Toronto, Oct. 23, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Greater Toronto Area, October 23, 2023 The Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) is extremely disappointed with today’s announcement by Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, the Honorable Paul Calandra, and calls it a failure for the future supply of housing and workspace in the Greater Toronto Areas (GTA).
It could take a decade or more to bring a new housing supply to market, said Dave Wilkes, president and CEO of BILD. Today’s announcement introduces legislation which, if approved, will overturn official regional plans and reverse the expansion of municipal boundaries in York, Peel and Halton regions. This will make it impossible to build 1.5 million apartments in the voivodeship by 2031.
The housing affordability crisis in the GTA is due to a lack of housing supply in the face of persistently high demand. The official plans for York, Peel and Halton have made additional land supply available by extending city boundaries to enable the addition of living and working spaces with a mix and density in line with market expectations. The repeal of these official plans will create confusion, uncertainty and paralysis in regional and municipal decision-making regarding new development. The consequences of this unfortunate decision will effectively delay the arrival of new housing and jobs over the next decade.
It is our understanding that the official plans approved by the province were subject to an extensive and comprehensive, transparent public and stakeholder consultation process that included entry into the Ontario Environmental Register, Wilkes said. Any adjustments the government made to the approved plans were intended to maintain the province’s own goals of increasing housing supply, choice and sustainable growth. Given the precedent of these decisions and the variability of government decisions, why should any business decide to invest in the province?
As much as five or more years of work and millions of taxpayer dollars have gone into developing official regional plans through a comprehensive municipal-level review process. Today’s announcement pushes back the addition of residential and workspace offerings in Peel, Halton and York by decades, and the forward-looking effects will be felt by potential new homeowners for the rest of the decade.
BILD and its members remain committed to working with all levels of government to achieve the provincial goal of building the 1.5 million homes this province needs to support its current and future development.
With over 1,300 member companies, BILD is the voice of the residential construction, land development and professional renovation industries in the Greater Toronto Area. The construction and renovation industry provides over 230,000 jobs and $26.9 billion in investment in the region. BILD is proudly affiliated with the Home Builders Association of Ontario and Canada.
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For additional information or to schedule an interview, please contact Justin Sherwood at jsherwood@bildgta.ca or 416-371-6005.
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CONTACT: Justin Sherwood Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) 4163716005 jsherwood@bildgta.ca
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