Toronto ~ Higher prices, rate hikes could make homes less affordable in 2003
RBC says demand will remain strong.
After-tax incomes continue to grow
Toronto Star - Mar 1, 2003

New homes could be less affordable in 2003, as both the cost of houses and mortgage interest rates continue to increase, reports the RBC Financial Group in its annual affordability index.

The affordability index, which measures the proportion of pre-tax household income needed to buy and keep a new home running in Toronto, was pegged at 39.1 per cent in the last quarter of 2002, unchanged from the previous quarter.

But it was up from 37.3 per cent in the last quarter of 2001, according to a news release issued this week.

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Chinese community begins police recruiting drive
TORONTO.CBC.CA     Feb. 27, 2003

Toronto - Members of Toronto's Chinese community are helping out law enforcement agencies in a major recruiting drive.

Recent statistics show that more than 400,000 Toronto residents are of Chinese origin. But of nearly 5,200 officers on the Toronto Police force, only 74 are Chinese.

Five local businesses and social groups are hoping to increase those numbers.

They've kicked off a mentoring program that will give Chinese candidates more information about how to become police officers.

In addition to the Toronto force, the Ontario Provincial Police and Royal Canadian Mounted Police are also co-sponsoring the program.

Hamilton community groups brace for refugee flood
Toronto Star     Feb. 26, 2003

HAMILTON - Hamilton mosques and community groups are bracing for as many as 600 refugees fleeing a post-9/11 American crackdown on illegal immigrants.

Two families have already arrived here from the United States, which is requiring male foreign visitors from 25 mostly Muslim countries to register as legal immigrants or face deportation.

"We have an emergency plan in case we get hit with a rush of people," said Morteza Jafarpour, head of the Settlement and Integration Services Organization (SISO), which aids refugees using federal funds.

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