Regulating the Land Market
Canada’s national anthem may intone that God keep our land glorious and free, but across the country more and more urban centres are adding more and more regulations that are making land use anything but free. In this AIMS commentary, based on comments written for his participation in a panel on Urban Sprawl and Smart Growth for the Canadian Regional Science Association in Toronto, Samuel R. Staley warns the increasingly complex regulatory regime for land use in Canada’s urban markets is limiting choice and increasing costs for housing, especially for low-income families.