By 2021, Ryan Fehr had grown tired of renting.
Fehr, 40 and a single dad, had just broken up with his girlfriend. He found there was no limit on how much landlords could raise the rent in Calgary, and he yearned to put down some roots in a house, especially for his then-two-year-old son, whom he had with his previous partner. It was also the middle of a pandemic. House prices were falling. Fehr felt he had a shot at earning his place in the vaunted club of homeownership.
