Promise History
2.12.01 - “[A] re-elected Ontario PC government will build 1.5 million new homes over the next 10 years to keep up with current and future demands of a growing province”
26-Jul-2023
In October 2022 the Ford government announced legislation to expedite new housing construction, including reducing development charges and allowing multiple units on a single lot. This builds on the legislation introduced in August 2022 that would give mayors in Toronto and Ottawa more powers to build housing. However, there are concerns from municipal organizations that rather than spur growth, these changes will lead to less income for municipalities and actually reduce the amount of new houses being built. Both the October and August legislative changes are designed to fulfil the pledge of building 1.5m new homes, although the promise remains in progress until that number of new homes is built. In July 2023, CBC news found that the pace of building was not sufficient to hit the province’s own goal; however, this promise remains in progress until the end of the current government’s term.
“Nearly all cities in Ontario must dramatically pick up the pace if they hope to hit the targets set by Premier Doug Ford’s government, the latest housing construction figures show. A year and half ago, Ford’s Progressive Conservatives set the goal of 1.5 million new homes to be built in Ontario over the course of a decade, and laid down specific housing targets for 29 of the province’s largest and fastest-growing municipalities to hit by 2031. Now trends are emerging, with some cities faring far better than others at being on track to achieve their benchmarks for getting new homes built.”
26-Oct-2022
“The Association of Municipalities of Ontario said in a statement that the proposed changes [to housing rules] “may contradict the goal of building more housing in the long term.” “Unless fully offset by funding to support growth-related projects, reductions in these fees will shift the financial burden of growth-related infrastructure onto existing municipal taxpayers,” the association wrote. […] The government’s housing plan is aimed at hitting a target of building 1.5 million homes in 10 years. It also proposes to allow more units on one residential lot, introduce more housing density near transit stations, reduce the property tax burden for multi-residential apartment buildings, and pursue rent-to-own programs.”
11-Aug-2022
“The Ontario government introduced legislation that would give the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa more responsibility to deliver on shared provincial-municipal priorities, including building 1.5 million new homes over the next 10 years.”
Ontario Empowering Mayors to Build Housing Faster
Only Doug Ford and the Ontario PCs Will Build 1.5 Million Homes over 10 Years
Reference Documents
“The province doesn’t build housing, but we can cut red tape to create conditions that make it easier to build housing and introduce policies that encourage densification. We can also make the most of infrastructure investments and encourage more density around major transit stations. We can do all these things while maintaining important protections for existing residents of stable communities, a vibrant agricultural sector, employment lands, the Greenbelt, our cultural heritage and the environment.”
More Homes, More Choice: Ontario’s Housing Supply Action Plan
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