Demand was also driven by new arrivals. Everyone wanted to live here: almost half of the 250,000 people who immigrate to Canada each year settle in the GTA, and for many, the natural course of events is to plant roots by buying fairly inexpensive condos or suburban starter homes—affordable by international standards.

“Distinguishing between structural and cyclical components of a government’s budget balance is crucial because, while the cyclical component may be expected to dissipate over a medium-term horizon as the economy returns to its full potential, the structural component may necessitate policy measures,”

he PBO’s own analysis concludes that if the Conservative government succeeds at reigning in spending as planned over the coming years, the structural deficit will fall from $25-billion this year to only $1.6-billion in 2016-17.

some form of restructuring might be required to ease Greece’s debt burden, which at 150 per cent of annual output is among the highest in the world.