The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that Mattamy Homes, Great Gulf, Polygon Realty and Wesgroup Properties are among developers that have cut jobs as the Canadian residential development industry faces the worst downturn since the 1990s recession. The Globe's Rachelle Younglai writes that preconstruction sales brokerages such as Hirsch & Associates, MLA Canada Realty, and Rennie & Associates have laid off staff, and the myriad of suppliers to the real estate industry are also reducing their head count. Marketing and advertising company LA Inc. shut down, while SvN Architects + Planners made some cuts and is not replacing those who decide to leave. If the slowdown continues, more than 100,000 jobs in the homebuilding industry could be eliminated. The downturn comes just as the federal government vows to boost homebuilding to make housing more affordable. In Toronto in the first quarter of this year, preconstruction condo sales were lower than the same period in 1995. Ottawa's annualized sales were 70 per cent below that 2020-24 average while Montreal, Edmonton, Vancouver and Calgary were down between 62.5 per cent and 50 per cent, according to Altus. Worst hit are sales of preconstruction condos.