Ontario affordable housing plan puts more pressure on municipalities, Kingston politicians say

The Ford government is laying out a path to make housing more affordable in Ontario, but the new strategy also puts extra pressure on municipalities to speed up approvals say officials in Kingston.

As the Riverview subdivision in Kingston East continues to take shape, the Ontario government has tabled legislation aimed at boosting the province’s housing supply, which is proving to be a problem.

“All along our message has been that all levels of government need to be engaged on the housing issue,” says Kingston Mayor Bryan Paterson.

“I think there are things that industry needs to do, things that the province needs to do. The municipalities, we’ve always been willing to come to the table and to change and do what we can.”

Whether measures to streamline the approval process for subdivisions and multi-unit residential buildings will help is still up in the air.

One thing Paterson says he does know: the city is currently doing its part.

“Here in Kingston we’ve been able to double the amount of new housing construction,” Paterson says. “What this legislation does is it gives us even more tools to be able to use to fast-track development, to create more affordable housing.”

“Certainly, as a city, we’re going to work with these tools and do what we can do. But we’re also encouraging the province to look at their processes and find ways to be able to reduce those timelines as well.”

NDP candidate for Kingston and the Islands Mary Rita Holland says there hasn’t been any consultation with cities.

“We’re not seeing this plan represent anything that cities have been talking about or asking for,” she says.

“Passing the buck and saying that we need to speed things up and that we’re the ones holding things back is not helpful,” Holland continues. “I think investing more money into the kind of housing we need, supportive, affordable housing, is the direction that we need to be going in.”

2:20 Ontario’s affordable housing program focuses on processes, not increased density