The Ford government has unveiled its latest round of housing with a push to streamline development charges in hopes of boosting its flagging homebuilding statistics.
On Monday, Housing Minister Rob Flack gathered municipal leaders and developers at a news conference in Vaughan, Ont., to announce the bill, along with a round of infrastructure funding.
“The legislation we’re tabling today responds to recommendations and requests from municipal leaders, and will help build the homes and infrastructure Ontario needs,” Flack said in a statement.
The new legislation, titled the Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smart Act, includes a commitment to standardize the fees municipalities make developers pay, block cities from charging developers for requirements outside the provincial Building Code and bring uniformity to road construction rules.
Among the changes:
- Cities will not be able to request studies from developers which are not listed in their official plans
- Adding portable classrooms to school sites and new schools to be built on land zoned for residential use
- Set a maximum rate for inclusionary zoning projects where cities cannot demand more than five per cent of units be affordable
- Merging some development charge categories, like roads and transit, together through a credit system
The government also announced today that it will add $400 million to two funds municipalities use to build housing-enabling infrastructure.
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Building on research undertaken during the semi-reversed split of Peel Region, the province is also set to explore changing the way water and wastewater and built and delivered — considering moving to a public utility model, like a municipal service corporation,
The government assembled a stream of stakeholders to endorse the new legislation.
Robin Jones, the president of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, said towns and cities in the province were “firmly behind” the move to streamline development charges. The chair of the Big City Mayors caucus, Marianne Meed Ward, said she looked forward to “working closely with the provincial government on enabling regulations for this legislation to accelerate housing development.”
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At Queen’s Park, critics were cautious, pointing to the government’s stalled housing starts as evidence that the province’s approach wasn’t working.
“They have more housing bills than housing units built,” NDP Leader Marit Stiles complained when asked if the latest legislation would make a difference.
“This is a government that has failed very dramatically to build housing right across the province of Ontario. They keep putting forward new bills; we’ll wait to see what is in this newest legislation.”
Bonnie Crombie, Ontario Liberal Leader, said she feared the province was stepping too far.
“I am very concerned about overreach and this bill is yet another example of overreach of this government into municipal affairs, particularly into planning and zoning,” she said.
Green Leader Mike Schreiner said the bill had missed the mark and called for the government to make it easier to build medium-density homes.
The new legislation comes as Ontario struggles to meet its goal of 1.5 million new homes by 2031.
The target was introduced after recommendations from an expert housing panel ahead of the 2022 provincial election and was a cornerstone of the government’s campaign.
After the election, then-housing minister Steve Clark removed protected land from the Greenbelt, something the government framed as part of the pursuit of that target.
Successive watchdog investigations, however, found the move had been poorly coordinated and would potentially benefit developers to the tune of $8.4 billion, ultimately leading to it being reversed.
The three years that followed the 2022 election win have seen housing starts consistently fail to get anywhere near the annual average of 150,000 needed to build 1.5 million new homes.
Even after changing its rules to count long-term care beds as new homes, the government struggled.
Projections in last year’s budget showed it continuing to fall short
The government’s expectations, based on private sector projections, show 87,900 housing starts in 2024, 90,000 starts in 2025 and 94,000 housing starts in 2026.
While the numbers represent an improvement, they would still see Ontario fall well short of its goal. Over those years, Ontario is projected to build 274,000 new homes; the province’s housing goals are set at 300,000.
Data published recently by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation showed that housing starts in Ontario in March were down 46 per cent, year over year, for communities with 10,000 or more people.
Flack said the target has not been forgotten, but conceded there are challenges.
“We’ve got some pretty strong headwinds,” he said at a press conference to announce his bill.
“It’s a goal. But frankly, I’m focused more on — and our team is focused on — the next 12 to 24 months, because if it stays the way it is now, we’ll never get there. We have to make immediate changes.”
Homebuilders whom the government quoted to endorse its latest round of legislation said the new rules could help.
“In light of the dire housing supply and affordability crisis that we are facing, the proposed legislative changes are critical to eliminating hurdles and reducing costs so that the residential construction industry can get back on track and build the housing that Ontario needs,” RESCON president Richard Lyall said.
“Today’s announcement aligns with many of the priorities identified by RESCON over the past two years to support residential housing construction and new home building. The actions undertaken by the government are vital to this effort.”
— with files from The Canadian Press
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