A London, Ont., MPP will be tabling a motion at Queen’s Park that will establish a new public agency to help get homes built in the province.
London North Centre MPP Terence Kernaghan’s bill would establish Homes Ontario, which would finance the construction and oversee the building of new affordable and non-market rental homes at cost on government owned land.
“The reliance on private developers only to fix this crisis is not working,” Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles said.
“All levels of government, including the provincial government, need to get back in the business of building and funding affordable and mixed income housing.”
The aim of the bill is to finance and build at least 250,000 homes over the next 10 years. The homes would be operated and/or constructed by public, non-profit, or co-op housing providers.
“Private developers and nonprofit providers have noted that without access to free land, creating new rental housing is increasingly difficult due to high development costs,” Kernaghan said during an NDP press conference in London
According to Kernaghan, estimates from the Canadian Housing Statistics Program showed that housing supply slowed last year, with growth rates under the demand for housing.
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“Homes Ontario would ensure an adequate supply of rental homes that would meet the needs of low to moderate income folks. It will ensure Ontario builds the kinds of homes we need at an affordable price, and it will create good jobs and economic prosperity for Ontario.”
The MPP had sent a letter to London city council earlier this month, outlining the bill and asking for their support.
After a lengthy debate during a strategic priorities and policy committee (SPPC) meeting Oct. 10, council voted to support the proposed legislation and to refer it to AMO with a vote of 7-6.
“We’re building at the fastest rate I’ve seen in most of my life. But we’re not going to build ourselves out on the private front alone. And what we need right now is a public builder,” said Ward 1 Councillor Hadleigh McAlister at the conference.
McAlister cited previous efforts from the government to build housing, such as Wartime Housing Limited, which built thousands of housing units during and following World War II.
“We’ve seen the results of that. In the ward I represent in East London, we still have a lot of those homes, they were well built, well loved, and well used by families for generations. That’s the kind of thing we need.”
Ward 6 councillor Sam Trosow said that this will help municipalities hit housing goals set out by the province.
“By getting us past one of the largest problems, and that is the land acquisition and land identification, this is going to make it much easier for us to satisfy the obligations that we’ve undertaken to the province and to our residents in terms of affording providing affordable housing.”
Homes Ontario is expected to lower the cost of affordable housing by 30 per cent and will allow the government to build the homes without a profit incentive.
“This is a really economically sound, wise decision for the province to make,” Kernaghan said.
“(Housing) is something we cannot turn away from. We’re giving (the Progressive Conservatives) an opportunity. We’re giving them a big bold plan. We’re giving them something that is financially sound, is forward thinking, is progressive. It can be a win for everyone.”
The proposal is set to be debated at Queen’s Park on Oct. 24.
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