A year of action for #homebelievers in Ontario

It’s hard to look ahead into 2021 without reflecting on what a year 2020 has been.

The world came to a standstill as COVID-19 swept across the globe, impacting every aspect of our lives in Ontario. Borders, schools and businesses all closed.

During these times of uncertainty, the Ontario government began to identify essential businesses and services that needed to continue to stay open and keep working, such as grocery stores and pharmacies.

The Ontario government also quickly recognized that there are thousands of buyers waiting for keys to their new homes, and that any delay in their scheduling move would have a cascading effect on the homebuying and building processes. With the residential industry applying new health and safety protocols and tracing requirements for every worker on a jobsite, Ontario made residential construction an essential business which allows housing projects to continue working until completion.

Innovation and ingenuity

Connected to the work on the site is the important work of municipal building officials to inspect and approve homes for occupancy. To the credit of many municipalities, building departments responded by moving inspections onto a virtual or remote platform, and through the power of innovation and ingenuity, we all started working together to get keys into the hands of homeowners.

What is happening on jobsites across Ontario, the effort to work together to keep everyone safe while completing homes, was equally matched by the provincial government, as they continue to stay focused on its signature housing legislation, More Homes, More Choice.

Moving forward on new growth plan population forecasts, finalizing development and community benefit charge regulations, and providing provincial approval for municipally supported housing projects through a municipal zoning order, are all key important actions to delivering the much-needed housing options Ontarians require.

Positive news

For a year that started with a complete COVID-19 shutdown, it is looking to end with a lot of positive housing news. The systems put in place by our industry and government during the initial shutdown will likely continue moving forward, an example of making things better as result of a crisis. That should serve as a long-term positive outcome.

The most recent housing starts tell us that housing construction remains strong, keeping thousands of people employed and getting those keys into the hands of new homebuyers faster and safer. The latest sales numbers tell us that Ontarian’s are still #homebelievers, who still believe in the great Canadian dream of homeownership. This means 2021 is shaping up to be another busy and productive year for our industry, where we need to deliver more homes and more choice across Ontario.

Joe Vaccaro is CEO of the Ontario Home Builders’ Association (OHBA), the voice of the residential construction industry in Ontario representing 4,000 member companies, and organized into 29 local associations across the province. The industry contributes more than $56 billion to Ontario’s economy, employing more than 336,000 people across the province. ohba.ca