The province wants to pause affordable housing requirements near transit hubs
Planning and Housing Committee chair Gord Perks said the proposed change would be “cruel”
The provincial government wants to pull back on affordable housing requirements for new residential developments near transit hubs in some cities, claiming that they are prolonging the housing crisis by deterring construction.
Inclusionary zoning was previously introduced to compel developers to rent five per cent of new units for below market value near major transit stations in Toronto, Mississauga and Kitchener. According to the CBC, Ontario has fallen behind on its goal to build 1.5 million new homes over 10 years, and this amendment is being proposed to incentivize developers.
Related: Six experts on the future of Toronto’s housing crisis
A spokesperson for Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Rob Flack said in a statement that this would increase the viability of development in the current market, having heard from industry stakeholders who say affordability requirements hold them up.
“We need to get more shovels in the ground to build homes for families across the province,” said Michael Minzak. “Now is not the time to be adding unnecessary red tape and requirements that only increase the cost of building a home.”
In an interview with the CBC, Planning and Housing Committee chair Gord Perks described the proposed change as “cruel,” adding, “I cannot understand why the premier of the province of Ontario is so actively hostile to housing people who can’t afford Toronto’s rent. It’s a mystery to me.”
The proposed amendment would remain in place until July of 2027.
Related: Toronto home sales are the lowest in a quarter century
Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
