Ontario government unveils plans to fix soaring housing prices

[Nite]

Ford government unveils plans to fix soaring Ontario housing prices — but not everything's on the table

Premier Doug Ford's government is unveiling the first phase of its plan to deal with the skyrocketing cost of buying a home in Ontario.

The government has tabled a bill that, in part, takes aim at delays within planning at the municipal level, suggesting the approval process in place slows down home construction and drives up prices.

Steve Clark, municipal affairs and housing minister, told reporters after the legislation was tabled Wednesday that he is confident this bill will create more housing, faster.

"While housing starts have hit record levels over the past two years, long, drawn out processes are delaying housing, and pushing the dream of home ownership out of reach for too many Ontarians," Clark said at a news conference.

The province first revealed the details of its plans in a dense, 42-page document during a technical briefing with reporters Wednesday afternoon. You can read it at the bottom of this story.

The plan comes after a housing affordability task force convened by the government released a report last month offering 55 recommendations, including a goal of building 1.5 million homes in 10 years. That target is double the current pace of new construction.

Government officials say the task force report gives them a long-term roadmap, but many of its recommendations are not addressed in today's legislation, including changing municipal zoning rules to allow more housing to be built aside from single-family homes.

To get more homes built more quickly, the task force recommended the province impose sweeping changes on cities. The proposals include increasing density in neighborhoods of single-family homes, spending less time on public consultations for housing projects and imposing deadlines for housing approvals.

Clark said moves to allow for more density in single-family neighbourhoods wasn't part of the plan because some municipalities, like Toronto and Mississauga, "just aren't there yet."

While high housing prices are nothing new in the Greater Toronto Area, the cost of buying a home just about everywhere in Ontario is also soaring.

In 2021, the average sale price of homes in the province was 44 per cent higher than two years earlier, according to figures from the Canadian Real Estate Association......

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toron...plan-1.6395946

Hopefully this is the first step of many needed to force the City of Toronto and other Ontario cities to build and densify more.

[MAC123]

"but many of its recommendations are not addressed in today's legislation, including changing municipal zoning rules to allow more housing to be built aside from single-family homes"
Amazing, absolutely amazing. What a joke.

[MonkeyRonin]

While it's welcome news it's not nearly enough - and I'm under no illusion that this isn't just about what's best for the development industry moreso than what's best for actually relieving housing costs.

[Nite]

Originally Posted by MAC123

"but many of its recommendations are not addressed in today's legislation, including changing municipal zoning rules to allow more housing to be built aside from single-family homes"
Amazing, absolutely amazing. What a joke.

"Government officials say the task force report gives them a long-term roadmap" which means more changes are coming

[MAC123]

Originally Posted by Nite

"Government officials say the task force report gives them a long-term roadmap" which means more changes are coming

Hmm, we'll see. I'm optimistic.

[C.]

This is kinda lame. Looks like they just decreased the fee if it takes too long to process?

[C.]

Canada and especially Toronto are in a housing crisis. Yet I'm shocked there isn't more of an outrage from the populist for the government to do more. Instead, it's almost like the blame for the housing crisis is being cast on foreigners and not the artificial supply constraints created by zoning and other planning regulations designed to preserve single-family homes. As I mentioned in another thread, since when did it become the responsibility for private developers to build affordable housing and not governments. No wonder market rate housing is so expensive to build and there is a shortage of subsidized rentals.

[MolsonExport]

I reckon it will have the following effect: lipservice

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by C.

Canada and especially Toronto are in a housing crisis. Yet I'm shocked there isn't more of an outrage from the populist for the government to do more. Instead, it's almost like the blame for the housing crisis is being cast on foreigners and not the artificial supply constraints created by zoning and other planning regulations designed to preserve single-family homes. As I mentioned in another thread, since when did it become the responsibility for private developers to build affordable housing and not governments. No wonder market rate housing is so expensive to build and there is a shortage of subsidized rentals.

The populist are extremely frustrated. Building more doesn't address the root cause. It is, at best, a band aid solution. It will, however, make the largest contributors to the Ontario PC very happy.

The province is heavily indebted and the cost to build subsidized units is at a ridiculous high in Toronto. It's simply not possible for the province to build housing to make an impact without private partners. Quite frankly, market, non market rented and owned units mixed in a development is the way to go over the failures of segregating incomes.

It's within reason to question why the immigration numbers continue to increase as the housing situation becomes more dire across more and more of Canada. Again, it doesn't address the root cause and is another bandaid. It would be easier to reduce potential demand over increasing supply. We are already near production capacity. Any major increase in construction will blow up inflation which will only negatively effect pricing. The honest people convinced to move to Canada for a better quality of life are not necessarily improving their quality of life as advertised and it gets worse every passing year.

There's hundreds of thousands of units waiting approval but, there are also tens of thousand of shovel ready units that aren't breaking ground. We do need more as of right zoning over this piecemeal case by case inquiry in Toronto. However, red tape isn't as big of an ordeal as you make it out to be.

[WhipperSnapper]

Every economist has grave concerns over stagnant wages amidst rising housing costs expect for our governments that sees lower wages amidst rising immigration levels as a competitive advantage.

[C.]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toron...ders-1.6421555

The Ontario government is being criticized over its approval of two controversial zoning orders that will facilitate the construction of two condo communities consisting of 40,000 units.

The Ministerial Zoning Orders (MZOs) were approved late on Thursday, and allow the province to skirt local government approval processes. They relate to two separate condo communities — one in Markham and the other just across highway 407 in Richmond Hill.

While the government says the MZOs will facilitate huge development projects in York Region, neighbours and city officials are concerned the planned infrastructure — including schools and hospitals — won't be able to support the ballooning population.

Graham Churchill, an executive director for community group, A Better Richmond Hill, says the planned development "is going to destroy York Region."

He says several pleas to Premier Doug Ford not to go ahead with the development in its present form have all fallen on deaf ears.

"Rethink this Doug. This is insane," Churchill said on Friday.

"What you are doing is not good for Toronto, it is not good for the GTA, it will economically wreck us."

Churchill has accused the Ford government of making "a secret deal" with the developers, effectively doubling the density in the area and cutting jobs.

"So, where York Region originally had a plan of two to one of housing to jobs, this is now going to be 10 to one. That's bad for the region, but it's bad for Toronto. And the reason it's bad for Toronto is because people here will not have a job."

If the development goes ahead, Churchill says it will make the area the densest place in the Western world and the second densest in the entire world.

"The densest place in the world today is the Dharavi Slums of Mumbai, which was made famous by the movie Slumdog Millionaire. The second densest place is Mong Kok in Hong Kong. Mong Kok has a density of about 150,000 people per square kilometre. This center will have 175,000," he said.

"It will be six times denser than downtown Toronto."

The proposed developments are called transit-oriented communities (TOCs), and will be located close to transit hubs planned for York Region. Across the two developments, there will be 67 highrises, some 80 storeys tall.

But Churchill says there won't be enough businesses and jobs for people.

"What this will do is because they're not making this an employment zone, everybody who lives here will have to leave to get to work," he said.

"Now, where do they go? Well, they're either going to get in their cars, which will just jam up all the roads or they're going to get on the subway going southbound, which is already at capacity south of Sheppard, which is a problem because now nobody in Toronto is going to be able to get seats in the in the subway."

According to the auditor general, the government has used the fast-track method of MZOs 44 times in a two-year period. Prior to this period, they were used around once a year.

Tom Muench, Richmond Hill city councillor says he's "sad" with what the government has done, adding that there was need for "more collaboration and discussion."

"There wasn't full transparency and openness and discussion with the community, with people like myself, and there were other options that weren't even considered," he said.

"I would have liked to have a little more engagement as opposed to doing it on a Thursday night on a long weekend."

A spokesperson for Ford says with 40,000 new units, this will add almost as many homes in one deal as were built over the entirety of recent years.

[montréaliste]

That’s the problem with small countries like Canada for the most part. We need to pack as many folks per square inch as we can. Promoters, of course are losing big time here. Lol

[lio45]

Originally Posted by montréaliste

That’s the problem with small countries like Canada for the most part. We need to pack as many folks per square inch as we can. Promoters, of course are losing big time here. Lol

Yeah, that's the cold hard reality that tiny countries like Singapore, Canada, etc. have to live with. Everyone is inevitably stuck living on top of each other.

[C.]

Originally Posted by montréaliste

That’s the problem with small countries like Canada for the most part. We need to pack as many folks per square inch as we can. Promoters, of course are losing big time here. Lol

It all comes down to access to jobs and preference.

Some work from home and can theoretically live anywhere, but they choose to live in the big city with a wicked view because they want to.

Others must show up at their job and don't want to commute 3 hours each way. They find housing that is most suitable to them, which may very well be a high-rise building on a transit line.

Or are you seriously just advocating sprawl and the mega commutes that come with it?

[biguc]

Graham Churchill, an executive director for community group, A Better Richmond Hill, says the planned development "is going to destroy York Region."

He says several pleas to Premier Doug Ford not to go ahead with the development in its present form have all fallen on deaf ears.

"Rethink this Doug. This is insane," Churchill said on Friday.

"What you are doing is not good for Toronto, it is not good for the GTA, it will economically wreck us."

Churchill has accused the Ford government of making "a secret deal" with the developers, effectively doubling the density in the area and cutting jobs.

"So, where York Region originally had a plan of two to one of housing to jobs, this is now going to be 10 to one. That's bad for the region, but it's bad for Toronto. And the reason it's bad for Toronto is because people here will not have a job."

If the development goes ahead, Churchill says it will make the area the densest place in the Western world and the second densest in the entire world.

"The densest place in the world today is the Dharavi Slums of Mumbai, which was made famous by the movie Slumdog Millionaire. The second densest place is Mong Kok in Hong Kong. Mong Kok has a density of about 150,000 people per square kilometre. This center will have 175,000," he said.

As dense as a Mumbai slum? Rampant unemployment? I don't think you're hysterical enough, Graham.

[niwell]

^I can't stand that kind of hyperbole particularly because I do agree that plopping down a bunch of 40-80 storey towers geared towards investors isn't the best idea. Even from an economic perspective it doesn't really make a lot of sense in the context of housing affordability. Not that anyone in the government (not limited to the current one) is particularly interested in that to a meaningful extent.

[the urban politician]

Government is the reason why housing costs are so high

Do you think for a second they will ever acknowledge that? They don’t want to lose their worthless jobs, so they are going to keep “working on a solution” that, of course, keeps their jobs secure for generations to come. And 10 years later they will “come up with a new plan”

Everything is routed through them.

[llamaorama]

Just build it and don’t whine. I think solutions to the things being mentioned emerge naturally. Businesses follow new homes, taxes pay for schools, increased transit ridership drives more transit.

[montréaliste]

Originally Posted by niwell

^I can't stand that kind of hyperbole particularly because I do agree that plopping down a bunch of 40-80 storey towers geared towards investors isn't the best idea. Even from an economic perspective it doesn't really make a lot of sense in the context of housing affordability. Not that anyone in the government (not limited to the current one) is particularly interested in that to a meaningful extent.

That’s also my take on it. Tsar Ford’s swipe of a pen to densify doesn’t address affordability, and is bound to push values up because if you plop a 40 story tower next to a bungalow, guess what…

TOD’s aren’t a bad idea per se, but the way they go about it so that the money stream flows inevitably towards the big players, and strangles the lower to middling classes. The advantage of benefiting from proximate transit then becomes moot. I’m afraid a lot of the buzz around TODs wants us to believe it is the last word in urbanism, that anything less in terms of densification is bound to kill the planet. The reality is that the bigger the projects, the more unwieldy, and the compromise is rather to the benefit of bigger players.

[llamaorama]

Sometimes you just have to trust the dismal science. Supply and demand will work it out. Normally I agree, more development just increases desirability leading to induced demand. But that applies to glacial pace infill in cute cities like Portland. The scale of these high rises is more like Texas suburbia but vertically stacked and we know that will lead to affordability.