Gap between Ontario housing and population growth highest in 50 years: report
Global News
A new study commissioned by an advocacy group, the Building Industry and Land Development Association, compared housing application data across 16 Ontario cities.
The gap between Ontario’s housing stock and its rapid population growth is the widest it has been since records began, according to a development industry report that throws fresh doubt on the Ford government’s ability to hit its own target of building 1.5 million homes by 2031.
A new study commissioned by an advocacy group, the Building Industry and Land Development Association, compared housing application data across 16 Ontario cities to find those with the best approval rates, capturing a continual slowdown of the building industry.
Among the report’s findings was the fact that record immigration and population growth in and around Toronto, coupled with sharply slowing residential development, has left the gap between population and the number of homes at an all-time high.
“The study shows that the gap between housing stock and population growth in the GTA is the widest it has been in over 50 years,” David Wilkes, president and CEO of BILD, said.
“This is a bright red warning light on the dashboard for all levels of government. Without bold steps, the housing crisis in the GTA is going to get far worse in the years ahead.”
The study found that as far back as 1972, the number of housing starts in Ontario has remained relatively constant, bouncing between around 50,000 and 100,000 per year
Population growth, on the other hand, has gone from the low hundred thousand range into the two hundred thousands and, more recently, closing in on half a million.
Ontario’s rapidly-growing population is something the government has repeatedly referenced as a reason to be aggressive in its push to build 1.5 million homes.
