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Across Canada, prices are soaring for both renters and buyers as the housing market defies fiscal gravity.

Provincial and municipal governments along with the federal government are taking steps to cool down the market and to increase housing supply, but Canadians are still feeling the pinch. With interest rates rising, those looking to buy are faced with rising payments.

The housing crisis is a key issue in the upcoming Ontario election, and Premier Doug Ford, NDP leader Andrea Horwath, Liberal leader Steven Del Duca and Green Party leader Mike Schreiner have all proposed expansive plans to increase housing stock and take the temperature of the property market down.

The housing crisis is not restricted to Canada, with prices across the globe climbing and inflation adding pressure. The COVID-19 pandemic added demand in the form of supply chain problems and a rush to renovate during the early days of lockdown. It remains to be seen what solutions will break the property price cycle.