New Measures and Recommendations are Announced to Address Ontario’s “Housing Crisis”

Two recent provincial developments aimed at addressing Ontario’s growing “housing crisis” may have a significant impact on land-use planning and development in Ontario in the coming years.

First, on January 19, 2022, Premier Doug Ford and Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Steve Clark, met with the mayors and regional chairs of Ontario’s 39 largest municipalities to discuss potential strategies to address Ontario’s housing supply and affordability crisis. The provincial government announced a number of initiatives that it proposes will help accelerate the construction of new housing and increase the supply and affordability of housing options in Ontario, including:

1. CA$45 million for a Streamline Development Approval Fund: the fund will assist with modernizing, streamlining, and accelerating processes for managing and approving housing applications.

2. CA$8 million for an Audit and Accountability Fund: the fund will help identify potential savings and efficiencies through third-party review, further accelerate the creation of new housing, and modernize municipal services in large urban municipalities.

3. Data standardization through the Ontario Data Authority initiative: the province will work with the municipal sector to develop a data standardization process for planning and development applications among municipalities as a means of accelerating approval timelines. The initiative was first announced in spring 2021, and is designed to accelerate Ontario’s economic and social growth through improved data sharing.

Second, on February 8, 2022, the Housing Affordability Task Force, a nine-member panel established by the provincial government on December 6, 2021 and comprised of experts in not-for-profit housing, Indigenous housing, real estate, home building, financial markets, and economics, released its much-anticipated Ontario Housing Affordability Task Force Report (the Report).

The Report provides 55 recommendations that are focused on closing the housing supply gap and improving housing affordability in Ontario. First and foremost, the Report recommends that the province set bold targets and make the construction of new housing a planning priority, specifically by (1) constructing 1.5 million new homes in the next ten years (Recommendation 1) and (2) amending the Planning Act, Provincial Policy Statement, and Growth Plans to “set growth in the full spectrum of housing supply” and “intensification within existing built-up areas” of municipalities as the most important residential housing priorities (Recommendation 2).

The Report recommends action in the five main areas described below in order to achieve these goals and increase housing supply.