A guest column by Jacob Cohen, President of The Daniels Corporation
Over the past few years, the pace of change in Canada’s land development sector has accelerated dramatically. Rising construction costs, shifting buyer behaviour, skilled labour shortages and evolving policy expectations – including new incentives, exemptions and financing tools – are forcing developers to make decisions faster, and often with far less certainty than before.
In response, pivoting has become the industry’s default response. Developers rush to line up for new incentive programs before they change. Projects speed up or pause based on short-term conditions rather than long-term strategy. These decisions are often driven by fear of financial exposure, uncertainty around demand or political pressures to respond quickly – but speed does not always lead to better outcomes.
When volatility drives decision-making, the housing system begins to drift away from what communities will need years from now.
Family-sized units, affordable, accessible and sustainable homes, and thoughtfully designed community infrastructure can fall away when the focus shifts to immediate risk instead of enduring value. This causes a ripple effect across the pipeline, disrupting trade partners, straining municipal planning processes and eroding public trust in the industry’s ability to consistently deliver the housing our communities need.
Short-term pivots may relieve immediate pressure, but they cannot create long-term stability. What our sector needs now is steady, people-first leadership, grounded in preparation, values and the discipline to stay focused on people, even when the market shifts around us.