Ford government left key strategies out of housing legislation, critics say

The government of Premier Doug Ford shied away from including key measures in its housing affordability plan that would make the goal a reality, critics say.

Ontario's Progressive Conservative 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, which have jumped 28 per cent over last year in the Greater Toronto Area, with the average home price reaching $1.3 million in the region in February.

"It's mostly just disappointing," said Ramsey Kilani of More Neighbours Toronto, an organization advocating more density in single-family neighbourhoods by allowing more multi-unit dwellings — just one of the strategies the new bill doesn't include.

Speeding up approvals for home developments is one of the key goals in the More Homes for Everyone Act. Municipalities can use a new "Community Infrastructure and Housing Accelerator" tool to speed up approvals when building non-profit housing, community centres, hospitals and long-term care homes. Ontario Housing Minister Steve Clarke can also directly approve development projects. 

What isn't in the act is many of the 55 recommendations from a report by the Housing Affordability Task Force released in February. The task force was aimed at reining in home prices by boosting the supply of housing, considering the cost of buying the average home in Ontario has nearly tripled over the past 10 years, according to the report. 

Some of the key task force recommendations that were not part of Wednesday's legislation include:

Kilani said those measures should have been in the bill.

"The Ford government loves to talk about cutting red tape," he said. "But, more meetings, more consultations — that's more red tape." 

Kilani wonders whether the Ford government excluded those task force recommendations to avoid stirring the pot in the vote-rich suburban 905 area surrounding Toronto with an election just three months away.

Ontario's Big City Mayors group applauded the legislation, saying portions will "provide more opportunities to build much needed housing, in partnership with municipalities," according to the group's chair, Cam Guthrie, who is the mayor of Guelph, about 94 kilometres west of Toronto.

And some of the measures in the task force report that the PCs left out of the bill were also hugely unpopular with municipalities.

"I rejoice whenever a dumb idea doesn't make it to the table," said Oakville Mayor Rob Burton. "You were just going to willy-nilly add density anywhere and that's just crazy." 

"We're not out of the woods yet," said Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward, who says her city supports the idea of creating affordable housing but worries the task force's suggestions take some decision-making power away from municipalities.

"What are [the PCs] going to do after the election if they're re-elected?"