Greater Toronto Area, October 23, 2023 – The Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) is extremely disappointed in today’s announcement by the Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, the Honourable Paul Calandra, and calls it a setback for the Greater Toronto Area’s (GTA) future housing and employment spaces supply.
“It can take a decade or more to bring new housing supply to the market,” said Dave Wilkes, BILD President and CEO. “Today’s announcement to introduce legislation that, if approved, will rescind regional official plans and reverse urban boundary expansions in the regions of York, Peel and Halton. It will make the objective of building 1.5 million homes in the province by 2031 impossible.”
The housing affordability crisis in the GTA has been driven by the lack of housing supply in the face of perennially strong demand. The official plans for York, Peel and Halton made additional land supply available through urban boundary expansions to enable the addition of housing and employment spaces with a mix and density consistent with what the market is looking for. Repealing these official plans will put regional and municipal decision-making relative to new development into a state of confusion, uncertainty and paralysis. The repercussions of this unfortunate decision will effectively delay the addition of new housing and employment spaces throughout the next decade.
“It is our understanding that the provincially approved official plans were subject to an extensive and exhaustive transparent public and stakeholder consultation process, which included postings to the Environmental Registry of Ontario,” said Wilkes. “Any adjustment made to the approved plans by the government were done to uphold the provinces’ own objectives for increased housing supply, choice and balanced growth. Given the precedent of these decisions and the variability of government decision-making, why would any business choose to invest in the province?”
As much as five years or more of work and millions of taxpayers’ dollars went into the development of the regional official plans through the municipal comprehensive review process. Today’s announcement sets the addition of housing and employment spaces supply in Peel, Halton and York back decades and the forward-looking impacts of this will be felt by prospective new home owners for the rest of the decade.
BILD and its members remain committed to working with all levels of government to achieve the provincial objective of building the 1.5 million homes this province needs to accommodate present and future growth.
2005 Sheppard Ave. E., Suite 102, Toronto, ON M2J 5B4
bildgta.ca
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 230,000 jobs in the region and $26.9 billion in investment value. BILD is proudly affiliated with the Ontario and Canadian Home Builders’ Associations.
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For additional information or to schedule an interview, contact Justin Sherwood at jsherwood@bildgta.ca or 416-371-6005.
