Ford, Meed Ward to meet after claim Burlington not reaching housing target

Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward are expected to meet Tuesday in Toronto following his claim that the city is not fulfilling its housing development target amid a housing crisis across the province.

Ford made the comment during a press conference last Wednesday after the auditor general released a report on the province’s decision to open up the protected Greenbelt to housing construction.

Ford said Burlington has only built 208 homes – or five per cent – of its pledge to construct 29,000 new homes by 2031. This amount is part of the province’s sweeping changes on housing development, with its goal of building 1.5 million homes over 10 years.

“It’s not fair to the rest of the province that there’s a delay in Burlington of only five per cent. That is totally unacceptable,” Ford said.

Meed Ward quickly rejected the premier’s claims, saying she will have more to say on the situation soon.

“Those numbers are from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation; however, they do not tell the whole story of how many developments are actually underway in Burlington,” she wrote in a statement.

“Burlington council has unanimously accepted our pledge to issue 29,000 permits by 2031, and our city already has 25,000 units and growing in the development pipeline.”

While details are limited at this time, CHCH News has learned Meed Ward and Ford will meet in person Tuesday in Toronto to discuss the matter.

WATCH MORE: Local groups, officials react to auditor general’s Greenbelt report