Ontario tables More Homes Built Faster Act to widespread industry approval

The Ontario government has introduced the More Homes Built Faster Act, taking bold action to advance the province’s plan to address the housing crisis by building 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years. The proposals in the More Homes Built Faster Act, if passed, would ensure that cities, towns and rural communities grow with a mix of ownership and rental housing types that meet the needs of all Ontarians, from single-family homes to townhomes and midrise apartments.

The proposal has been met with widespread approval from the residential construction industry, which has been lobbying for such change for years.

Strong foundation

“For too many Ontarians, including young people, newcomers and seniors, finding the right home is still too challenging,” says Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. “This is not just a big-city crisis: The housing supply shortage affects all Ontarians, including rural, urban and suburban, north and south, young and old. Our Housing Supply Action Plan is creating a strong foundation on which 1.5 million homes can be built over the next 10 years. Our government is following through on our commitment to Ontarians by cutting delays and red tape to get more homes built faster.”

The plan puts in place actions to support the development of “gentle density” – housing such as triplexes or garden suites – that bridge the gap between single-family homes and highrise condos. For example, it would remove exclusionary zoning, which allows for only one single-detached home per lot. Instead, it would allow property owners to build three units without lengthy approvals and development charges.

The plan, which contains about 50 actions, addresses the housing crisis by reducing government fees and fixing developmental approval delays that slow down housing construction and increase costs. Actions in the plan include:

• Creating a new attainable housing program to drive the development of housing. Sites across all regions of Ontario will be considered, including those in the north, central, east and southwest regions.
• Increasing the Non-Resident Speculation Tax rate from 20 per cent to 25 per cent to deter non-resident investors from speculating on the province’s housing market and help make homeownership more attainable for Ontario residents.
• Freezing and reducing government charges to spur new home construction and reduce the costs of housing.
• Building more density near transit, unlocking innovative approaches to design and construction, and removing red tape to get shovels in the ground faster.
• Increasing consumer protection measures for homebuyers and consulting on ways to help more renters become homeowners.

The government will also consult with the public, stakeholders and municipalities while engaging with Indigenous communities to review provincial housing and land use planning policies to find ways to remove more barriers to getting homes built.

Industry approval

The Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) and the Ontario Home Builders’ Association (OHBA) are among the industry groups strongly supporting the action.

“The report of Ontario’s Housing Affordability Task Force, published in February, clearly identified the challenges limiting new housing supply and increasing housing costs across the province,” says Dave Wilkes, president and CEO of BILD. “We are operating in a planning and zoning environment built for an Ontario of yesteryear. It simply takes too long to get approvals, it is too difficult to add the gentle density we need in our cities, and too many fees and charges are layered on to new homes by municipalities. All of this limits supply and drives up costs. The plan introduced today by the government is the clear, powerful transformation we need to solve our housing supply and affordability crisis.”

On average, 25 per cent of the cost of a new home in the GTA is composed of government fees, taxes and charges. This can add as much as $250,000 to the cost of a typical single-family home and municipalities add more than half of that.

Adding gentle density– missing middle type of housing – is very difficult and expensive due to outdated and restrictive zoning. Land values for new single-family homes have tripled since 2006 as land supply is severely constrained and many municipalities are resistant to expanding their boundaries.

“The current housing supply and affordability crisis is a policy-made problem that was created in the course of a decade and a half and will take time to fix,” says Luca Bucci, CEO of the OHBA. “It starts today with Ontario’s new big, bold housing plan. The More Homes Built Faster Act increases accountability for municipalities in enabling the housing supply the province needs, increases transparency on the funds collected on the back of new homes, caps the fees to the economic conditions of the day and removes roadblocks to adding gentle density. Put simply, the government has delivered the regulatory framework to enable necessary change. It has stood up for new and future homebuyers looking to live in our province. The measures it has brought forward will help preserve the competitiveness of Canada’s economic engine.”

Streamlined development

Adds Mike Collins-Williams, CEO of the West End Home Builders’ Association. EHBA, “The West End Home Builders’ Association is fully supportive of landmark legislation that moves the needle to significantly increase housing supply and address southern Ontario’s growing housing crisis. Building on the recommendations from the Housing Affordability Task Forcereport, the provincial government has proposed bold reforms to encourage all types of new housing to be built faster in communities across the province.”

The Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON) also welcomes the changes.

“The (Act) will reduce bottlenecks, streamline development approvals and increase the pace of residential construction across Ontario,” says RESCON President Richard Lyall. “Specific reforms in the plan, such as changes to development charges, allowing more homes to be built near transit, and updating heritage conservation rules will help move the needle on housing.”