“The debate over why housing costs are so high is settled. Study after study shows that supply restrictions are behind the rise in prices,” he said. He referred to a study conducted by CD Howe, which concluded that delays and additional costs add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the cost of a home.
He cited a previous effort to boost housing supply in 2019, including the first round of legislative and regulatory adjustments along with the Housing Supply Action Plan, which was received negatively by many local governments. The Duchess, who worked in government at the time and was involved in the design of some of the adjustments, said that many local governments responded poorly, and some of the amendments were later reversed.
“Now, the government will need to respond to the task force’s high benchmark for change with even more ambitious reforms,” Dachs said. “It won’t be easy politically.”
While many young Ontarians and their families want a greater housing supply and better affordability, Duchis said residents also do not want their neighborhoods to be affected by the construction of additional homes. Since local councilors support local voters, they oppose profound reforms that could expand domestic supplies.
One of the task force’s most divisive, but most effective, proposals would allow up to four units per lot in all residential areas in the province. This would eliminate the need for a developer to go through a lengthy process of community input before obtaining government approval for building such a structure. According to Dachis, the adjustments suggested by the working group would reduce many of the risks developers would have to assume today if they propose such a structure.
