New rules include promotion of homebuilding
The Ontario government has announced changes to planning guidelines in an effort to accelerate the still-slow pace of housing starts across the province, with new guidance aimed at making it easier for towns and cities to hit housing targets they currently can't reach.
Housing Minister Paul Calandra unveiled updates to the Provincial Planning Statements (PPS) on Tuesday, hoping to promote more homebuilding, introduce new transit lines and convert underutilized areas like shopping plazas and malls.
Calandra said the changes would simplify certain land-use planning processes managed by local authorities by reducing the policy's previous version by 30,000 words and 100 pages. According to the government, the simplification is expected to save 6,600 hours of administrative work.
“In the face of high interest rates and a challenging global economy, our government is working closely with municipalities to cut red tape and give them the tools they need to build more homes and hit their housing targets,” Calandra said at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario’s annual conference in Ottawa.
“The new Provincial Planning Statement recognizes that municipalities know best where and what types of homes are needed to address the unprecedented population growth we’ve seen. It gives them the tools and flexibility they need to get it done,” he added.
Calandra promised the changes would lead to a "long-term building" boom in a province where housing starts are lagging, with industry experts warning the slowdown may not have reached its lowest point yet.
According to a provincial dashboard, only about 20 percent of Ontario's towns and cities that have over 10,000 in population have achieved 50 percent of their housing targets this year. These figures include the addition of long-term care beds and basement renovations as new units.
Ontario has committed to building 1.5 million new homes by 2031.
Despite years of government legislation aimed at speeding up housing construction, developers have warned that the industry is looking at an ever-worsening slowdown.
In June, data from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) showed a year-over-year decline in both housing starts and preconstruction sales, leading the Building Industry and Land Development Association to predict things would get worse.
On Tuesday, the government defended its commitment, with infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma saying she remains "confident" the 1.5 million homes target would be hit, while Calandra reeled off a list of previous achievements and municipal projects he said would move the needle on houses.
That same day, the government announced the opening of applications for a $400-million fund to build and repair roads and bridges to support the construction of new houses.
