-news story. Because there were not enough homes for all those new people.
Immigration is at the heart of Canada’s success. It’s the gas that keeps our economic, cultural and social engines running. But in the last few years, the federal government has admitted too many people without a plan for where they would live. Back in 2013, Statistics Canada projected that Canada would have just 38.7 million people by 2023—a massive miscalculation. The consequences showed up everywhere. Tent encampments popped up all over the place, even in small towns. Rent soared, house prices flew out of reach. Half of all Canadians either did not have a doc-
Written by Stephen Maher
Source: https://macleans.ca/society/how-we-got-to-41-million/
tor or could not get an appointment. Foreign students were shocked to arrive in Canada to find that they had to rent a bed in a shared room. Some newcomers were forced to live in shelters and, when the shelters were full, to sleep in the streets. A year later, it is obvious that the government has slow-walked us into a catastrophe. It would be wrong to say that immigration caused it, since that implies immigrants are to blame. It was the Liberals who kept bringing people in. They didn’t see the crisis coming.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, with his unerring instinct for finding political weak spots, swiftly capitalized on the Liberals’ folly, arguing that the sitting government had broken the Canadian dream. He also promised that a Conservative government would put financial pressure on municipalities to remove barriers to development, an approach the Liberals rejected out of hand. The government was slow to take ownership of the issue. Last July, Justin Trudeau was in Hamilton—a city that was recently forced to legalize tent encampments—to announce federal funding for an affordable housing project. “I’ll be blunt as well. Housing isn’t a primary federal responsibility,” he said. “It’s not something that we have direct carriage of.”
His deflection didn’t work. More recently, the Liberals have accepted that they were partly responsible for the housing crisis, throwing huge amounts of energy and money at the problem. In April of 2024, at a housing announcement in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Trudeau acknowledged the crisis—and accepted that his government’s immigration policies were partly to blame. “Over the past few years we’ve seen a massive spike in temporary immigration,” he said, “whether it’s temporary foreign workers, or whether it’s international students in particular that have grown at a rate that’s far beyond what Canada has been able to absorb.”
By then, as Poilievre had suggested, the Liberals were pressuring municipalities and provinces to approve more housing as a condition of federal funding. Finally, the government was tackling the problem from both ends, taking steps to expand supply and reduce demand. But it was too little, too late. It will take years to fix the crisis they’ve created. That’s terrible news for the Liberals, who are facing a wipeout in the next election. There will be fewer homes built this year than last. Young people, who cannot hope to buy real estate like their parents did, have largely abandoned the Liberals. Only 25 per cent of 18-to-35-year-olds would now vote Liberal, according to an analysis from Abacus Data CEO David Coletto. This group of voters, who were vital to Trudeau’s three election victories, are dispirited by their inability to afford housing, gloomy about their prospects and listening to Poilievre’s promises.
What’s worrying is the waning support for immigration: two years ago, 14 per cent of Canadians stated there were too many immigrants coming to the country, according to pollster Frank Graves of EKOS Research Associates Inc. Now it’s 57 per cent. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” he says. For decades, while the United States and Europe were trapped in emotional, divisive debates about migrants, most Canadians saw immigration working, setting us apart as a more inclusive society. This gave us a distinct economic advantage, making Canada a welcoming place for refugees and giving us a fighting chance at coping with the crushing demographic crunch coming when the boomers all retire.
In two years, that consensus has fallen apart. How come nobody saw this coming? In 1965, during a three-
week stint in Sudbury, folk singer Stompin’ Tom Connors wrote an ode to the hard-drinking, nickel-smelting, bingo-playing people who populated the mining town. “Sudbury Saturday Night,” his biggest hit, is remembered for its singalong chorus—“the girls are out to bingo, and the boys are gettin’ stinko”—but the second verse tells a story about immigration. Connors sings about the jumble of nationalities drinking together: Irish Jim O’Connell, German Trixie and Hunky Frederic Herzal. It’s no longer politically correct—“hunky” is an outdated slur for Ukrainians—but it celebrates immigration, reflecting, in its rough way, the growing pleasure in diversity that was emerging from Canada’s grassroots in the 1960s.
At the beginning of the 20th century, everything was different. In English Canada, the Orange Order wanted only Protestant Anglos and, in French Canada, the Catholic Church was leading a desperate demographic struggle against the swelling numbers of English speakers. Each saw the other as a threat, but neither group wanted immigrants who would change the ethnic character of the country. They wanted more people like them. As Rudyard Kipling told a Toronto audience in 1907, “You want immigration, and the best way to keep the yellow man out is to get the white man in. If you keep out the white then you will have the yellow man, for you must have labour.” And so, for 100 years after Confederation, the federal government encouraged a nakedly racist immigration system, seeking Europeans to till the farmland in the Prairies and the West.
When Canada could not recruit enough Britons, it settled for white Germans, Poles, Ukrainians and Italians. Under pressure from the Conservatives, who campaigned on a “White Canada” platform, Wilfrid Laurier put a $100 head tax on Chinese immigrants and signed a cabinet order to prohibit Black people from entering the country. The 1910 Immigration Act allowed officials to exclude any immigrants “belonging to any race deemed unsuited to the climate or requirements of Canada.”
The policy worked. Between 1897 and 1914, more than three million immigrants—mostly white—came to Canada, almost doubling the population of the young country and ushering in a period of rapid growth and industrial expansion. Another big wave began after the Second World War, once again fuelled by a policy
encouraging white immigration, although the racism was less overt. Liberal Prime Minister Mackenzie King allowed public servants to select immigrants based on the “absorptive capacity” of the country, which allowed his party to quietly favour white immigrants while excluding Jews and Communists. Canada took in tens of thousands of European refugees and even sent civil servants to Europe to help process them, motivated by both humanitarianism and a desire for labour to fuel the rapidly expanding economy.
It wasn’t until 1962 that Canada’s first female cabinet minister, Ellen Fairclough of John Diefenbaker’s Progressive Conservative government, ended the White Canada policy. It no longer reflected the values of the increasingly diverse country. Canada moved toward colour-blind criteria: a points system that admitted immigrants on the basis of their education and skills. Pierre Trudeau’s Liberals put the last piece in place when they adopted a policy of multiculturalism in response to pressure from cultural groups who felt left out by official bilingualism. This pro-diversity position opened the door to newcomers from the West Indies and Asia. By 2000, most immigrants were coming from China, India and Pakistan. The ethnic composition of Canada was transformed.
The waves of diverse immigrants during the postwar boom years put Canadians increasingly at ease with newcomers, fostering a more open society, more welcoming than others around the world. Immigrants brought new flavours and sounds, education and energy, boosting the economy and making Canada more worldly. We were helped by an accident of geography. Unlike the United States, with its long border with Mexico, or Western European countries, which are nearer to Africa and Asia, Canada has never had a large number of undocumented workers or backlash against them. Because so many immigrants arrived with higher education, they could contribute at hospitals and universities, rather than competing for work at the bottom of the pay scale. It wasn’t perfect— many immigrants still faced barriers to success—but no other country did a better job at attracting highly educated immigrants. Around the world, countries saw Canada’s system as a model. Even Donald Trump spoke of it approvingly.
This gave Canadians companies a competitive advantage, since they could bring in people more easily than in other countries. Our refugee settlement programs were celebrated as the best in the world. And Canadians supported it all. Polling shows that from the 1970s until last year, support for immigration gradually increased. It dipped in lean years—when work is hard to find, people want fewer immigrants—but over time, the trend was upward, and there was no large-scale political reaction against newcomers.
Even Conservatives, who represent less-diverse rural areas, came around. The Reform Party flirted with anti-immigration policies, but new Canadians had no reason to back a movement that was sending them mixed messages, and there were by then too many new Canadians to ignore. And so the party moved toward the mainstream on immigration and, by the time the Canadian Alliance merged with the Progressive Conservatives to form the new Conservative Party of Canada, it was no longer complaining about changes to the ethnic composition of the country. Party strategists could see that the suburbs—where they needed to win seats—were full of voters of diverse backgrounds, and they set out to win over newcomers. Stephen Harper’s government continued with pro-immigration policy, expanding the number of temporary foreign workers. In his last days as prime minister, in the 2015 election, Harper tried out an-
ti-Islam messages, but they didn’t land—his misguided tirade against “barbaric cultural practices” helped Trudeau get elected. Kellie Leitch campaigned on anti-immigrant sentiment in the 2017 Conservative race to replace Harper, but finished sixth. Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party is explicitly anti-immigration, but he has never elected a member of Parliament.
Canada is too diverse for an anti-immigrant election strategy. At the time of the 2021 census, 23 per cent of Canadians were foreign-born, one of the highest rates in the world. Almost half of Torontonians come from elsewhere. If you were born in 1960 in Sudbury, or most other places in Canada, you would have grown up with kids whose parents came from other countries. A 2018 Ipsos Public Affairs survey of 20,767 people in 27 countries found Canada was the most inclusive. Unlike in the United States, Britain or France, where anti-immigrant politicians amplify the views of those who feel like strangers in their own country, in Canada those people are sidelined and silenced. Until recently, when support for immigration suddenly plummeted, threatening the consensus that has allowed Canada to keep welcoming newcomers.
In 2016, the Trudeau government appointed Dominic Barton—then the global managing director of elite consulting firm McKinsey & Co.—to chair the new government’s Advisory Council on Economic Growth. The following year, the blue-ribbon panel came out with a report that called for Canada to gradually increase the number of permanent immigrants every year, peaking at 450,000 after five years. Although the government did not officially adopt the policy, it was quietly acting on it, tabling a plan for 500,000 immigrants a year by 2025. Outside government, Barton had established a business lobby group—the Century Initiative—to push for Canada to reach a population of 100 million by 2100. (The group’s CEO recently softened their stance, claiming that this wasn’t meant to be a literal target, but intended to spark conversation about population growth in Canada.)
As Barton and big employers were making the argument in the boardrooms and corridors of power, Globe and Mail columnist Doug Saunders was pleading his case in the public square. In 2019, he published Maximum Canada: Toward a Country of 100 Million, which argued persuasively for more rapid growth, so that Canada would be bigger and more powerful,
gaining cultural, economic and geopolitical benefits from greater scale. This was the intellectual philosophy that underpinned the surge in immigration. The concept took off in 2021 and 2022. Coming out of the pandemic, Canada was desperate for labour. Tim Hortons franchises were reporting a staffing crisis as demand exploded. More than half of small businesses surveyed told the Canadian Federation of Independent Business that they were struggling to hire. The shortage was putting the economic recovery at risk.
The Liberals weren’t giving businesses what they wanted in fiscal or tax policy, so they stopped saying no to them on immigration. That went doubly so for universities and colleges—which happened to be important sources of Liberal votes. Many of them had responded to provincial funding cuts by ramping up programs for international students, who could be charged higher tuition, some for programs of dubious value.
The Liberals were making it a lot easier to get into Canada. In April of 2022, they removed the cap on low-wage workers in seasonal industries, like fish processing and fruit picking, and extended visas for international students. That December, they gave work permits to family members of temporary foreign workers and increased the number of hours international students could work. Throughout, they were adding staff to process applications more quickly, introducing streamlined processes for highly skilled workers, opening the doors as wide as they could. They were also developing new pathways to permanent residency for students and temporary workers, which made those programs more desirable because students and workers could hope to eventually get a Canadian passport. In the same period, they also brought in more than 200,000 Ukrainian refugees, and an unknown number of migrants came in without papers, crossing at Roxham Road in the Quebec townships and at other unofficial border crossings.
Then there were the incoming international students—more than 600,000 in 2021 and more than 800,000 in 2022, up from 142,200 in 2010. Some dodgy career colleges were acting as de facto visa clearing houses. The Liberals kept handing out visas, allowing students to be milked for high tuition and cheap labour. The students, who had reason to
hope they could one day get permanent residency, kept streaming in.
These policies all came to a head in the third quarter of 2022, when the population grew by 362,453, the fastest rate of growth since 1957, when Hungarian refugees arrived in the midst of the postwar baby boom. Employers, provincial leaders, bank economists and cultural communities were all on side. Inside the federal bureaucracy, however, there were warnings. In a briefing in 2022, officials warned, “Population growth has exceeded the growth in available housing units.” But nobody was listening. “Obviously, no one was thinking any of those thoughts,” a senior Liberal told me. “I can’t remember any conversations about, ‘Hey, all these temporary foreign workers, all these students, where are we going to put them? How are we going to treat them? How are they going to find a dentist?’ ”
As the Liberals threw the doors open, they were being cheered on by employers, post-secondary institutions and even the provinces. “You can imagine it’s hard inside government, facing these stakeholder groups, to resist pressure to accommodate,” says Tyler Meredith, who was an economic adviser to Trudeau until 2022. The Liberals were saying yes to everyone, opening new pathways, and they were doing so without imposing caps.
Those who still support high levels of immigration say that it’s part of the solution to the housing crisis, because of labour shortages in the trades. But Mikal Skuterud, an economist at the University of Waterloo, argues persuasively that this is an illusion because newcomers don’t just provide labour, they also consume all kinds of things: food, health care, housing. “You’re generating a lot of extra demand.” Skuterud and other economists think that chasing economic growth through low-skill immigration is foolish because it increases economic activity but reduces GDP per capita and discourages business investment. “If you have access to cheap labour, you have no motivation to increase productivity,” says Benjamin Tal, deputy chief economist of CIBC World Markets Inc. “And I think that’s part of the reason why productivity in Canada is not advancing.”
Under economic and political pressure, our leaders made short-term decisions, straying from the
long-standing Canadian policy of only letting in immigrants who are likely to add to the country’s productivity in the long term and leaning instead on unskilled temporary workers. They seem to have been guided by the view, as advocated by Barton and Saunders, that a bigger Canada would be a better Canada. But they didn’t do the planning that was necessary. In his book, Saunders acknowledged that his idea would only work if Canada was prepared to make the necessary investments in housing, transit and integration, to prevent new Canadians from ending up unhoused, unemployed and unsupported. “The risk of any immigration increase’s tipping the balance of Canadian public opinion from tolerance into distrust might make it not worth considering,” he wrote.
Now that this has happened, policy-makers and planners will have to acknowledge their failures and listen to voters, who are preoccupied with housing prices, health-care shortages and cost-of-living issues. In the short term, they’ll need to decide how many immigrants to admit based only on those criteria.
On the global stage, Canada punches below its weight. In both military and foreign aid, we spend less than similar countries, which means we do less to solve problems around the planet. The one thing we bring to the table is the ability to offer sanctuary to people from afar. Beginning with displaced people from Europe after the Second World War, continuing with Hungarians and other Eastern Europeans fleeing Soviet crackdowns in the 1950s and ’60s, then the Vietnamese boat people in the 1970s and, most recently, refugees from wars in Iraq, Syria and Ukraine, we have an important tradition of taking in displaced people, welcoming them and helping them make new homes.
We can only do that when Canadians believe the system works, that there is room enough for everyone. That is no longer true. If we value that tradition—one of the best things about our country—we need to make sure we have enough to offer new Canadians before bringing them here.
SOLD 203 - 80 PORT STREET EAST PORT CREDIT
Exciting News from Port Credit! We are thrilled to announce that Suite 203 at 80 Port Street has been sold to a wonderful new owner. This exquisite condo, with its prime location and luxurious amenities, has found its perfect match. The new resident will undoubtedly enjoy the stunning features of the building, including the party meeting room, rooftop terrace, and exercise room, alongside the charming and vibrant community of Port Credit. It’s a pleasure to witness this beautiful home being passed on to someone who will truly appreciate all it has to offer.
Port Credit is known for its picturesque waterfront, delightful shops, and vibrant lifestyle. We are confident that the new owner will fall in love with the unique character and charm of the area. From leisurely strolls along the lake to enjoying the diverse dining options, Port Credit has something for everyone. Congratulations to our seller on the very successful sale of his condo. We look forward to working with you again in the future! Congratulations to the new homeowners as well on this exciting journey! Welcome to your new home in the wonderful community of Port Credit.
Agua Fresca Drink
Preparation time: 15 minutes| | Serves 8 to 10 (7 cups)
Agua fresca means “fresh water” and is the catchall term for a variety of beverages made by combining fruits, grains, seeds, or flowers with sugar and water. To make a watermelon version, we blend chunks of melon with water in a blender and strain out the pulp before accenting the mixture with lime juice, agave nectar, and a pinch of salt to bring out the sweet and tart flavours.
INGREDIENTS
8 cups seedless watermelon, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 cups water
2 tablespoons 1/4 cup lime juice ( 2 limes), plus extra for seasoning 1/8 teaspoon salt
Fresh mint leaves (optional)
DIRECTIONS
Working in 2 batches, process watermelon and water in blender until smooth, about 30 seconds. Strain mixture through fine-mesh into 2 quart pitcher, discard solids. Stir in lime juice, agave, and salt. Season with extra lime juice and extra agave to taste. Serve over ice, garnish with mint, if using. (Agua Fresca can be refrigerated for up to 5 days, stir to recombine before serving.)
By Lan Lam
Source: America’s Test Kitchen Recipe
Congratulations to our landlord and tenant clients on successfully leasing 54 James Street North in Hamilton for the soon-tobe Flavors of Kolkata restaurant, offering delicious, traditional Bengali cuisine. This new culinary venture promises to bring vibrant flavours and a unique dining experience to the downtown core. The City of Hamilton eagerly anticipates the opening, looking forward to how Flavors of Kolkata will enrich the area with its cultural and gastronomic offerings. We are excited to witness the positive impact this establishment will have on the community, bringing new life and excitement to the heart of Hamilton.
Unlocking the potential
The transformative power of staging a detached family home
Walking into a family home that’s lived in can be both comforting and overwhelming for potential buyers. On one hand, the presence of toys, personal items, and a lived-in feel can create a sense of warmth. On the other, it can be challenging for buyers to see beyond the clutter and imagine how they might make the space their own. This is particularly true for larger, detached family homes with numerous rooms and expansive outdoor spaces that often feel underutilized or chaotic. Enter the power of professional staging, an art form that can turn a lived-in home into a dream home, capturing the imagination and hearts of prospective buyers.
Introducing a spacious six-bedroom detached home nestled in charming Dundas, Ontario.
Welcome to the unveiling of this fabulous family home with incredible curb appeal. We showcase here how you can truly transform a comfortable detached home into an inviting space that buyers with children will seek to own.
For many buyers, it’s hard to see beyond the everyday clutter and personalized spaces of a home that’s currently lived in. When a home has rooms filled with clutter and a sense of disorganization, buyers struggle to picture their own family living there, sharing meals, or enjoying the serene backyard. An underutilized room might leave them questioning its purpose, while a crowded living room might seem uninviting. This home was unique with multiple levels and a wonderful inground backyard pool. Our goal was to accent the fun you could have in both the inside and outside of the home.
BELOW
The pool area, visible from so many vantage points within the home, became the pièce de résistance. We transformed the poolside into an outdoor oasis. We established comfortable lounging areas to suggested endless summer days of relaxation and entertainment.
ABOVE AND LEFT
The family room lacked personalitydue size of the room. By bringing in
both functional and inviting.
personality due to the absence of colourful items and decorative accessories. The original coffee table was too small for the a larger coffee table, accessories and decorative pillows, we were able to achieve our goal of creating a space that was
ABOVE AND RIGHT
The living room used to be a play area for the kids, often overflowing with toys. We transformed it into a sophisticated adult space, designating one of the rooms on the lower level as a dedicated playroom for the children. Now, the kids have a space to play and enjoy without the constant need to clean up. We brought in white leather chairs and a glass coffee table, artwork and accessories, creating an inviting atmosphere for adults to enjoy when entertaining family and friends.
Comfortable family gathering space
ABOVE AND LEFT
The original eat-in kitchen had a makeshift breakfast bar that was fun for the kids, but not a great family space. This restricted the family to using the dining room for all meal times.
ABOVE
By added a simple white table and four chairs, we created a cozy breakfast and lunch gathering space for the family. This setup offered a great view of the yard and pool, making meals more enjoyable. We cleared the countertops and introduced modern yet cozy touches, such as fresh flowers, a bowl of colourful fruit, and open cookbooks, hinting at the culinary adventures awaiting in this inviting space.
PRIMARY BEDROOM - ABOVE AND ABOVE RIGHT
The primary bedroom lacked sufficient lighting, making it challenging to lounge in bed and read comfortably. The bedding was uninspiring and needed a refresh. To elevate the space, we introduced new bedding, coordinated decorative pillows, and stylish new lamps.
RIGHT
To create a cozy spot for relaxation, we placed a comfortable chair beside the fireplace and added artwork, transforming the space into a tranquil haven for unwinding after a long day.
TOP AND RIGHT
With its generous size and picturesque view overlooking the backyard pool area, this space had great potential. However, to truly bring it to life and infuse it with personality, we introduced additional elements such as nightstands with lamps, captivating artwork, cozy throws, a functional desk, and sumptuous bedding. These additions turned the room into a welcoming retreat where one can unwind and relax in style.
ABOVE AND LEFT
Nestled on the second floorof bedding can detract from the away clutter, a common feature bedtime a breeze. Our aim BEFORE
floor of the house, this room offered ample space for the two siblings to make their own. When selling a home, mismatched the appeal of the space. In this room, we ensured the bedding complemented each other, adding to its allure. We cleared feature in kids’ rooms, and incorporated playful touches to their beds. A lamp and some art completed the space, making aim was to infuse this room with vibrant personality while maximizing its market appeal.
ALL IMAGES
To enhance the ambiance of bathrooms, consider the addition elements and crisp white towels. Elevate the aesthetic mirrors to impart a sense of refinement to the walls. By items, you can cultivate a spa-like atmosphere reminiscent the transformation with fresh white towels, tasteful art and stylish accessories to impart a sense of elegance and BEFORE
addition of carefully curated decorative aesthetic by incorporating art pieces or sleek decluttering countertops of personal reminiscent of upscale hotels. We completed art pieces, luxurious soap dispensers, and sophistication to the space.
BEFORE
As we conclude our journey through this third property, we are thrilled with the transformation we have achieved. The once chaotic and cluttered house has been magically reborn into a warm, inviting home that resonates deeply with potential buyers. They can envision themselves cooking in the kitchen, entertaining in the living room, and creating cherished memories by the pool. Each room now exudes purpose, tells its own story, and radiates a sense of belonging.
Our staging efforts have turned what was once an underutilized and cluttered space into a family’s dream home. Emphasizing comfort and seamless indoor-outdoor living, we have showcased not only the home’s potential but also its promise of a fulfilling and joyful life.
Ultimately, staging transcends mere aesthetics; it is about forging an emotional connection. It is about showing buyers not just the current state of a home, but its boundless possibilities. For this detached family home, staging meant transforming it from a lived-in, cluttered space into a vibrant and inviting sanctuary where a family could delight in every corner, both indoors and out.
GTA Realtors® Release June Stats
July 4, 2024 in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) were lower compared to the same month last year, accoring to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB). Despite the Bank of Canada rate cut at the beginning of last month, many buyers kept their home purchase decision on hold. The market remained well-supplied, resulting in a slight dip in the average selling price comaped to June 2023,
“The Bank of Canada’s rate cut last month provided some initial relief for homeowners and home buyers. However, the June sales result suggest that most home buyers will require multiple rate cuts before they move off the sidelines. This follows Ipsos polling for TRREB, which suggests that cumulative rate cuts of 100 basis points are required to boost home sales by any significant amount,” said TRREB Presidend Jennifer Pearce.
GTA Realtors® reported 6,213 home sales through TRREB’s MLS® System in June 2024 - a 16.4 per cent decline compared to 7,429 sales reported in June 2023. New listing enyered in to the MLS®System amounted to 17,964up ny 12/3 per cent year-over-year.
The MLS®Home Price Index Composite benchmark was down by 4.6 per cent on a year-over-year basis in June2024. The average selling price of $1,162,167 was down by 1.6 per cent over the June 2023 result of $1,181,003. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, bothe the MLS®HPI Composite and the average selling price wer up compared to May 2024.
“The GTA housing market is currently well-supplied. Recent home buyers have benefited from substantial choice and therefore negotiating power on price. Moving forward, as sales pick up alongside lower borrowing costs, elevated inventory levels will help mitigate against a quick run-up in selling prices,” said TRREB Chief Market Analyst Jason Mercer.
“Despite a temporary dip in home sales due to high interest rates, we know that strong population growth is driving long-term demand for ownership and rental housing. Ontario has set the goal of 1.5 million more homes on the ground by 2031. This is only possible if all levels of government ensure actionable solutions with sustained effort, including continuing to remove red tape, avoiding financial barriers to home construction, and minimizing housing taxes and development charges,” said TRREB CEO John DiMichele.
Source: https://www.tbrealtygroup.ca/blog/2024/07/06/June-2024-Market-Update
Picture yourself unwinding on your beautiful huge newly remodeled pool and shell stone pavers plus complete with an outdoor kitchen, heated pool and spa, all while soaking in expansive golf course and lake views from this stunning Frey and Sons estate. From the circular driveway and entrance to the newly remodeled 4 bedroom plus den, 4.5 bathroom home exudes luxury. High-end finishes and details such as volume and tray ceilings with crown moulding, rich hardwood floors, and exquisite tile add to its charm. The spacious family room seamlessly transitions to the screened lanai and pool area through a wall of fully pocketing glass sliders, merging indoor and outdoor living. The chef’s kitchen, with its natural gas cooktop, top-tier stainless steel appliances, center island, and granite countertops, is a culinary dream. Relax in the expansive master suite with a sitting area and direct lanai access.
This home is as practical as it is beautiful. Shadow Wood offers three championship golf courses, tennis, pickle ball, private beach club access, health and lifestyle fitness center, wellness spa and private dining in the lakeside restaurant. This meticulously maintained home is move-in ready and waiting for you! CLICK
Golden State Planting a sun-loving, low-water garden
When kissed by the sun, buds unfurl to reveal vibrant blooms and verdant grasses stretch to greet the day. While sunshine is a key ingredient for a thriving garden, it can still be too much, too hot, too fast for delicate greenery. So if your outdoor space sees an abundance of direct sunlight, you’ll want to select the hardiest, sun-loving plants for success all season long. Here, we share some tips for creating a sun-sational home garden.
Before designing a landscape, determine how much sun your garden plot truly gets each day. This will affect whether you choose full sun, partial sun, or partial shade plants. Per Penn State Extension, full sun is considered six or more hours of direct sunlight per day, although it doesn’t have to be continuous. All that sunshine can stress even droughttolerant plants, so remember that water will play an important role in hot conditions. Whether you make morning waterings part of your summer routine or set up a drip system, ensure your chosen plants are well-watered per their specific needs.
For the sunny, flowering garden, there is plenty to choose from: black-eyed Susan, yarrow, Shasta daisy, poppy, bachelor’s button, calendula, celosia, cosmos, dahlia, snapdragon, zinnia, marigold, geranium, salvia, Russian sage, and lavender, among others.
Break up delicate flowers with filler grasses or more structured cacti and succulents. Golden barrel and prickly pear cactus provide coverage and interest; agave, pink ice plant, elephant bush, and sticks on fire are hardy succulents that aren’t prone to sunburn. Sedum can make a great
Written by Maresa Giovannini. Photography by Dora Dalton - iStock/Getty Images
Source: https://article.homebydesign.com/pages/article/HBD_JUN_24_03/275454/index.html#
ground cover or filler plant and it is available in a variety of colours. It needs true, full sun to maintain that colour, though; without it, rich-hued sedums (like ‘Bronze Carpet,’) may very well fade to a traditional green.
Overwhelmed by all the options? Bring on a landscape designer or purchase a design from companies such as American Meadows. Their Sun Loving Pre-Planned Garden includes care instructions, a planting map and, and nineteen plants shipped in pots or bare roots.
One family of flowers that can infuse your garden with sunshine all day long: sunflowers. True to the name, they thrive in full sun and are heat tolerant (vibrant colour easily attract pollinators, too). For healthy flowers, plant in nutrient rich, well-draining soil and in a location protected from the wind. And there are myriad colours, shapes, and sizes to choose from: “There are fifty-two species of sunflowers, all native to North America,” per the US Forest Service. When the growing season concludes, harvest the seeds to expand your garden next year or share with your neighbours for another cheerful, sun-drenched summer.
FOR
SALE | 1/8th ownership
BOARDWALK
SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA, USA
Fresh and modern, this home and ADU are just 3 houses from West Cliff Drive and the water. A minimalist vibe is embodied by polished concrete floors, metal-framed windows and open living spaces.
The bright great room has a sliding window wall for indoor-outdoor living, a spacious dining area, and a chef’s kitchen featuring an oversized island for casual dining.
Upstairs is a private primary bedroom that opens to a roof terrace with a fireplace, TV and ocean views. The modern en suite bathroom is perfect for a relaxing soak. In the gated backyard, the 1 bedroom guest house has its own kitchen, living and dining space, laundry and bathroom. The home comes fully furnished and professionally decorated.
Upcoming Events - July
Outdoor
Brampton Street Rods
Outdoor
Brampton Street Rods
Jackalope Mississauga
The Enchanted Garden
Outdoor
Brampton Street Rods
Garden to Plate: Historic Cooking Workshop Vaughan Celebrates in the Park Movies in the Park Homeward Bound
Toronto Blue Jays vs Detroit Tigers
Ice Cream Shop
Toronto Blue Jays vs Texas Rangers Vaughan Celebrates Concerts in the Park
Outdoor
Brampton Street Rods
Outdoor
Rods
Upcoming Events - August
Toronto Blue Jays
Theresa Sells Pacaso
What is fractional ownership in real estate Understanding fractional ownership
Fractional ownership in real estate is when individuals own a percentage of a property and share usage rights. Fractional ownership splits the cost of an expensive purchase among several people.
Fractional ownership is commonly used for buying vacation homes or luxury items like boats or planes, but is also used for other types of assets such as art, stock and fashion items. Owners are issued a deed representing their fraction of the property.
Fractional owners also take on the benefits and losses that come with ownership: If a vacation home grows in value over 10 years, individual shares appreciate, too. Co-owners share usage rights, income and access to their shared property proportionate to the percentage of the asset they own. Unlike a timeshare, fractional ownership means you own part of the second home itself, not just the time you can use it.
There are a few common fractional ownership structures that we’ll dive into later. One is called tenancy in common and another is via an entity, like an LLC.
Example: Sophie lives in Detroit, Michigan, and wants to buy a second home so she can winter on the West
Coast. Her budget is $110,000, so she’s able to become a 1/4 fractional owner of a beach house valued at $440,000. The home has two other owners: James, who owns 1/4 and the Jones family who own 1/2 of the property shares. A local management company facilitates their renovations and property maintenance.
Takeaways
Fractional ownership is:
• A more accessible way to buy and own than purchasing alone
• When the cost of an asset is divided into percentage shares
• Property that’s owned and shared by multiple unrelated parties
What are the pros and cons of fractional ownership?
The pros include each owner has express ownership of part of the property. Your capital goes further as a part of a collective buying power. You have
Written by Kayla Moss. Images from Pacaso
greater control over when and how you stay than a timeshare and there are typically fewer owners to share with than a timeshare. You can sell your shares in the property whenever you want and your shares can appreciate over time. The cons are that you aren’t the sole owner of the property. You pay management fees, if you choose an external manager. Your shares can depreciate over time and it can be difficult to sell shares versus a whole property.
What is tenancy in common?
With tenancy in common (TIC), each tenant holds an individual deed for a fraction or percentage of a commercial or residential property. There is one key difference between tenancy in common and fractional ownership: No one person or company is in charge. To be a TIC, individuals must own different percentages of the property while sharing the whole and managing it themselves.
What is fractional ownership through an entity?
Some properties split ownership via a structural
entity like an LLC (limited liability company) or LLP (limited liability partnership). Since a separate legal entity defines the ownership, it’s no longer a tenancy in common. It’s not necessary to have an LLC to make a fractional owner ship purchase.
Can fractional ownership apply to any purchase?
Many major purchases can be purchased via fractional ownership: luxury cars, yachts and boats, aircraft, recreational vehicles and, of course, real estate.
Theresa sells fractional properties
Don’t let your dream of owning a vacation home remain just that. Take the first step towards a life of luxury and contact Theresa at 647-2980997. With her guidance and Pacaso’s innovative co-ownership model, you can start living your best life now. For more information or to see some of the properities available for sale, visit www.theTBrealtygroup.com/fractional_ownership
FOR SALE | 1/8th ownership
PARK AVENUE UTAH, USA
Built for year-round fun, Park Avenue is a new construction contemporary in popular Old Town. Just a 5 minute walk from the base of Park City Mountain Resort, the spacious home has a covered deck, a rooftop terrace with hot tub, a theater room and plenty of parking. The inviting great room is bright and comfortable, with a marble-clad fireplace and glass doors to both a balcony and large covered deck. The sleek kitchen features high-end appliances (including a double oven), a large island and a pantry. The adjoining dining area easily accommodates 10. The upper level primary suite is a sanctuary, with its own balcony, a stunning black fireplace and a luxurious en suite bathroom offering two vanities and a tiled wet room with multiple shower heads and a soaking tub. The lower levels have four guest rooms with en suite bathrooms and an office, with an elevator connecting the floors. The rooftop terrace and hot tub feature amazing ski-run views. The home, which has a 2 car garage and driveway parking, is close to the shops and restaurants of charming Main Street. Park Avenue comes fully furnished and professionally decorated.
OUR AGENTS FAVOURITES
Theresa recommends Becoming More
By Dianna Kokoska
Having been a part of Dianna’s first-ever book club for “Becoming More,” I can highly recommend this book. Dianna’s dedication to developing leaders and her passion for empowering others shine through every chapter. As you delve into the unfolding narrative, “Becoming More” will inspire you to take control of your story, recognize and reshape limiting patterns, and turn breakdowns into breakthroughs. The book encourages adopting a Be-Do-Have-Give approach to life, developing the four energies of success, and embracing a mindset characterized by growth, positivity, abundance, and gratitude. The pursuit of becoming more will not only create addition in your life but go a step further to multiplication - exponentially enhancing your relationships, finances, career, spiritual, and intellectual life. Moreover, it empowers you to uplift and inspire the growth of those around you, leaving a positive and life-changing legacy.
845 Weber Street North, St Jacob’s
St Jacob’s Market is Canada’s largest year-round farmers’ market, renowned for its vibrant culture and commerce. In summer it’s open Tuesdays and Thursdays, as well as Saturdays. It boasts over 300 vendors offering fresh produce, artisanal goods and unique dining options. Visitors can find everything from locally-grown fruits and vegetables to handmade crafts, baked goods and gourmet treats. Culinary highlights includes the Stone Crock Restaurant, known for its Mennonite-inspired meals, the Crazy Canuck with its creative Canadian classics, and the Apple Fritter Co., famous for its freshly made apple fritters. The village of St Jacobs, steeped in history and tradition, hosts the significant ‘Old Order’ Mennonite lifestyle, often associated with horsedrawn buggies. The St Jacob & Aberfoyle Model Railway provides a detailed miniature display of regional rail history. St Jacob’s Market offers more than just shopping; it’s a cultural experience celebrating the best of rural Ontario. Whether you are a foodie, history buff or seeking a unique outing, the market has something for everyone. Located less than two hours from Mississauga, it’s an ideal destination for a day trip.
Navigating summer stress: Tips for managing anxiety when school ends
If you’re a parent or caregiver of school-aged children, you understand the unique stressors and anxiety this time of year brings. With the transition from the school year into summer break, schedules become less predictable and can cause increased stress and anxiety for parents, caregivers, and children alike.
Moving from a structured routine, where children know what to expect each hour of their day, to an open or inconsistent one, can be anxiety-inducing. On the flip side, the pressure to fill children’s days with activities, programs, entertainment, and fun is stressful for parents and caregivers. With the right strategies in place, it’s possible to navigate this time with ease and ensure a smooth transition into the summer months.
Maintain a routine
Maintaining some semblance of a routine is incredibly beneficial for everyone during the summer. Staying consistent with regular wake-up and bedtimes, mealtimes, and daily activities can help reduce last-minute scrambling and uncertainty of what the day will bring
(and the dreaded “I’m bored!” complaints). Consider co-creating a schedule so you can design the routine together.
Stay connected
The end of the school year can often mean a decrease in social interactions for both parents and children. Making a conscious effort to stay connected with friends, family members, and the community can minimize feelings of isolation and provide much-needed emotional support during times of stress.
Prioritize self-care
As a parent or caregiver, it’s common to prioritize the needs of your children over your own. However, it’s essential to remember the importance of self-care,
Source: https://cmha.ca/news/navigating-summer-stress/
especially during times of stress and anxiety. Ensure you’re making time for activities that bring you joy and relaxation. In prioritizing your mental health, you’re also setting a positive example for children to do the same.
Limit screen time
While technology can be a valuable tool for entertainment and communication, excessive screen time can contribute to feelings of stress and anxiety. Set daily limits on screen time and encourage alternative activities such as outdoor play, arts and crafts, or board games. Reducing screen time promotes healthier habits and creates more opportunities for meaningful connection with your family.
Seek professional help if needed
If you or an adolescent child are struggling to manage
stress and anxiety, it might be beneficial to seek professional help. BounceBack® is one option. It is a free Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) coaching program designed to help manage both anxiety and stress for youth and adults ages 15 and older. Working remotely with a trained coach, BounceBack® can help you build the skills you need to improve your mental health.
It’s perfectly understandable to have feelings of stress and anxiety as the school year comes to a close. However, summer also gives the gift of time to recharge and prioritize mental health and well-being. By implementing these strategies and, when needed, seeking professional help from programs like BounceBack®, you can get back to looking forward to a summer free of stress and anxiety.
At the TB Realty Group, we recognize that a vacation home or an investment property is more than just a purchase - it's a step towards enhancing your lifestyle and securing your future. With the expertise of Theresa and her dedicated team, you’ll navigate the process with ease and confidence.
What makes a vacation home special?
•A personal sanctuary - A place where your family can reconnect and create new traditions.
•Investment potential - A property that can generate rental income and appreciate in value.
•Flexibility & freedom - Your own retreat in your favourite destination, available whenever you need a getaway.
At the TB Realty Group, we offer:
•Comprehensive Market Insights - Helping you find the ideal location and property to match your desires and financial goals, both locally or globally.
•Expert Negotiation Skills - Ensuring you get the best deal whether you're buying a beachfront condo, a mountain cabin, or an urban apartment.
•Full-Service Support - From property searches to closing deals, and even managing rentals, we provide a seamless experience.
Your dream vacation home or investment property is within reach. Let us guide you in making an informed and rewarding decision. Contact us today and let’s embark on this exciting journey together.
With the TB Realty Group, your perfect getaway or lucrative investment is just a call away.
