What should Doug Ford's government do about developers who go years without building homes?
CBC
At least 20 Ontario municipalities are so far away from reaching their provincially-mandated targets for new home construction starts that they have virtually no chance of hitting the mark, and will face stiff financial consequences in 2024.
The problem is something municipal politicians say puts Ontario at risk of failing to meet the goal of 1.5 million new homes in a decade unless the provincial government does more to prod hesitant developers into starting construction.
Under current rules set by Premier Doug Ford's government, cities that fall short of the 2023 target for housing starts will not get any money next year from the province's $1.2 billion fund to help cover the costs of housing-related infrastructure.
Mississauga is among the municipalities most likely to miss its target. That's why city councillor Alvin Tedjo feels particularly frustrated when he looks across the half-empty parking lot of a shopping plaza that the city approved for housing a decade ago.
"I don't think it's fair at all that the province is measuring our success on housing starts and not on housing approvals," said Tedjo in an interview at the site. "We can't control whether or not the developer starts building the projects that we've already approved."
Tedjo is far from the only municipal politician raising concerns about the role developers play in Ontario's housing crisis. They're pointing to housing projects that have all the necessary municipal approvals, but developers have yet to put a shovel in the ground.
The nine municipalities in York Region, including the cities of Vaughan, Markham and Richmond Hill, have approved more than 49,000 housing units that are not yet under construction, according to data from the region's chief planner.
Figures from the City of Mississauga show construction has not begun on approved projects totalling more than 29,000 homes.
"We need to compel them to move forward," said Tedjo. "We need these developers and these landowners to show that they're interested in building."
There is precious little that municipalities can do to compel a developer to build. Some cities are calling on the province to give them the power to impose some sort of penalty on approved projects that are stalled for unreasonably long periods, often called a "use it or lose it" policy.
The Ford government is developing a proposal along these lines, but Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Paul Calandra is signalling that it won't involve slapping penalties on developers.
"We will work very closely together to make sure that we have an effective use-it-or-lose-it policy, one that is not punitive, but one that works for everybody," Calandra said in a speech this week at a housing forum with municipal, industry and non-profit leaders.
Calandra said municipal infrastructure for such things as water and sewer lines should be made available to developers who are ready to build homes "without punishing" those who are not ready to start construction.
The question this provokes in city halls around Ontario: why then is the Ford government taking a punitive approach to municipalities?
This First Person column is the experience of Shannon Flaman, who lives in Red Deer, Alta. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ.
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