Ontario housing task force shares ways to boost supply

Ontario needs to quickly and aggressively build more homes to address the province's housing crisis, by increasing density, and limiting consultations and appeals, expert advisers said Tuesday.

TORONTO -- Ontario needs to quickly and aggressively build more homes to address the province's housing crisis, by increasing density, and limiting consultations and appeals, expert advisers said Tuesday.

A housing affordability task force convened last year by the provincial government released a report with 55 recommendations aimed at allowing more people in Ontario to find and afford a home -- including a goal of building 1.5 million homes in 10 years.

House prices in Ontario have nearly tripled in the last 10 years, far outpacing income growth, the report said, but the province is 1.2 million homes -- both rental and owned -- short of the G7 average. Businesses and public services are having trouble recruiting and retaining workers because of a scarcity of nearby housing, which is harming the economy, while long commutes are contributing to air pollution, the report said.

For too long the province has focused on ways to "cool" the market, but that will not fill the housing need, the report said.

"More supply is key," the task force members wrote in their report.

"Building more homes will reduce the competition for our scarce supply of homes and will give Ontarians more housing choices. It will improve housing affordability across the board."