Greater Toronto Area, April 6, 2023 – The Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) and the Ontario Home Builders’ Association (OHBA) are applauding the provincial government for introducing Bill 97, the Helping Homebuyers, Protecting Tenants Act, which takes several important steps to enable more housing supply in the province, provide greater policy clarity, increase tenant protections and build on existing Housing Supply Action Plan initiatives.
“The government has pledged to have annual housing legislation to address the very complex issue of housing supply,” said Dave Wilkes, President and CEO of BILD. “We are very pleased to see that, amongst other measures, this legislation takes steps to encourage and accelerate the building of purpose-built rentals, and we encourage other levels of government to also focus on this critical housing type.”
In February, BILD issued a report on the state of purpose-built rental (PBR) in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) that found there is a large shortfall of purpose-built rental apartments in the region. The report also identified barriers to adding PBR supply and made a number of policy recommendations to all three levels of government on how to address the shortfall.
“We are very supportive of the steps the government is taking in this proposed legislation to enhance tenant protections,” said Luca Bucci, CEO of the Ontario Home Builders’ Association. “Landlords must be able to update and renovate their properties, but in a tight housing market with increasing rents, tenants must be protected from abuses.”
The government also proposed several changes to the Provincial Policy Statement (PPS) for consultation. The PPS provides policy direction on matters of provincial interest related to land use planning and development. A key commitment proposed today is to facilitate conversions of lands zoned for employment uses to residential to help deliver much-needed housing. With a new, modern definition of employment, this will protect true employment spaces, speed conversions and make it easier to add housing.
The building and land development industry also welcomes the government consultations on a modernized PPS. Having a simplified, streamlined policy direction that puts housing first and includes provincial objectives will be of great benefit to the industry as it works to add housing supply to the province.
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For additional information or to schedule an interview, contact Justin Sherwood at jsherwood@bildgta.ca or 416-371-6005.
For additional information or to schedule an interview with OHBA, contact Emma Maynard at emaynard@ohba.ca or 416-578-5800.
With more than 1,300 member companies, BILD is the voice of the home building, land development and professional renovation industry in the Greater Toronto Area. The building and renovation industry provides more than 231,000 jobs in the region and $26.9 billion in investment value. BILD is proudly affiliated with the Ontario and Canadian Home Builders’ Associations.
The Ontario Home Builders’ Association is the voice of the residential construction industry in Ontario, representing 4,000 member companies organized into 27 local associations across the province. The residential construction industry contributes over $76 billion dollars to Ontario’s economy, employing more than 550,000 people across the province. Our members have the vital responsibility to build the housing supply that current Ontario residents are counting on at all stages in their life and be the voice of future home buyers who want to call our province home.
