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How to Address the Housing Crisis in Ontario

Tuesday, 8 February 2022 09:05

A new report from the Housing and Affordability Task Force sets a goal of adding 1.5-million homes over the next 10 years and it includes a list of recommendations to help reach that goal.

ONTARIO - The province has released a new report from the Housing Affordability Task Force.

It sets a goal adding another 1.5-million homes over the next decade and it also includes the following recommendations in order to help make it happen:

- Make changes to planning policies and zoning to allow for greater density and increase the variety of housing.
- Reduce and streamline urban design rules to lower costs of development.
- Depoliticize the approvals process to address NIMBYism and cut red tape to speed up housing.
- Prevent abuse of the appeal process and address the backlog at the Ontario Land Tribunal by prioritizing cases that increase housing.
- Align efforts between all levels of government to incentivize more housing.

The report also includes other recommendations in order to help increase housing supply over the long-term. They include digitizing/modernizing the approvals and planning process and growing the skilled labour workforce.

Jake Lawrence, the Chair of the Housing Affordability Task Force, says all of the recommendations in the report are concrete and actionable.

“Lengthy reviews, bureaucratic red tape, and costly appeals are making it too difficult to build new housing. We propose an ambitious and achievable goal to build 1.5 million homes over the next ten years and the steps needed to get there.”

Lawrence is also the Chief Executive Officer and Group Head, Global Banking and Markets at Scotiabank.

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