New Housing Affordability Task Force Report Will Get You a Great Place to Call Home

Statement from OREA President David Oikle on Ontario Housing Affordability Task Force Recommendations to Boost Supply

“Young families across Ontario are facing historic barriers to home ownership and the problem is only getting worse. In fact, Canada has fewer housing units per capita out of all G7 countries, with Ontario standing out, needing over 650,000 additional housing units to have the same level of housing as the average in other provinces. In order to help address the housing affordability crisis, Ontario needs increased supply across the board, in homes that are owned, rentals, and supportive housing.

The Government of Ontario took action with the More Homes, More Choice Act and got us on the right path, with more homes starting construction in Ontario in 2021 alone than in any other year in more than two decades. But more work needs to be done.

The bold recommendations released today by Ontario’s Housing Affordability Task Force are precisely the kind of action Ontario’s young families and millennials need to get the keys to a great place to call home. The Ontario Real Estate Association and Ontario REALTORS® suggested some of these changes and are pleased to see meaningful ideas to increase supply and choice on the table.

Rolling back exclusionary zoning in large urban communities would go a long way in providing more affordable choices for families. It defies common sense that in most urban centres, you can currently take a bungalow and turn it into a monster four-storey home for one wealthy family, but you cannot build affordable townhomes for multiple families on that same lot without red tape, runaround, and exorbitant cost. This is especially important to address the disproportionate impact of a lack of housing for our Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) communities.

The recommendation to reduce red tape on new development by implementing planning and permitting process improvements will help get more affordable housing supply into the market. Legislating timelines at each stage of the planning review process will eliminate unnecessary delays and costs for new home construction which are passed on to buyers.

Undeveloped land inside and outside existing municipal boundaries must also be part of the solution. This will especially help increase supply and choice across the province, including smaller cities, small towns, and northern communities. The growing desire for homes with more space and outdoor amenities and greater opportunities to Work from Home have renewed interest in rural, suburban and smaller communities, and the Government of Ontario can capitalize on this momentum.

Finally, intensifying density along major transit routes is good for the environment and families looking for an affordable place to live. By building more homes and creating transit-oriented communities, we can help hard working Ontarians own a home and save two precious commodities - time and money - improving their quality of life.

Together, we can work to make the dream of home ownership a reality for future generations of families. Increasing housing supply is the way forward, and to create meaningful change, we need all hands on deck, at all levels of government.”

- David Oikle, President of the Ontario Real Estate Association