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‘Danger ahead’: Advocates give Doug Ford’s housing plan a failing grade

The Alliance for a Liveable Ontario is calling on the government to reverse housing policies it says is hindering the "right" kind of development
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The construction of new housing in Markham, Ontario, is set against the sun, on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024.

An alliance of advocates is giving the Ontario government a failing grade on its housing plans, arguing the Progressive Conservatives' policies are "encouraging the wrong type of housing in the wrong places at the wrong prices.”

The 14-page “report card” released Monday by the Alliance for a Liveable Ontario looks at the housing policies put in place by Premier Doug Ford's government since the fall of 2022. The conclusion was “danger ahead.”

“Almost every action taken by the Ford government under its housing agenda either has nothing to do with housing or has missed the mark in supporting the types of housing people need, in the places they want to live at prices they can afford,” said Victor Doyle, a professional planner and former senior civil servant of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, in a statement. 

“The province has the power to help solve the housing crisis but it has used it to do the opposite of what is needed," Doyle added.

The Alliance for a Liveable Ontario is made up of over 200 groups representing farmers, environmentalists, housing activists, land-use planners and health-care providers. 

In its report, the group argued legislation put forward by the Ford government sent "clear signals to municipalities and developers to build expensive single-family homes outside of existing towns and cities.” It also claims the laws encouraged developers to build “investor-friendly condo units in tall towers" rather than focus on building diverse types of homes.

“Nothing illustrates this mismatch better than low rental vacancy rates coupled with thousands of postage stamp sized condo units on the market and reportedly sitting empty and new single-family home sales plummeting,” the report reads.

The group also says the province has not done enough to help create non-market affordable housing.

In order to rectify the situation, the alliance says the province should use its powers to get a variety of housing built within existing towns and cities rather than on farmland and should prioritize funding for municipal and community housing developers with shovel-ready proposals focused on affordable housing.

The provincial government has been facing increased criticism for its housing policies, which since 2022 it has said are aimed at facilitating the construction of 1.5 million new homes in Ontario by 2031. So far, it's on track to fall far short of its target.

A report released by the Financial Accountability Office last week suggests housing starts have declined by 16.9 per cent compared to the same period last year, and for detached homes specifically, Ontario "is on track for the lowest level of annual starts on record back to 1955.”

The government’s own fall economic statement noted the province has fallen behind. To reach 1.5 million homes in a decade, 150,000 per year on average would need to be built. There were 96,080 housing starts in Ontario in 2022, followed by 89,297 in 2023. Housing starts are projected to decline again this year, with the government's fall economic statement projecting last month that there will be 81,300 in 2024.

Housing Minister Paul Calandra claimed last month that he will “remove obstacles so that I reach that target.” Meanwhile, Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy said things like lower mortgage rates and federal government regulations will help housing demand recover.

But for the alliance, that’s not enough.

“The province needs to reverse course immediately if it wants to help solve the housing crisis,” coordinator of the Alliance for a Liveable Ontario, Franz Hartmann, said. 

“It’s time to stop helping developers build more expensive sprawl housing and instead use provincial powers to help build the homes Ontarians need and want.”

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