Ontario’s housing minister on why transformative change is needed: ‘We are acting to fix this broken system’

“Our government is keeping its promise to help all Ontarians find a home that meets their needs and budgets,” writes Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark.

Thestar.com
Nov. 28, 2022
Steve Clark

Here is the reality: before a single shovel hits the ground in the Greater Toronto Area, the average homebuyer already faces $116,900 in municipal development charges and fees.

These hefty fees are a big part of the reason why so many Ontarians can no longer afford a home. After all, $116,900 is more than the cost of a down payment for many homes -- and over the course of a 20-year mortgage, it could add more than $800 to your monthly payment.

Development charges are meant to fund infrastructure and services which the whole community uses. Under the current system, however, the bill is ultimately picked up by young people and newcomers who are already struggling to break into the housing market.

And unfortunately, these charges are only growing, making it all but impossible for too many Ontarians to afford a home.

In parts of the GTA, for instance, development charges rose by more than 600 per cent in the last 13 years. Toronto alone has proposed another 46 per cent increase over the next two years -- even as the city sits on a development charge reserve fund of more than $2.3 billion. In fact, the province estimates that municipalities across Ontario have about $9 billion in unspent development charge reserves.

Ontarians should ask themselves: are municipal services today really 600 per cent better than they were 13 years ago? Is the best place for that $9 billion really a municipal bank account? And is it fair that municipalities are imposing massive fee hikes at the expense of Ontarians working hard to get into the housing market?

We don’t think so -- and that’s why we are acting to fix this broken system.

In our government’s latest housing supply action plan, we are removing development charges for affordable and non-profit housing. In many cases, these huge fees are the difference between a project starting or not getting built at all.

We are also reducing fees for purpose-built rentals to help more Ontarians get into the rental market and limiting future fee increases. To be clear, this doesn’t mean that municipalities won’t get revenue from a new home build, it means that home ownership won’t keep moving further out of reach for Ontarians because of increased fees that add thousands to the price of a home.

Finally, we are asking municipalities to either spend or allocate at least 60 per cent of their reserve balances each year, to ensure the money is being used for its intended purpose.

These proposals would amount to major, transformative change for many of our communities, and I do not shy away from that. But the truth is that Ontario’s housing market isn’t working. Transformative change is exactly what is needed to fix the system.

It’s no wonder these proposals have been applauded by many of the supportive and affordable housing organizations that are doing the heavy lifting in our communities today.

The Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada, for instance, said our proposed changes “will have a tangible and positive impact on the ability to develop new, affordable co-op homes in Ontario,” and Habitat for Humanity’s Ene Underwood said the changes will “support more Ontarians on the path to stability and future possibilities.”

This is the verdict of the experts -- the people who are on the front lines today, providing housing to the Ontarians who need it most.

Our government is keeping its promise to help all Ontarians find a home that meets their needs and budgets. I can only hope that our partners at all levels -- including on the opposition benches at Queen’s Park -- will listen to the experts and get behind this plan.