The Ford government reveals its plan to increase housing supply

Amid skyrocketing housing prices around the Golden Horseshoe, the Ford government is proposing new legislation that it says will increase the supply of housing in Ontario.

The legislation includes measures the government says will cut red tape and streamline approval processes, to get new homes built faster. But as Matt Ingram reports it fails to include many of the recommendations made by its own housing affordability task force.

With the provincial election coming up in June, the Ford government is offering its plan to tackle what will likely be a major issue, the high cost of housing.

Housing minister Steve Clark introduced the ‘More Homes for Everyone’ act at Queen’s Park today. “While housing starts have hit their highest levels since 1987, more needs to be done to increase the supply and drive down the cost.” The bill is a wide-ranging piece of legislation that focuses on cutting down approval times for new development, it also includes measures addressing land speculation and plans for further consultations on other issues. But it doesn’t include many of the bolder recommendations from the housing affordability task force report that was released in February. Such as the goal of building one and a half million new homes within 10 years, or increasing housing density in single-family-home neighbourhoods.

Clark pinned the reason for pushback from municipalities and says the recommendations will be part of the government’s long-term plan. “Since the task force tabled the report there is a number of municipalities who’ve already lined up and saying they are against the proposals. We’ve got to have councils on board with us and as I said they are just not there yet.”

Hamilton city council has expressed its support for more density, by declining to expand the urban boundary. However, mayor Fred Eisenberger has pushed back on some of the other recommendations in the task force report, that shift powers from local government to the province.

Opposition leader Andrea Horwath says the bill does nothing to make housing more affordable. She says even the task force recommendations don’t go far enough on that issue, and her plan if elected would go further. “The recommendations coming out of the task force missed a whole bunch of stuff we think is really important.”

The Ontario liberals released a statement saying the Ford government’s bill doesn’t do enough on a number of housing topics, including no investments in affordable housing. The liberals say they will release their plan to tackle the housing crisis in the coming weeks.

Many other municipalities have also expressed concerns over the task force recommendations, including Toronto and others, saying local officials better understand the needs of their communities.