Weekly Regional Business Intelligence | | | Written by Kieran Delamont, Associate Editor, London Inc. | | | Housing industry lauds Ontario’s expanded HST rebate London’s homebuilding industry says the province’s announcement to rebate the sales tax on new-build homes for more buyers has the potential to be a gamechanger for the new home market, which is suppering from a prolonged downturn in sales. The HST rebate on new homes was previously only available to first-time homebuyers under the federal GST/HST First-Time Home Buyers Rebate, but for a one-year period the province is extending the offer to all homes valued at up to $1.5 million, allowing all buyers a rebate of up to $130,000. Earlier this week, the London Home Builders’ Association (LHBA) warned that thousands of residential construction jobs could be at risk if demand doesn’t pick up substantially. In a public letter released on Monday, the LHBA sounded the alarm about the jobs impact of the stalling housing market, sharing the results of an internal survey that found that 60 per cent of LHBA members had laid off staff since September, and estimating that the sector has seen 5,800 job losses overall. “We’re starting to see a lot of these multi-generational, family-run small businesses go under,” said the LHBA’s Jared Zaifman. The LHBA was happy to see the plan from the province and the federal government to remove the HST on new homes, saying that it was “an exciting day,” and “the result of years of advocacy work.” The upshot: There were a lot of cheers for the move to cut the HST on new homes up to $1 million and reduce it above that. The province estimated it “could stimulate an additional 8,000 housing starts next year.” It does seem to have broad support as a policy, with the opposition parties at Queen’s Park mostly shrugging and saying ‘yeah, pretty good idea,’ and housing advocates relieved the policy has finally come to pass. The question will be whether it does enough to re-energize a housing market still facing some pretty stiff headwinds elsewhere (or everywhere, depending on your view/mood), but for the moment everyone appears to be sounding an optimistic note. Read more: LHBA | CBC News London | | | City’s largest office-to-residential conversion project set to open Sifton Properties is just about ready to open the doors of the city’s second office-to-residential conversion project, a $22-million affordable housing project at 195 Dufferin Avenue, completed in partnership with Homes Unlimited and The Anglican Diocese of Huron-St. Paul’s Cathedral. The project took the former IBM offices and converted it into ‘Homes on Dufferin’, a 94-unit building, largely comprising smaller one-bedroom suites, with around 40 per cent to be rented at below-market rates. The project is the largest office-to-residential conversion projects thus far in London and wasn’t without its challenges. Rick Gooyers, COO of Sifton, commented in The London Free Press that “the building was built in the ‘70s, so it was built to the ’70s code,” and had previously told news outlets that reading the plans and opening the walls were two very different experiences. “Things that needed to be done with regards to fire, sprinkler, heating and air conditioning, all of those things have been brought forward,” he said. Jim Foote, vice-president of Homes Unlimited, said they were “pleased to have created this new affordable and accessible housing community in such an iconic downtown London location,” while Kevin George, dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral (which owns the land the building is on), said they were “called by faith to partner with Sifton Properties and Homes Unlimited.” A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for April 2. The upshot: Some of the initial shine may have worn off of office-to-residential conversions, which were a hot subject back in 2022-2023, but the completion of the project is a meaningful contribution to the housing stock of downtown; nearly 100 units, many of them offering affordable rents, (partially owing to unit size), in a prime location is a great project to see completed, even more so because is utilizes existing building stock. With a broader building slowdown, however, it’s worth watching whether there will be much more uptake on projects like this. The financing structure here was favourable: a building that Sifton already owned, on church land, with a $3.3-million grant from the city that comprised about 15 per cent of the total cost. But a win is a win — and perhaps there will be some credit waiting at the Pearly Gates: “As followers in the Way of Jesus, we are called to uphold the dignity of every human being,” said George. “Too many are struggling with housing costs and we are humbled to know that our part in the project will allow more people to access affordable housing, a dignity that should be available to all.” Read more: London Free Press | | | Highview to open first-of-its-kind intergenerational care facility in Lucan London-based dementia care operator Highview announced this week it has purchased a building at 139 Main Street in Lucan — a building previously home to Jake’s House, a charity that is now being investigated by the OPP, after it received funding from the province’s controversial Skills Development Fund (it had its funding pulled abruptly in 2024 and the building was put into receivership in 2025.) Highview says it plans to open a 51-suite, intergenerational care home that will bring together seniors, people living with dementia and adults with developmental disabilities or neurodiversity. According to Highview, the facility will be a first-of-its-kind model that has younger adults living side-by-side with seniors. “We all want to belong,” said Joy Birch, Highview president, in a press release. “We all want to live in-community, connected to a group of people, participating in meaningful activities that align with our abilities. Highview Lucan is where this all comes together.” Ross Chapin, the founder and CEO of Highview, added, “one of the beautiful things we see in our homes is how people naturally come alongside one another. The more-able helping the less-able is simply part of being human and it happens every day among the people who live here and the people who work here.” The facility is expected to open mid-July of this year, after some renovations began this week. The upshot: It’s a good news story as far as the facility is concerned — Highview’s purchase gives the building a second life under a private operator with a track record in the region, and it won’t be relying on government funding agreements to keep the lights on. The care model will be a bit of an experiment though. There’s research evidence that locating seniors in facilities with younger people can improve outcomes and patient satisfaction, but much of that research has been focused on young children. A permanent, shared-roof arrangement bringing seniors alongside younger adults with developmental disabilities or neurodiversities like autism or ADHD is a more ambitious, less-proven idea, although Highview likely has the expertise on the dementia care side to navigate that well. The practical demands of running such a facility will be a challenge, but there’s definitely a high upside, too — if this kind of care facility works well, it could offer a new model for caring for both seniors and adults with disabilities. Read more: Exeter Lakeshore Times-Advance | | | Steamed: London District Energy saga gets pricier The cost to retrofit a handful of municipal buildings ahead of the decommissioning of one of London District Energy’s downtown steam lines keeps rising, a city committee learned this week. A new estimate brought to the Infrastructure and Corporate Services Committee now pegs the cost of installing boilers at City Hall, Centennial Hall, Museum London and the Central Library at around $11 million, up from the $8.5 million estimated in the fall. Each of the four buildings will cost between $2.4 and $3.2 million to retrofit. And the city appears to be getting approximately no help from London District Energy’s parent company, Enwave Energy Corporation, on this front. “At this point, I have not had any confirmation of any kind of any contributions from Enwave, certainly for the city projects, not have I been made aware of any contributions to other community organizations,” said Lynda Stewart, director of fleet and facilities with the city. Councillors also learned Enwave is “firm” on their October 31 decommissioning deadline — likely meaning work will need to start as soon as possible, though council will first need to approve the work at its upcoming March 31 meeting. The upshot: No choice for the city but to eat the cost here. “Obviously the cost is not appreciated but we don’t necessarily have a choice on the matter, it seems,” Councillor David Ferreira told The London Free Press. Whether the current council was dealt a bad hand by the 1992 council’s agreement with Enwave (one that ultimately leaves them on the hook) may be something we hear about in the months or years ahead, but the immediate priority seems to be getting the work started. Attention might also turn to the future of the remaining high-pressure steam line, which may or may not be in a similar state of decay as its lower-pressure siblings. A 2021 city report did cite “chronic maintenance issues” on the line, so even if this is the end of the medium-pressure saga, we may not have heard the last about this district energy system. Read more: CTV News London | London Free Press | | | 6,500 homes proposed for industrial land in city’s south end A group of large landowners are proposing a 6,500-unit housing development in the south end of the city, on a patch of land currently zoned for industrial use. The 275-acre site sits between Exeter Road and Dingman Drive, and between White Oak Road and Chalkstone Drive, and would require an official plan amendment that, if granted, would allow a group that includes Gus Rahim, owner of the Ontario Truck Driving School (pictured), Bluestone Properties, Tradewinds Properties and Exeter Dingman Investments to develop the site. “It’s a great location, close to everything,” Rahim told The London Free Press. “We have wanted this for a long time. It is a good time to do it. The city and province want more homes, they want buildings and will work with you.” The draft plan for the site includes around 900 single-family homes, with the rest of the space comprised of townhomes, apartment units and commercial space. There’s no real timeline on the project yet — it seems likely that getting a major adjustment to the official plan will take some time, especially as developers will need to assess the level of infrastructure investment required to support that many units. Proponents of the project say the south end needs proposals like this. “There has been a lot of development to London’s north and the other east. More needs to be built in the south,” Rahim said. The upshot: The proposal cuts at an interesting tension in London’s land use planning and it will be interesting to see how city staff and politicians respond to a request to convert this much industrial land to a residential focus. On the one hand, the city wants nothing more than to hit its homebuilding targets and be seen as a welcoming place for residential investment. On the other, it also knows it needs to boost its stock of available industrial land. In December, it submitted an official plan amendment to the province that proposed adding 88 hectares of industrial land through the urban growth boundary expansion, and were this proposal to go ahead, it would lose 112 hectares. Long story short, the city will have to weigh which of these priorities it deems more important. Council has shown a willingness to convert underused industrial land to housing in the past, so it won’t be surprising to see them play ball with this, but as it tries to attract more manufacturing jobs to the city, the availability of industrial land remains a factor. Read more: London Free Press | | | VersaBank sells sole physical branch London’s VersaBank is selling its only physical branch in the United States, returning to its branchless model after securing a toehold in the U.S. market. “The sale of our only retail bank back to Stearns Bank is consistent with our highly efficient branchless, partner-based, digital banking model, and the resulting cost savings will contribute to our operating leverage as we continue to steadily ramp up our structured receivable program business in the U.S.,” said president and CEO David Taylor. VersaBank is signalling that so far, its U.S. expansion has been a success, with the efficiency of its U.S. operations “surpassing” that of its Canadian side. “As a cloud-based bank with one of the most unique operating models in North America, we are well positioned to continue to drive an enhanced efficiency ratio to industry leading levels,” Taylor said. The upshot: Perhaps there are a few Minnesotans who might have a reaction to hearing that their local bank branch is no longer a company from London, but this was obviously the play from the beginning: by temporarily operating a small bank in Holdingford, MN, they gained the keys to the U.S. market in the form of a national bank charter, and now are going back to their familiar, digital-only model, serving as the behind the scenes banking partner for point-of-sale financing. The transaction will entail a small write-off of $1.7 million the company said. “We are privileged and proud to have had the opportunity to serve our Holdingford customers over the past twenty months,” Taylor said. “We thank you for the opportunity to be part of the community and look forward to a seamless transition back to the incredible team at Stearns Bank.” Read more: VersaBank | | | Dispatch: March 27, 2026 A summary of recent business appointments and announcements, plus event listings for the upcoming week. View listings here | | | | |