Housing generates 29% of Ontario’s economy growth


The Ontario government should pray that the recent slump in the housing market does not become more widespread, according to an eyeraising report released this month.
Housing in all its forms accounted for 29 per cent of Ontario’s economic growth in 2016, according to the Ontario’s One Cylinder Economy: Housing in Toronto and Weak Business Investment study from the Fraser Institute.
The report’s author, Philip Cross, who worked for 36 years at Statistics Canada, warned that, with the Bank of Canada now expected to increase interest rates, Toronto’s housing sector could slow, leading to economic disruption that would affect most areas of Ontario.
The report said the Ontario’s traditional trump card, manufacturing, has seen a decline as the residential industry gained strength.  Manufacturing now accounts for about 12 per cent of the province’s economy, down from 21 per cent in 2002, the report stated.