Toronto's affordable housing plan could stall if Ontario doesn't fill gap created by Bill 23: report
CBC
Toronto's push to build affordable housing could stall later this year if isn't made whole after the province cut fees for developers last year in a bid to spur housing construction, city staff warn in a new report.
The warning comes in an update on Toronto's Housing Now plan headed to the city's housing and planning committee on Thursday.
In the plan, staff provide an in-depth update to councillors on the progress to build more affordable housing across the city. But they warn without assurances from Premier Doug Ford's government to replace the $120 million in annual funding slashed with the elimination of development charges, projects that are set to get underway later this year will be stalled by July.
The province has said that municipalities will be made whole for the hundreds of millions they will be out because of the change. Despite that, the city has yet to receive confirmation of how that will happen.
Coun. Gord Perks is among those sounding the alarm.
"Council has repeatedly spoken up and asked the province to make us whole so that we can continue to build housing and affordable housing," Perks said.
"The province just keeps giving us vague assurances, but we have yet to see anything in writing that will allow us to continue with our housing program."
Late last year, Ford's government introduced Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act. It said the legislation would help spur growth and help it hit its target of building 1.5 million homes over the next decade.
The policy offers builders waivers or freezes on development charges. But without those fees, critics have said communities will struggle to build sewers, sidewalks and roads that service new homes.
"In the event that the provincial government does not provide or commit to a multi-year reimbursement of lost revenues beginning in 2023 by the third quarter of 2023, the City will not be able to advance any future Housing Now sites, including the ones earmarked to proceed in 2023/24," staff say in the report.
Housing Now is part of the city's $1.3-billion effort to unlock city land and provide capital funding and other financial incentives to create "purpose-built affordable and market rental housing within mixed-income, mixed-use" communities.
Council adopted the plan in 2019, but staff acknowledge that while 10 sites have been re-zoned to date and six have gone to market, construction has not yet begun on any site.
City staff blame the pandemic, government actions, a labour shortage and a 63 per cent increase in construction costs since 2019 for many of the projects being stalled.
The report makes a number of recommendations to help "unstick" the projects, but notes they are contingent on Toronto receiving "written confirmation of reimbursement" from the province on development charge funding.
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