EDITOR'S NOTE: This article originally appeared on CollingwoodToday, a local news site operated by Village Media.
COLLINGWOOD, ONT. — With many across Collingwood and Ontario struggling to find a place to call home due to the housing crisis, town staff and council are sending a strong message to the province that some of their newly proposed legislation to address the matter may have unintended consequences.
And they’re hoping the province will listen.
During their June 5 council meeting, councillors received a report from town planning staff that outlined their concerns about the proposed Provincial Planning Statement 2023 (PPS 2023) and how it would trickle down to impact Collingwood, the County of Simcoe and the province as a whole.
“It's a beast,” said Coun. Kathy Jeffery during the June 5 meeting. “I think staff did an amazing job and made it very readable for us.”
The province put out a call for commentary on the proposed changes, with a deadline of Aug. 4, and has made it clear they are preparing the implement the new plan by this fall.
The PPS 2023 would combine the Provincial Policy Statement (PPS 2020) and A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe into a single, province-wide policy. The growth plan and provincial policy statement are two documents used to guide planning in the province on density, urban growth areas and employment centres. They’re meant to facilitate growth in a way that mitigates potentially harmful environmental, economic, and health impacts.
First proposed by the province back in April as part of Bill 97: Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act, municipal affairs and housing minister Steve Clark told media at the time that by merging the two policies, he hoped to “give municipalities more flexibility, reduce duplication, create more homes in urban and rural communities, support local economies and create jobs while continuing to protect public safety and the environment.”
“We know that more progress and more action is required for our housing goals, particularly in the face of economic uncertainty, inflation, and soaring interest rates,” Clark said, shortly after tabling the bill.
However, Collingwood town staff have concerns.
“While it is understood that this proposal represents a collective effort to increase housing supply to address a crisis situation, the approach should not come at the expense of planning for complete, sustainable, climate-change resilient communities and preservation of the natural environment and agricultural/rural land base,” wrote Nathan Wukasch, senior planner with the town, in the report to councillors.
“Addressing housing affordability is more complicated than a supply and demand equation,” he noted.
According to the report, staff are concerned that many municipalities will be left with limited tools to manage growth in communities.
“The singular focus on housing supply... will have the effect of urban sprawl," said Wukasch.
Under the new statement, upper-tier municipalities — such as the County of Simcoe — will no longer be involved in planning, a change that Wukasch said could “negatively impact regional-based community and watershed planning.”
“With no upper-tier co-ordination, each municipality must plan their own way...with the risk of unintended consequences if growth management occurs in isolation,” he said, adding that regional co-ordination also results in cost-savings to taxpayers.
Also concerning is that previously outlined direction to increase housing affordability targets, as well as the provincial definition of “affordable housing” have both been removed in the PPS 2023.
“Staff do not support the removal of policy references to affordable housing nor the lack of a consistent method of measuring and defining ‘affordability.’” wrote Wukasch. “Provincial policy should be directly and explicitly supporting affordable housing and providing implementing tools for municipalities through legislation, rather than attempting to tangentially affect affordability.”
As part of staff comments on the matter, the town’s Affordable Housing Task Force chair Doug Linton also weighed in on the proposed changes.
“Within a provincially led, and policy-based land use planning system, a proposed overarching Provincial Planning Statement that does not support nor set the groundwork for implementation tools that effectively addresses housing affordability is unacceptable,” wrote Linton in his letter to councillors.
“Inaction, or inappropriate action, on remedying the affordable housing crisis has social and economic implications that can be disastrous to individuals, families and entire communities,” he wrote. “We encourage council to send a strong message to the province.”
At their June 5 meeting, council voted unanimously in favour of submitting the town’s planning department comments to the province in regards to the Provincial Planning Statement 2023.
To read all the comments made by the town to the province on the matter, click here.
— With files from Aidan Chamandy
