affordable

Tuesday, September 26, 2023

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday, September 26, 2023

Ontario’s Housing Hurdles Remain Unaddressed

September 22, 2023

Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s recent decision to reverse the Greenbelt development scheme can be likened to finally putting a misguided plan through a paper shredder. This long-awaited step signifies the end of a contentious chapter, where valuable time and resources were expended on a proposal that offered nothing in terms of addressing Ontario’s affordable housing crisis.

While proponents of the Greenbelt scheme argued that it would increase housing supply by replacing farmlands with residential properties, it is now clear that this plan was never genuinely about providing affordable housing. Instead, it was akin to a convoluted blueprint with no substance.

The Greenbelt reversal should prompt us to reconsider our approach to housing. Expanding housing on the outskirts of urban regions often results in larger, more expensive houses, contributing to the unaffordability problem. These sprawling developments come with significant additional commuting costs and burdens on infrastructure, which, in turn, are funded by taxpayers.

Numerous sites have already been zoned for new subdivisions, some of which are held by developers, waiting to maximize their profits. There is ample land available without sacrificing precious farmland and natural areas.

August 31, 2023

To address the housing crisis effectively, we need genuinely affordable housing for all income brackets. Unfortunately, this type of housing rarely materializes when rural land is lost to development.

While increasing supply is essential, it’s equally crucial to ensure the affordability of existing housing. Regrettably, recent changes have weakened rent control measures, leaving tenants vulnerable.

The provincial government must take an active role in shaping housing policy. Initiatives to permit multiple units on residential plots are a start, but their effectiveness remains uncertain.

Public land, owned collectively by Ontarians, presents an opportunity to create genuinely affordable housing. Historically, such land was used for this purpose, exemplified by the St. Lawrence neighbourhood in downtown Toronto.

October 22, 2022

However, nowadays, surplus public land is often sold to the highest bidder without requirements for affordable housing. Recommendations to introduce a 20% affordable housing requirement for government land sales have been overlooked.

By reversing the Greenbelt-based housing policy, Premier Ford has made a decisive move towards dismantling a plan that offered no real solutions. It’s now time for the government to develop effective housing policies that genuinely address affordability issues, drawing from existing solutions while leaving behind the flawed Greenbelt scheme in the annals of history. (AI)

 

 

Saturday April 9, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday April 9, 2022

What Toronto wanted in the federal budget for housing — and what it got

April 7, 2017

One of the central pieces of the federal budget unveiled Thursday was affordable housing — $10 billion earmarked to tackle the crisis country-wide.

It’s a mix of funding for projects and policy changes aimed at making housing more affordable.

So what was Toronto looking for and what did it get?  And what will the budget mean for one of the least affordable cities in the country?

Much of the $10-billion investment focuses on boosting the supply of homes, something that is key for Toronto. 

February 1, 2017

The city was eyeing an extension of funding for a project it’s partnered on with the federal government: the Rapid Housing Initiative (RHI).

That wish was granted. The budget proposes to extend the program, which creates new affordable rental housing for marginalized people experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness, at a cost of $1.5 billion over two years.

May 7, 2014

The largest portion of the $10-billion budget pledge is $4 billion dedicated to what the government is calling a “Housing Accelerator Fund.” The money will be for municipalities like Toronto to speed up housing development by slashing red tape, and the federal government estimates it can create 100,000 new units over five years.

When it comes to speeding up development, Bailão says the city has projects on the go for which they’d like to partner financially with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) — mainly its Housing Now initiative, which activates city-owned sites for the development of affordable housing within mixed-income, mixed-use, transit-oriented communities.

November 20, 2019

“I think all orders of government need to work together because if they really want to build 100,000 units … we have 15,000 here in the pipeline that need their financing and we need to make sure that financing is there,” said Bailão.

The question among many advocates is how quickly some of these measures can be implemented in big cities like Toronto, and how much coordination there can be between different levels of government.

“For this city, what’s needed is significant amounts of money and funding that can be spent quickly,” said Matti Siemiatycki, director of the Infrastructure Institute and a professor of geography and planning at the University of Toronto.

“We’re in this crisis. We need all hands on deck, and we need that real coordination and we need a sense of urgency to back it up.” (CBC)